a report on the Caesar Creek local fauna. This report is on the entire class collections—i.e., the entire assemblage you and your classmates collected—NOT just your collection. In the report you will address the following: (1) Geographic location, (2) Formation, lithology, and depositional environment, (3) Taphonomy, (4) Taxonomic richness, phylogenetic diversity, and relative abundance, and (5) Functional diversity. Each of those four categories should be a separate section in your report.
You should also include: (1) Table of the specimens and their identifications, (2) List of the taxa present grouped by Phyla, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species, (3) Figure of the locality (map, sketch, photograph, strat column, etc.), (4) Figure of the specimens you collected (not all necessarily, but representatives of the major groups in your collection), and (5) Figure of the major functional groups represented in your sample.
There is no max/min page limit, just as long as you address all of the components of the assemblage worked through during lab.
Introduction: 2 pts
● Geographic location
● Materials and methods used
Geologic Setting: 4 pts
● Formation name(s)
● Formation age(s)
● Lithology of rocks
● Depositional environment
Taphonomy: 3 pts
● Fossilization processes
● How organism may have died
● In situ or ex situ?
Taxonomic Diversity: 5 pts
● Taxonomic richness
● Phylogenetic diversity
● Relative abundance
● Evenness (Simpson’s Index)
● Brief description of what the 4 points above tell you about the community
Functional Diversity: 4 pts
● Functional richness
● Functional evenness
● Relative abundance of functional groups
● Discussion of paleoecology of assemblage
Tables, Figures, Graphs, etc: 5 pts
● Table of specimens and identifications
● List of taxa by grouped by phyla, class, order, family, genus, and species
● Figure of location
● Figure of major groups represented in your sample(s)
● Figure of functional groups
Sources: 2 pts
● Sources listed in alphabetical order
● In-text citations used when appropriate