The described techniques for extraction of microfossils are directed primarily at the extraction of calcareous microfossils from various types of limestone, although the same techniques may beused for some sandstones and shales. The equipment needed is not complicated; the most obvious is a good binocular microscope with a working distance of three or more inches, to allow manipulation of the rock from which the specimens are to be extracted. The magnification required depends on the size of the specimens, but should go up to at least 80x. Other essential tools are a pin vise with a chuck which will hold an ordinary steel sewing needle and a rotary dental machine or other grinding device which will accept a small thin carborundum wheel. The latter is useful for sharpening needles as well as for cutting specimens out of the rock. An additional useful item is a percussive device such as a mechanical engraver fitted with a chuck which will hold an old fashioned steel phonograph needle. This instrument is described in detail by Palmer (this volume, chapter 20). A dish of water and a fine (00000) camel's hairbrush are necessary to move the specimens, once freed, to a slide or other receptacle. A rock trimmer is useful for reducing large blocks of fossiliferous rock into pieces that can be handled under the microscope, although with some collections this can be done with a hammer and cold chisel. Some paleontologists prefer to crush their samples and then pick through the chips to find specimens; however, this technique tends to break spines and frills from highly ornamented forms and is not recommended unless the microfauna is known to consist mostly of smooth species. Most of the equipment mentioned above can be found in catalogs such as that of the Edmund Scientific Co., 101 E. Gloucester Pike, Barrington, N.J. 08007.

We implemented an authentic research experience as part of the invertebrate paleontology course at University of North Carolina Wilmington to promote student learning objectives related to understanding course content, critical thinking, problem solving, and oral and written communication. This semester-long research project, worth 20% of the course grade, is incorporated into the laboratory component of the course, and employs best practices of active and collaborative learning. Students work as teams to develop and test paleoecological and/or evolutionary hypotheses using field-collected or archived bulk samples. Following sample processing, specimen identification, and data collecting and analysis, students write a research paper using the format of a professional paper, with individually and team-written parts, and present their results orally. After completion, one or more abstracts based on the results are submitted to a professional meeting. Typically, several students attend the meeting and present the posters. This approach allows students to experience authentic research from conception to dissemination. Since 2003, the course has been offered seven times, resulting in 13 published and presented abstracts. Over half the students remained involved in paleontology following the course by presenting the work or taking additional courses or independent study, demonstrating that the experience was received positively. This approach provides a model for other instructors, as the research project can be adapted to a variety of geological settings and topics. Successes and challenges in implementing such a project are discussed.

In the fossil record of the Paleozoic, epifauna are typically shelly, whereas infauna are typically soft-bodied; the two groups have tended to be studied in isolation from one another, and commonly by different specialists. We believe that the understanding of patterns of distribution and evolution of epifauna cannot proceed in the absence of data on infauna. Over the past decade, several workers have attempted to combine information about the two groups into models of community evolution.

The classification of echinoderms at class-rank and higher has been a topic of considerable dispute for well over a century. We will confine our analysis to the more ‘modern’ classification schemes which have advocates among currently active paleontologists and neontologists, in particular those of Bather/Lankester, 1900; and Fell/Moore 1966 (Figs. 1 and 2). Detailed explanations of these schemes may be found in most major works on invertebrate paleontology and neontology. Comparisons of other schemes are given in Tables 1 and 2.

In an essay published in 1977, S.J. Gould argued that three major questions have dominated paleontological thinking for more than a century. Does the history of life have direction? What is the motor of evolutionary change? And, what is the tempo of change? Certainly, these “eternal metaphors” have figured prominently in the research of invertebrate paleontologists during the past decade. Temporal pattern has been sought in changing morphologies within lineages, the changing structure and composition of communities, trends in taxonomic diversity, and even the occurrence of mass extinctions. Drifting continents, changing climates and oceanic circulation patterns, biological interactions, and extraterrestrial influences have all been championed as significant determinants of evolutionary change. The punctuation/gradualism debate has generated an impressive body of stratigraphic and morphological data, if not an unambiguous resolution of the issue.

