Paleontology and Micropaleontology

Paleontology

Our group investigates and teaches in the field of paleontology; the subject of this research are fossils. They represent important evidence about the history of the earth and the development of life. Fossils help us to understand the complex relationships between the biosphere, hydrosphere, geosphere and atmosphere, as well as processes occurring over long periods of time; thus, paleontology provides insights into our origins as humans and our responsibility for the Earth's ecosystems.

Paleontological research is about documenting fossil organisms and about reconstructing their way of life, and using them as indicators of the paleoenvironment, of diagenetic changes, and of the age of the rocks containing them. Our approach is primarily application-oriented, meaning that we use fossils and fossilizable organisms living today in paleoecology and paleoclimatology, environmental research, georisk assessment, geoarchaeology, and biostratigraphy. Our study areas are largely in Central Europe, the Mediterranean, Central Asia, western and southern Africa.

Our research is mainly micropaleontological. The taxonomic focus is on ostracodes (shell crustaceans), small crustaceans with a double-flap carapace of calcite, and foraminifera, usually shell-bearing unicellular organisms. Both are classic groups of micropaleontology and occur in virtually all waters in often large numbers and high diversity, with foraminifera usually restricted to the oceans. Ostracodes and foraminifera can be used to study aquatic sediments throughout the Phanerozoic, i.e., throughout Earth's history, which is well documented with fossils. For paleoecological studies, however, we also draw on other groups of organisms, such as molluscs, and collaborate with many research groups on an interdisciplinary basis. In addition to the numerous fields of application, this concerns shell chemistry, geochemistry and sedimentology. Our principal methods are therefore field work, sediment sample preparation, various imaging techniques (light microscopy, electron microscopy, microtomography and photogrammetry), chemical analysis and multivariate statistics.

We are convinced that paleontology within the geosciences has a great potential for knowledge transfer and communication of scientific knowledge due to its great popularity among the general public. We try to use this potential through active public relation work.