Quantitative Life Sciences seminar - Wed. 22 Oct. 11:00 am

[Quantitative Life Sciences]

QUANTITATIVE LIFE SCIENCES SEMINAR

Wednesday, 22 October -   11:00 a.m.

Luigi Stasi Seminar Room,
ICTP Leonardo Building (first floor)


Andrea BAUCON
(University of Milano, Dept. of Earth Science, Italy and
UNESCO Geopark Naturtejo Meseta Meridional, Portugal)

"From worm burrows to dinosaur footprints: An ichnological journey into
biological behavior"

Abstract

Since Paleolithic times, humans have tried to read biological behavior
through animal and plant traces. Over the centuries, this art of
survival has evolved into a discipline halfway between Earth Sciences
and Life Sciences: Ichnology.
This seminar discusses the fundamentals of the study of traces,
presenting robust techniques to decipher the ichnological alphabet –
from worm burrows to dinosaur footprints. Special attention will be paid
to the application of quantitative techniques such as fractal geometry,
network theory and artificial life. Fossil and modern environments will
be explored, underlining the (paleo)biological significance of 600
millions of years of bioturbation in marine and terrestrial ecosystems.
In fact, burrows, footprints, borings, coprolites are fossil behavior
and, as such, they are a valuable tool in sedimentary geology,
evolutionary biology and paleontology.



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Quantitative Life Sciences
The Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP)
Trieste,  Italy
Tel. +39-040-2240623
e-mail: qls at ictp.it