Analysis of Paleontological Data (B9b)

Learning Objective: Upon completion of the module Paleobiology and Paleoecology, students understand the potentials and limitations of fossils as a research object. They are able to address important research questions and current debates in Quantitative Paleobiology and Paleoecology and illustrate them with practical examples. They can analyse paleontological data with modern quantitative methods using existing scripts and name the most important challenges in taking the fossil record as a basis for analyses.

Course Content: The module imparts the use of fossils as research objects (e.g. taphonomy, fossil diagenesis, states of preservation, analytical methods) and the meaning of paleobiological and paleoecological analyses for understanding recent ecosystems. Students collaboratively acquire an insight into research questions of paleontology and learn quantitative methods for the analysis of fossil databases (www.paleobiodb.org) with the help of the programming language R (www.r-project.org).