A problematic fossil brings paleontology to the classroom and the world

Journal of Geoscience Education, Sep 2003 by Burr, Sande A, Chiment, John J, Allmon, Warren D, Rigby, J Keith

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Thanks to William Basset and John Hunt for their help with microphotography, to Vicki Chiment for hours of fossil preparation, to Roger Segelken for his interest, to Charles Harrington for inspired photography, to Cathy Bair for supporting our effort in her classroom, to Carol Griggs for additional classroom support, to Robert M. Ross for information about educational websites, to Arthur L. Bloom and Jack Bird for doubting, to Roger Burr for his editing expertise, to Josepth Pachut and Dale Springer for their helpful comments and suggestions, and to Bryan Isacks and the Cornell Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences for support.

REFERENCES

Anonymous, 1999a, Going on a fossil hunt: Geotimes, v.44, no.5, p. 12

Anonymous, 1999b, Sponging off the past: dig yields fossils: National Geographic, v. 196, no. 3, p. viii

Beaty, S.K., Fountas I., 1994, Dinosaurs forever! A whole language resource guide for K-4. Menlo Park, Addison-Wesley, 250 p.

Briggs, D.E.G., and Morris, S.C., 1986, Problematica from the Middle Cambrian Burgess Shale of British Columbia: In A. Hoffman and M.H. Nitecki, (eds.) Problematic Fossil Taxa. New York: Oxford University Press, p.167-83

Caster, K. E. 1939, Siliceous sponges from Mississippian and Devonian strata of the Perm-York embayment: Journal of Paleontology, v.13, no.1, p. 1-20

Caster, K. E. 1941, The Titusvilliidae: Paleozoic and Recent branching Hexactinellida: Paleontographica Americana, v. 2, no.12, p. 475-523

Cook, N., Johnson C.V., 1996, Measuring dinosaurs: real-world mathematics through science. Menlo Park, Addison-Wesley, 127 p.

Cornell Geology, Mastodon in a bag; http://www.geo.cornell.edu/mastodon/ (Jan2000)

Cornell News, Children's sorting of mastodon debris-in-a-bag could help explain climate change 12,000 years ago, Cornell scientists hope. http://www.news. Cornell.edu/releases/Jan00/ mastodon.baggie.hrs.html (Jan. 17, 2000)

Dobbins, B. 1999, Prehistory to be squeezed from suspected sponge fossil: The Los Angeles Times, Sunday Jun. 3, 1999, p. A4

Fedonkin, M. A., 1986, Precambrian problematic animals: Their body plan and phylogeny: In A. Hoffman and M.H. Nitecki, (eds.) Problematic Fossil Taxa. New York: Oxford University Press, p.59-67

Georgia Mineral Society, Could mystery be sponge fossils?; http://www.gamineral.org/fossil-news. htm (Jun. 06, 1999)

Hantzschell, W. 1966, In R. C. Moore (ed.), Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology, Part W, Problematica. Geological Society of America and University of Kansas Press, Lawrence, p.w177-w249

Maisey, J G., Moody, J. M., 2001, A Review of the Problematic Extinct Teleost Fish Araripichthys, with a Description of a New Species from the Lower Cretaceous of Venezuela: American Museum of Natural History Novitates 3324: 27 p.

Marshall, J., 1875, Untersuchungen uber Hexactinelliden: Zeitschrift fur wissenschaftliche Zoologie. Bd.25, supp. 1875, p. 142-245

Munsart, C.A., 1993, Investigating science with dinosaurs. NY, Teacher Ideas Press, 200p.

Murie, J., 1876, On Steere's Sponge, a new genus of the Hexactinellid group of the Spongida: Transactions of the Linnaean Society of London, Zoology, second series, v.1, p. 219-37