PALEONTOLOGICAL SONIFICATION IN THE CLASSROOM: USING SOUND TO TEACH THE SHAPES OF FOSSILS

In paleontology, it is easy to render important aspects of fossil shapes as a series of musical tones that can be recognized readily by the human ear. Sonification (the representation of data using sound) enables auditory perception of morphologic patterns in fossils that may or may not be visually apparent. Simple classroom demonstrations and laboratory exercises help students understand the potential of using sound to identify different types of fossils using their ears alone. Straightforward examples of sonified fossil data include cephalopod septal sutures, trilobite facial sutures, brachiopod commissures, pelecypod hinge dentitions, gastropod coiling patterns, and dinosaur trackways.

Virtually all that we perceive around us involves the linkage of multiple senses. We are pre-conditioned to translate sound information to visual images. When we teach students about fossils, we usually emphasize careful, detailed observations, but we rarely attempt to excite students’ other senses. The use of the non-visual senses, such as hearing, effectively augments the visual sense in paleontology. Several lab exercises in paleontological sonification have been used successfully with University of Utah paleontology students in the past two years. Students were able to identify different fossil taxa by listening to the distinctive musical tones generated from their morphologic characteristics. Students showed remarkable success playing “Name That Tune” with sonified fossils, and they were quite amazed and delighted to discover that they possess such an innate ability. Results show that the greatest potential for learning is not in using sonified fossil data to replace visual information, but rather to employ students’ sense of hearing to augment their visual sense in order to enhance their perception and memory of specific types of data pertaining to significant morphologic characteristics of fossils.