A LABORATORY EXERCISE FOR PALEONTOLOGY: ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS USING INVERTEBRATE FOSSILS

A laboratory exercise with a focus on environmental analysis was created for college-level paleontology students. The exercise was structured around representative assemblages of invertebrate fossils gathered from three different Paleozoic rock types in upstate New York (a shale - Utica Shale, a limestone - Onondaga Limestone, and a sandstone - Skaneateles Formation). The exercise was divided into four parts: a review of basic environmental parameters, a set of general questions on classification, morphology, and preservation, a set of more specific questions on environmental parameters, and a set of summary questions. The environmental parameters included were temperature, oxygen levels, salinity, substrate, depth, and light. Specific environmental questions addressed each of these parameters but emphasized temperature, oxygen levels, and depth. The laboratory exercise was designed to fit the Paleontology curriculum at Hamilton College but the package can easily be modified, by altering the assemblages or the questions, to fit other courses.