The extraction of fossils by the use of chisels, hammers, and picks is probably the oldest of the methods dealt with in this volume. One must also admit that it may be the most tedious and time consuming method considering the more recent applications of power tools. Yet, exacting as it is, one has only to visualize the exquisite craftsmanship displayed in the sculptures of antiquity to realize the potential of these hand tools.

Phylogenetic systematics is the dominant form of taxonomy for most biologists, vertebrate paleontologists and to a lesser degree invertebrate paleontologists. Taxonomies are based strictly on evolutionary relationships with traits of organisms such as morphology and sequence data, being used as evidence for relationships. Two types of taxa are recognized - species that may be monophyletic or paraphyletic and clades that must be monophyletic. The phylogeny is an hypothesis of relationships that can be used to illuminate many areas of paleobiology including: unsampled morphology from incompletely preserved organisms, temporal distribution of taxa, and evolutionary patterns and mechanisms. Consequently, an understanding of phylogenetic assumptions, experimental design, and language are critical for the incorporation of phylogenetic taxonomies into larger studies of paleobiology.

Vascular plants are the most conspicuous organisms on Earth, accounting for some 97 % of our planet's standing biomass. The nearly 300,000 extant vascular plant species exhibit tremendous morphological and ecological diversity. Along with the 20,000 or more species of bryophytes, algae, lichens, and cyanobacteria that also live on land, they fuel a complex terrestrial ecosystem containing animals, fungi, protozoans, and bacteria. The richness of terrestrial life has evolved during the last 10 % of Earth history; there is no evidence for non-microbial land plants or animals in rocks older than the mid-Ordovician.

Paleontological studies can bring to light two important aspects of the speciation process: long term patterns of morphological change, and the paleoenvironmental context of such changes. We examined the temporal patterns of morphological change and their geographic and paleoenvironmental context in species of Prunum (Marginellidae; Gastropoda) from the Neogene of the northern Dominican Republic. We document a speciation event from P. coniforme (Sowerby 1849) to P. christineladdae (Maury 1917) which is unusual in both its temporal expression, and in the relative clarity of the ecological setting for speciation.

We believe that the changes in morphology from P. coniforme to P. christineladdae represent a speciation event. The two species are distinguished by several shell features, including overall shape, spire height, relative height of the top of the lip, and apertural denticulations. The nature and magnitude of these differences, compared with morphological differences among extant species of Prunum, indicate that separate species designations are warranted for P. coniforme and P. christineladdae. A sequence of stratigraphic and morphological intermediates between these species provides strong stratophenetic evidence for speciation.

The stratigraphic interval characterized by intermediate morphologies includes approximately 22 m of section. Sedimentation rates yield estimates of approximately 73,000–275,000 years for our interval of morphologic change. This transitional interval represents between 0.6–2.5 % of the total duration of the ancestral species.

The patterns of morphological change exhibited by the two species generally fit the predictions of punctuated equilibrium; change from ancestor to descendent is relatively rapid, outside the transitional interval species exhibit no directional morphologic trends, and the ancestral species persists after speciation.

Our data reveal some information on the mode of speciation. Prunum species from our study area exhibit well-defined depth ranges. P. christineladdae occurs only in deep water deposits, whereas P. coniforme is common in shallow water deposits. Based on distributional data, we suggest that depth, or one or more of its associated variables, was critical to the isolation and evolution of P. christineladdae.

Geologists have long been plagued by the lack of evidence for the origin of ancient micrite deposits: any paleontological evidence is typically obscured or lacking altogether. The role of modern marine picoplankton gives insight into the origin of one mode of lime mud formation and may aid in the interpretation of ancient marine deposits.

Whitings, patches of floating lime mud in supersaturated seawater on carbonate platforms, obtained from the Bahama Bank were analyzed utilizing biochemical techniques and Transmission Electron Microscopy. All Whitings indicated a close association between picoplankton cellular material and calcium carbonate crystals. Culture experiments indicated the presence of at least ten different picoplankton species in Whitings water. Two major genera found were the blue-green algae, Synechococcus and Synechocystis. Field and laboratory experimental data indicated that these cells and cellular organics play a major role in Whitings formation. The cells may undergo epicellular precipitation of calcium carbonate induced by photosynthesis. Environmental conditions necessary for this process have been delineated through field data and laboratory experiments.

