Scioly.org

amerikestrel wrote:

gneissisnice wrote:]
And the Earth is only 4.5 billion years old anyway.

Yup, only 4.5 billion years old.

Well estimates vary, 4.6 billion years is also an acceptable estimate accepted by many, and probably more accurate.
4.54E9 years ± 1% is probably the best estimate. This is based on the moon and meteorites since many of them would've cooled and solidified around the time when the earth was still molten from a collision with another proto-planet.

amerikestrel wrote:

katzmeow wrote:Could anyone help me with 'n' on the event list (Adaptations and morphologic features of major fossils groups)? Other than the example they gave, I have no idea what else to look up.

For this topic, you just need to know how organisms adapted to survive. You probably don't need to get too specific, hence the inclusion of "major fossil groups".

I wouldn't count on that. There are realistic questions that could be asked about the specific behaviors, and CERTAINLY some specific adaptations of individual genera. For instance the use of the perforations in the gabella of cryptolithus as a tool for filter feeding by slapping it's head into the sediment, and it's lack of eyes due to the muddy low light conditions in which it thrived. Another example would be the various adaptations that can be seen in a couple of brachiopods on the list that were meant to keep them from moving through the sediment too much.

If you want to learn these things, you will have to study up on each of the individual taxon on the list. The other option is to think about it when they ask you, and come up with a logical answer, though this is not recommended, and is obviously not reliable.

Also, once again, to those asking for websites to use as resources, use wikipedia, and for the rest your best bet is google. There are some other sites that are occasionally helpful such as petrified wood, and tolweb, but if you just google the taxon you want information on, then check wikipedia and use a google search to discover more resources.

For books...
Simon & Schuster's
Smithsonian
Audubon
and while you probably wouldn't want to bother, due to price, and limited actual use for the event, you can get some good stuff out of textbooks on paleontology, or more likely, invertebrate paleontology or vertebrate paleontology.

lllazar wrote:Also, do we have to learn ALL dinosaurs or just the ones on the list?

Just the ones on the list, though if they gave you a generic dinosaur they could ask you certain questions, such as whether it is lizard hipped or bird hipped, and what you could infer about the way it lived by it's anatomy.

I'm not saying that you will never be asked to identify a dinosaur not on the national list (or if your state has one, your state list). I am saying that a good event supervisor will not ask that, and that by the rules it would not be appropriate to ask any identification of something not on the list (though it doesn't necessarily have to be a member of one of the most specific levels of taxonomy on the list, for instance they could ask you for the class of a blastoid that is not pentremites. If however they ask you to identify something to a level at which it is not on the list, then there isn't much you can do about it despite the fact that it goes against the rules. If you really wanted to you could have your coach file an appeal, but it probably wouldn't be worth it. When such a thing happens, it is disappointing, but really you just have to live with it.

Will they ask how a certain fossil was preserved in the actual event....cause i cant find an info on how specific fossils were preserved.

lllazar wrote:Will they ask how a certain fossil was preserved in the actual event....cause i cant find an info on how specific fossils were preserved.

It's possible. I think I had one or two last year at Regionals. Your best bet is to know the various modes of preservation and how they differed, and then use that information to make a conclusion. For example, if you see a negative relief, it's an external mold. If you get something like Copper, Silver, or Iron Pyrite, you can assume that it's mineral replacement. Different fossils could be preserved in different ways, and the same fossil can be preserved in multiple ways, so you really can only make a conclusion based from what you see.

courage7856 wrote:

lllazar wrote:Will they ask how a certain fossil was preserved in the actual event....cause i cant find an info on how specific fossils were preserved.

It's possible. I think I had one or two last year at Regionals. Your best bet is to know the various modes of preservation and how they differed, and then use that information to make a conclusion. For example, if you see a negative relief, it's an external mold. If you get something like Copper, Silver, or Iron Pyrite, you can assume that it's mineral replacement. Different fossils could be preserved in different ways, and the same fossil can be preserved in multiple ways, so you really can only make a conclusion based from what you see.

Yeah, there's really not just one way that organisms can be preserved. So when they give it to you on the test, they wont really be asking "This is juresania, based on that, how was it preserved?" Instead theyll ask "how was specimen A preserved?" It wont really matter what the fossil is for that kind of question.

Hey can we use a binder
and fossils guidlines

Crimebusta dude wrote:Hey can we use a binder
and fossils guidlines

Yes you can use a binder, and I'm not sure what you mean by guidelines.

If you want to know this sort of stuff, read your rules.

Today was the Crystal Lake Invite in Il, and it wasn't a great test. It was essentially all identifying Taxonomy and Time Periods. Pretty boring, but I still got 4th.

Can someone add some test that they have gotten on the 2010 test exchange; my team is not going to an inv because it got cancelled. I need as many test as i can, I did all of the ones from last year.

Hey guys.
So, I was wondering:
How much geology is essential to fossils?
Should I be able to identify sedimentary rocks... or what should I know in the broad theme of geology?
Thanks.

P.S.: I know the rules say "fossil bearing sedimentary rocks".. I'm asking more about your experiences with this.

thecranberry wrote:Hey guys.
So, I was wondering:
How much geology is essential to fossils?
Should I be able to identify sedimentary rocks... or what should I know in the broad theme of geology?
Thanks.

P.S.: I know the rules say "fossil bearing sedimentary rocks".. I'm asking more about your experiences with this.

Yesterday at Invites I was given three rocks: an igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary. The questions were "Which one is most likely to contain fossils," "Which one was from a high energy environment," and "Which one would be least likely to contain any fossils."