Fossils B/C

[Unome]

I'm looking at the C rules right now(I'm not sure if they're different from B, so B members, look at your own rules first), but it seems you'll need to know about Index Fossils, Absolute dating, preservation, etc. So I think having pages on each of those, probably in the front or back of your binder to be easily located, would be quite helpful. I was planning on having half a page to a page on different half-lives of isotopes(I'm probably just going to take Table N from the NY State Chemistry Reference Table). If you have the room in your binder, having too much information isn't a bad thing.

As far as I can remember, the C rules are mostly the same as B.

[JT016]

Thanks for the confirmation. I would think they'd be very similar, but I wouldn't want to give anyone any wrong information.

[SOnerd]

Okay, so for our binder pages, my partner and I were planning to write an outline of the taxonmic hierarchy of each taxa.
So for Phylum Foraminifera, it would be something like:

*Title* Phylum Foraminifera *Title*
[*]Kingdom- Protozoa
[*]Phylum- Foraminifera

... and have it go down higher as the specimens require ID-ing to the genus and such.
So basically, what I'm asking is where does everything stand on the taxonmic hierarchy? Like I know that it goes Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species, but like what about superclass and subclass and other ranks like that? (especially 'clade')

So far, we've decided that it goes:
• Kingdom
• Phylum
• Subphylum
• Class
• Superclass
• Infraclass
• Superorder
• Order (/Class)
• Family
• Genus
• Species

[Unome]

Okay, so for our binder pages, my partner and I were planning to write an outline of the taxonmic hierarchy of each taxa.
So for Phylum Foraminifera, it would be something like:

*Title* Phylum Foraminifera *Title*
[*]Kingdom- Protozoa
[*]Phylum- Foraminifera

... and have it go down higher as the specimens require ID-ing to the genus and such.
So basically, what I'm asking is where does everything stand on the taxonmic hierarchy? Like I know that it goes Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species, but like what about superclass and subclass and other ranks like that? (especially 'clade')

So far, we've decided that it goes:
• Kingdom
• Phylum
• Subphylum
• Class
• Superclass
• Infraclass
• Superorder
• Order (/Class)
• Family
• Genus
• Species

As far as I can remember, everything is correct, except superclass is above class.

[GoofyFoofer]

Great. Thanks everyone.

[asthedeer]

This is oddly specific for this early in the year, but does anyone know how to distinguish hexagonaria and septastraea?

Try this: http://petrifiedwoodmuseum.org/SOCorals.htm
I know, it doesn't show much.....I still might not be doing Fossils..... I have possible event conflicts

Dang, that totally sucks.
I checked my state's schedule and for a moment, I thought two of my most important events were conflicting.

Ogosh GoofyFoofer, I have 3 of my events in the same slot. :/

[dunkleosteusly]

Does anyone know if SciOly is going to be distinguishing Eldredgeops from Phacops? As I understand it, if they do, the localities for Phacops would then be much more limited, as generally speaking Phacops is recognized as being very abundant in both Europe and North America, but Struve (1990) restricts Phacops to North Africa and the Middle East. I'm not really sure if this would make a big difference or not (first time competing in fossils-- rocks was my thing before), but I'd still like some clarification. Reassurance that that sort of question would never show up would also be great, though that sort of prediction is hard to make. Thanks!

I would imagine that stratigraphic and geographic information should be assigned to Phacops (e.g., if questions ask about the distribution of Phacops, then you should not answer with the distribution of Eldredgeops). That being said, I'm sure that many teams' collections will still have their Eldredgeops labeled as Phacops (rana) and may accidentally use them during exams, especially since P. rana is so abundant in North America. You could always ask the event runner/test writer before the event whether the distinction has been made.

[dunkleosteusly]

Okay, so for our binder pages, my partner and I were planning to write an outline of the taxonmic hierarchy of each taxa.
So for Phylum Foraminifera, it would be something like:

*Title* Phylum Foraminifera *Title*
[*]Kingdom- Protozoa
[*]Phylum- Foraminifera

... and have it go down higher as the specimens require ID-ing to the genus and such.
So basically, what I'm asking is where does everything stand on the taxonmic hierarchy? Like I know that it goes Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species, but like what about superclass and subclass and other ranks like that? (especially 'clade')

So far, we've decided that it goes:
• Kingdom
• Phylum
• Subphylum
• Class
• Superclass
• Infraclass
• Superorder
• Order (/Class)
• Family
• Genus
• Species

So creating pages like this is a good exercise, but don't forget that the Official List already has most of the taxonomic classification done for you. I think this was done partly to reduce the anxiety involved in trying to identify specimens to a specific taxonomic level and to shift the focus of the event more on the actual life history of the fossils themselves.

[dunkleosteusly]

This is oddly specific for this early in the year, but does anyone know how to distinguish hexagonaria and septastraea?

Short answer: I've always identified Hexagonaria versus Septastraea through Hexagonaria's thinner and numerous septa. Hexagonaria's calyx (the center cup area) is also shallower. And as others have mentioned, Hexagonaria sometimes comes polished into a decorative "Petoskey Stone."

Longer answer: Hexagonaria and Septastraea are part of two different, major groups of coral: rugose corals and scleratinian corals respectively. These groups are distinguished by the pattern of septal insertion (how their septa are arranged) - see http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/cnidaria/anthozoamm.html and http://www.paleosoc.org/Corals.pdf.

[SOnerd]

Hi guys!
I'm currently working on my notes (of stuff that doesn't have anything to do with ID), and I was wondering if petrifaction/petrification/silicification are the same thing?