Everything about The Principle Of Faunal Succession totally explained
The
principle of faunal succession is based on the observation that sedimentary rock
strata contain
fossilised
flora and
fauna, and that these fossils succeed each other vertically in a specific, reliable order that can be identified over wide horizontal distances. A fossilised
Neanderthal bone will never be found in the same stratum as a fossilised
Megalosaurus, for example, because the two species lived during different
geological periods, separated by many millions of years. This allows for strata to be identified and dated by the fossils found within.
This principle, first identified in the early
1790s by the
geologist William Smith, is of great importance in determining the relative age of rocks and strata. The fossil content of rocks together with the
law of superposition helps to determine the time sequence in which sedimentary rocks were laid down.
The theory of
evolution powerfully explains the causal mechanism of the observed faunal and floral succession preserved in rocks. Archaic biological features and organisms are succeeded in the
fossil record by more modern versions. For instance,
paleontologists investigating the evolution of
birds predicted that
feathers would first be seen in primitive forms on flightless predecessor organisms such as
feathered dinosaurs. This is precisely what has been discovered in the fossil record: simple feathers, incapable of supporting flight, are succeeded by increasingly large and complex feathers.
In practice, the most useful
diagnostic species are those with the fastest rate of species turnover and the widest distribution; their study is termed
biostratigraphy, the science of dating rocks by using the
fossils contained within them. In
Cenozoic strata, fossilized tests of
foraminifera are often used to determine faunal succession on a refined scale, each biostratigraphic unit (
biozone) being a geological stratum that's defined on the basis of its characteristic fossil
taxa. An outline microfaunal zonal scheme based on both foraminifera and
ostracoda was compiled by M. B. Hart (1972).
Further Information
Get more info on 'Principle Of Faunal Succession'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://principle_of_faunal_succession.totallyexplained.com">Principle of faunal succession Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
