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AkshayB wrote: ↑December 30th, 2019, 7:06 pm What did you guys research and put in your binder for adaptations and morphological features of major fossils groups. Did you guys put pictures of brachiopods, bivalves , and etc. or did you write a description. Also how in depth did you go for fossils as evidence for evolutionary trends and for major fossil discoveries? What did you write about that? Thank you in advance for anyone that responds!

For morphological features I just put diagrams of the anatomy of everything. I would say pictures are more useful for ID but make sure you know what certain features are called (for brachiopods, fold and sulcus and which is on which valve is often tested). As for fossils as evidence for evolutionary trends, you mainly only need to worry about eusthenopteron/tiktaalik/acanthostega/eryops, archaeopteryx, and maybe mesohippus/equus, basilosaurus, or mammut/mammuthus. Just make sure you know what features in transition species are evidence for evolution and possible causes for their evolution. I would also suggest finding many diagrams of different features during the transition (e.g. the feet or teeth of horses over time, skulls or number of toes in the fish to amphibian transition, etc.) cause I’ve often seen tests asking you to match pictures of one of those features to one of the species in the transition (this mainly applies to fish to amphibian, but I’ve seen it with the horses as well).

Side note: you might also be tested on jaw, shark, and human evolution now that agnatha, otodus, and h.erectus and h.sapien have been added to the list.

Sorry for asking so many questions but how in depth did you guys go for lagerstatten. For us we put what fossils are found in that lagerstatten and how the fossils in that lagerstatten were fossilized. Is that good enough?

Thanks in advance, Akshay.

Hi Akshay,
Also consider the location annd time span of the lagterstatten as well as the items mentioned before.
Also, don't be afraid to ask questions!

For chordata, I just put pictures of the whole dinosaur, pictures of the entire skeleton, pictures of the skull, or pictures of the teeth (if it is a shark). Do i need to be able to identify other parts of the dinosaur, like the vertebrae, or its claws.

Thanks in advance, Akshay.

Probably not the vertabrae, but the claws can be tested, especially for velociraptor.

AkshayB wrote: ↑January 7th, 2020, 7:43 am For chordata, I just put pictures of the whole dinosaur, pictures of the entire skeleton, pictures of the skull, or pictures of the teeth (if it is a shark). Do i need to be able to identify other parts of the dinosaur, like the vertebrae, or its claws.

Thanks in advance, Akshay.

They will sometimes ask you to identify claws and teeth of several of the animals on the list, not just the sharks. Common teeth I have seen are Mammoth, Mastodon, and Basilosaurus. In my experience, I haven't seen many claws, but they usually are dinosaurs such as Velociraptor and Allosaurus.

Do you think that this is enough information for lagerstatten?
- organisms from the Lagerstatten
- time period that it existed
- location of the lagerstatten
- trivial facts*
*Stuff like what the locality is known for, famous people related to the location, etc.

About anatomy....
How would you create anatomy of certain phyla or orders?
(cause right now, I think that our anatomy is not that good)

twig wrote: ↑January 13th, 2020, 12:26 pm Do you think that this is enough information for lagerstatten?
- organisms from the Lagerstatten
- time period that it existed
- location of the lagerstatten
- trivial facts*
*Stuff like what the locality is known for, famous people related to the location, etc.

You might need geologic structures/types of preservation associated with the Lagerstätte.

How can you guys tell the difference between Astarte and Nucula?