Insects, Past Environments and Climate (U03773)

? Credit Points : 20 ? SCQF Level : 10 ? Acronym : GEO-3-insects

This is a laboratory based course designed to provide students with the basic skills of identification of modern and fossil insects, principally beetles and to use the information provided in interpreting Quaternary sites. Insects potentially provide the most effective means of reconstructing both past environments and the details of changing climate. In the Quaternary context, they allow a level of resolution unavailable by any other method. As a group, insect remains may be the most frequent identifiable fossils in terrestrial and freshwater aquatic sediments, and flies, ectoparasites and beetles may be similarly common in any anaerobic or desiccated sediments. The process of identification of fossil insect remains is significantly different from the identification of modern specimens, because the former deals with disconnected fragments. It is essential, however, that students are able to recognise and then identify a broad range of insects so they know where the fossil fragments belong on a complete animal. The ability to recognise disconnected fragments (sclerites) is an essential part of the training and students will take the entire process through from the primary sediment sample to the identified list of animals. This will be followed by the interpretation of the assemblage using BUGSCEP and other published sources.

Entry Requirements

none

Subject Areas

Home subject area

Geography, (School of GeoSciences, Schedule N)

Delivery Information

? Normal year taken : 3rd year

? Delivery Period : Semester 2 (Blocks 3-4)

? Contact Teaching Time : 2 hour(s) per week for 10 weeks

First Class Information

Date	Start	End	Room	Area	Additional Information
08/01/2008	14:00	16:00

All of the following classes

Type	Day	Start	End	Area
Lecture	Tuesday	14:00	15:50	Central

Summary of Intended Learning Outcomes

At the end of the course the students should have developed an understanding of:

- Taxonomy and morphology of insects
- The selection and processing of samples for insect remains
- The identification of fossil insect remains
- Interpretation of fossil insect assemblages
- The use of palaeoentomology in the reconstruction of past environments
- Taphonomy and preservation and their role in the creation of the palaeoecological record
It will also provide students with:
- the skills necessary to write a specialist report (dissemination of data, collation of relevant information, - good knowledge of the BUGSCEP database