Paleobiology Personal Statement

The skeletal characteristics of these hominines suggest that their mode of locomotion was likely a cross between occasional bipedalism and obligate bipedalism. From the reading we have learned that obligate bipedalism is bipedal locomotion that is practiced all of the time while occasional bipedalism is bipedalism that is practiced on occasion. The ratio of arm length to leg length (longer arms) suggests that they did spend time climbing trees, however the cranial and post cranial traits of these fossils suggest that they spent much of their time on the ground and likely ambulating bipedally combined with a variation of upright walking and knuckle walking. This is evidenced by two factors: the fact the foramen magnum of the skull is centrally located, and the ratio of arm to leg length. In creatures with bipedal ambulation, the foramen magnum is located in the center of the base of the skull to keep the head aligned over the center of gravity of the creature. If the fossils were walking primarily with their knuckles, the

At the beginning of my freshman year I was accepted into the WSU Upward Bound Program. One of the first things I did with this program was to attend a six week summer program. During the summer program I participated in a marine biology expedition into a swamp. At first I was wondering why a swamp was so interesting and why did we care about this mucky water. As I watched my peers go into the water and collect samples I just thought that they were collecting water and plants. Once we stepped into the classroom and studied the sample I was shocked to find floating organisms and creatures in there. I remember that under a plant that was collected from the water we found a critter that I was able to touch and look at. This sparked my interest

Creationism, it is theory that claims every element in the earth, including living species, are all created by the god as the Bible said, which denies the evolutional theory came up by Charles Darwin. Then, since Darwin’s evolutionary theory is testable and make solid predictions whereas creationism cannot be tested nor predict precisely, it has been considered as a pseudoscience. However, recently there is a Ph.D. Biochemist bring creationism theory back to the audience again, his name is Duane Tolbert Gish from University of California. Dr. Duane T. Gish has written several books and articles to support creationism, and the most famous one is Evolution: The Fossil Say No!, which published in 1978. In his article, he denied the evolutionism since he claims there is insufficient fossil evidence to support Darwin’s theory, and which would prove creationism is real.

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Paleofantasy, written by Marlene Zuk, aims to address the claims of those paleo fantasyers. These paleo fantasyers believe that the human body is ill-equipped for the modern era and claim that we should be trying to live and eat like our ancestors thousands of years ago. Marlene Zuk addresses their claims by presenting scientific evidence and examples how evolution has dramatically changed the human body to suit the modern era. While there are many aspects Paleofantasy addresses, due to page restrictions I will choose three aspects to address in this paper in chronological order as they appear in the book.

The author and his colleagues chose to focus on 375 million year old rocks in their search for fossils because amphibians that look dissimilar to fish were discovered in 365 million year old rocks, while fish without amphibian characteristics were discovered in 385 million year old rocks. Thus, it is possible that the evolutionary intermediary, or the “missing link” between fish and amphibians, would be discovered in 375 million year old rocks, between the two time periods. The rocks examined were sedimentary in composition, as the gradual and relatively gentle formation of sedimentary rock under conditions of mild pressure and low heat are conducive to the fossilization of animal remains. Sedimentary rock is also often formed in rivers and seas, where animals are likely to live. This site provides a resource that describes means by which fossils are formed and how the fossil record may be interpreted, and shows some examples of fossils demonstrating evolution through geological periods: http://www.fossilmuseum.net/fossilrecord.htm. In 2004, Shubin and his colleagues were looking for fossils on Ellesmere Island, in northern Canada. This location was chosen because of its lack of human development, as well as of obstructing natural formations and life forms such as trees, which

The clues to support the theory of evolution are vital to understanding how we and other organisms have evolved over millions of years. Clues such as embryology, fossil evidence, DNA, homologous, and vestigial structures all give us valuable information on the theory of evolution. Fossil evidence tells information such as how our ancient ancestors looked like, how tall they were, and more. Vestigial structures suggest that we used to have bones and muscles that have shrunk or even disappeared over thousands of years.

I cannot put enough emphasis on just how much this pursuit sharpened my research skills and expanded my interest in both the environment and history. One bit of information led to another, and I learned more from this research than I probably would have in a normal high school classroom setting. Many of the things I learned will actually apply directly to my major in environmental science as well, which makes all of that research even more valuable to me. The fact that I had a lot of fun in the process just makes it even

I went on a paleontological dig this summer and have continued doing independent work and research in that field and in the field of archaeology. It has been an amazing adventure considering I knew close to nothing before I began.

The Houston Museum of Natural Science features Trilobites from the Middle Devonian, which were found in Silica Shale in Lucas County of Ohio. This particular genus of trilobites, “Eldredgeops milleri,” have large eyes containing a separately set lenses without a common cornea. Its thorax has 11 segments. Trilobites are some of the earliest known arthropods. Since these particular trilobites had good vision, I imagine that they were one of the few genus of trilobites that were either predators or scavengers. They were benthic bottom ocean filter feeders.

The fossil record is incomplete because there would have to be an unusually specific set of circumstances in order for an animal or dead plant to become a fossil (natural history, n.d). They would merely have to be lucky in order to leave behind a fossil. The normal process of all living things is to die and then to decompose. After this natural process, there would not be any evidence left of their existence. Having a record of fossils are important to scientist and their idea and proof of evolution.

After so many years of searching and excavating, my partners and I have discovered our first hominin fossil. After all the digging, cleaning, and cataloging of hominin discoveries is complete, we begin to start analyzing mysterious specimen #6. It looked a lot like a modern human but the skull features is slightly different and the molars is quite large. From what we have noticed at first sight, the incisors, canines and the premolars of the specimen are missing. Without analyzing and measuring the teeth’s, it would make our job a bit difficult, but there is always alternative route to analyze this mysterious specimen.

Fossils can form in many different ways, but only under the perfect condition does this happen. This process can differ between plants and mammals depending on the climate and the conditions the organism is in. Plants will most likely fossilize when in places with lower oxygen levels. Mammals will most likely fossilize when being buried in sediment, which is the most common way for any fossil to form. Those are just a few of the ways that a plant or mammal can fossilize.

Is the atmosphere of our planet warming consistently, and at a more rapid pace than ever before, and is it being caused by human consumption? This question is the basis for the dispute on Global warming. It is this century’s largest debate. There are scientists, politicians, and civilians on both sides of the debate. Scientists have determined that the Earth has cooled off and warmed up several times over its long history. I do not believe that a reasonable person would deny that there is the potential for the Earth to repeat this pattern at some point in the future. The real point of contention is then in reference to the cause. Some scientists believe they have found a correlation between an increase of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere

Fossil Group, Inc. was found in 1984 by a suggestion from founder Tom Kartsotis’ brother. Fossil specializes in watches at all different price points, which are sold all over the world. The company is still expanding by acquiring other brands in multimillion dollar deals. Fossil is now headquartered in Richardson, Texas. Out visit was on September 15, 2017.