Analysis of Form and Function in Fossils

SYNOPSIS. Paleontology and the fossil record contribute an historical perspective on the form-function relationship that is essential to an understanding of the particular range of biological forms and functions that exist in the living world. The record contains rich evidence of forms and functions that do not exist in the modern world and provides a context for exploring arenas of theoretical possibility and impossibility for organisms. Although the basic data of the fossil record are static forms and patterns in the rocks, paleontologists have developed methods of inferring function. Analogy is the most important source of hypotheses for the function of extinct organisms and enigmatic structures. Paleontological analogy frequently extends beyond biological form and structure to engineering solutions in familiar simple machines and a variety of other human artifacts. Three tools have proved especially useful in the analysis and interpretation of form in fossils. The paradigm method is a useful procedure for rigorous evaluation of alternative functional possibilities for enigmatic structures in a predominantly adaptive context. Constructional morphology reaches beyond the adaptive context to provide a conceptual framework for understanding the full range of factors that contribute to organic form. Theoretical morphology provides the basis for examining the range of forms and functions that have actually evolved against possible morphological and functional space. This essay is structured to provide applications of these paleontological tools and to encourage incorporation of paleontological data and perspective into instruction in introductory biology courses.