Lecture Notes: Paleontology Museum Tour

Introduction

• Lecturer: Gavin
• Location: Paleontology Museum, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences Building, University of Alberta
• Purpose: Help with paleo museum assignment
• History of Paleontology at University of Alberta:
  • Started in 1912 with Professor John Allen
  • Brought George Sternberg, famous fossil hunter, to Alberta
  • Early fossils displayed at the museum

Museum Layout

• Designed to mimic the geological time scale
• Oldest layers at bottom, youngest at top
• Tour covers from Earth's formation (4.6 billion years ago) to present (Quaternary period)

Geological Time Scale Tour

Precambrian Time

• Earth formed 4.6 billion years ago
• Early Earth had permanent oceans, no oxygen
• First organisms: Photosynthetic cyanobacteria (stromatolites)

Ediacaran Period

• Dawn of multicellular life
• Early vertebrate ancestors
• Rare fossils, such as Cloudina and Kimberella

Cambrian Period

• Began 542 million years ago
• Cambrian Explosion: Diversity of animal phyla
• Significant site: Burgess Shale, BC
  • Exceptional fossil preservation
  • Includes arthropods, worms, mollusks, and sponges

Devonian Period

• Age of Fishes
• Introduction of jawed fishes, armored fishes
• Notable species: Dunkleosteus (massive, armored predatory fish)

Permian Period

• First tetrapods on land
• Significant fossil: Eryops, an ancestral tetrapod
• End of Permian marked by largest mass extinction (95% of species)

Triassic Period

• Emergence of dinosaurs, e.g., Eoraptor, Herrerasaurus
• Dinosaurs initially not dominant
• Evolution of diverse marine life (e.g., coelacanths)

Jurassic Period

• Dominance of dinosaurs in ecosystems
• Notable dinosaurs: Allosaurus, sauropods
• Evolution of bird-like dinosaurs and marine reptiles

Cretaceous Period

• Focus on Alberan fossils
• Presence of Western Interior Seaway
• Marine reptiles like mosasaurs
• Famous dinosaur: Parasaurolophus
• Significant specimen: Stegoceras

Tyrannosaurids in Alberta

• Gorgosaurus: smaller tyrannosaurid
• Evidence of social behavior in tyrannosaurs
• Niche partitioning hypothesis with Displetosaurus

Other Dinosaur Groups

• Absence of stegosaurs and sauropods in Alberta
• Presence of ankylosaurs like Euoplocephalus
  • Notable feature: Osteoderms and tail club

Conclusion

• Brief mention of Quaternary fossils
• Focus remains on dinosaur paleontology
• Encouragement for students to explore museum and complete assignments