While picoplankton organics are rarely preserved over geologic time, the product of their life habit, namely lime mud, is preserved as micrite. Thick occurrences of micrite deposited in marine environments are widespread throughout the geologic record, ranging in age from Precambrian to Recent. Although rare, fossilized blue-green algae have been observed in Archean rocks and may be the only evidence that implicates these organisms in lime mud formation. The Whitings phenomenon serves as an excellent example in which a specific type of organism may be a prolific contributor to the rock record, and yet leaves no direct paleontological evidence of its involvement.

Microfossils are the tiny remains of bacteria, protists, fungi, animals, and plants. Microfossils are a heterogeneous bunch of fossil remains studied as a single discipline because rock samples must be processed in certain ways to remove them and microscopes must be used to study them. Thus, microfossils, unlike other kinds of fossils, are not grouped according to their relationships to one another, but only because of their generally small size and methods of study. For example, fossils of bacteria, foraminifera, diatoms, very small invertebrate shells or skeletons, pollen, and tiny bones and teeth of large vertebrates, among others, can be called microfossils. But it is an unnatural grouping. Nevertheless, this utilitarian subdivision of paleontology, first recognized in 1883, is very significant in geology, paleontology, and biology.

Five distinctive vertebrate faunas characterised by endemic taxa can be recognised for the Early Devonian (Euramerica, Siberia, Tuva, China, and East Gondwana). By Late Devonian time these faunal provinces are obscured by widespread taxa which also inhabited nonmarine aquatic environments, but indicate faunal communication between Gondwana, Euramerica and China. This marked change in pattern between the Early and Late Devonian may be attributed to intrinsic (evolutionary) or extrinsic causal factors. Dispersal capabilities of aquatic vertebrates may have increased during the initial gnathostome radiation of the Devonian, but a predominantly extrinsic cause (e.g. global change in geography or climate) is suggested by the similar pattern for marine invertebrate faunas of Early Devonian endemism and Late Devonian cosmopolitanism. Outstanding problems of Devonian vertebrate biogeography include faunal differentiation on the largest landmass of the time (Gondwana), and the nature of barriers and connections between East and West Gondwana, East Gondwana and South and North China, and West Gondwana and Euramerica. A vertebrate equivalent of the cool-water Malvinokaffric invertebrate faunal realm of the Siluro-Devonian is not clearly identified, but vertebrate data from southern Africa and south America are sparse.

Wide latitudinal distributions for some Late Devonian vertebrate taxa appear anomalous, and could indicate either reduced global climatic gradients, or erroneous paleogeographic base maps. There are difficulties in formulating a hypothesis of global warming and/or major paleogeographic change in a way which clearly distinguishes basic from interpreted data. Three major subdisciplines (paleomagnetism, paleoclimatology, paleobiogeography) contribute to Paleozoic paleogeographic reconstructions. Their data tend to be organised and represented in different ways, but each relies on the same principle of concordance with a general pattern (Young 1990). Degree of consilience of a hypothesis based on one data set (the extent to which it explains patterns within an unrelated set of data) is a primary criterion for accepting or rejecting the hypothesis. Apparent polar wander path representation facilitates testing of paleomagnetic data against those paleoclimatic or paleobiogeographic data which provide evidence of paleolatitude. However, as well as the simple indication of paleolatitude, biogeographic and some other qualitative data sets provide more complex evidence concerning connections or barriers between regions, for which APWP representation is not appropriate. Cladistic analysis of hierarchically organised data sets (Young, 1986, 1987) provides a means of integrating qualitative paleobiogeographic, paleoclimatic, and paleogeographic data such that inconsistencies in the evidence are emphasised, and the hypothesis is exposed to falsification. These ideas are illustrated using Devonian examples.