The New Paleobiology: Fossils, Technology, and the Biology of Deep Time скачать в хорошем качестве

The New Paleobiology: Fossils, Technology, and the Biology of Deep Time

Jesús Marugán Lobón, Department of Biology, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid. Since its formalization, Paleobiology has evolved from a discipline primarily focused on the dynamics of the fossil record into a science oriented toward understanding the biological rules that govern life in deep time. The development of mathematical models and the integration of principles from evolutionary developmental biology have made it possible to interpret macroevolution according to a logic that is increasingly biological rather than strictly geological. In recent decades, two pillars have driven a decisive conceptual transformation: the “new” fossil record—resulting from more systematic exploration and the study of exceptional deposits—and the technological revolution, which incorporates tools such as mass spectroscopy, computational modeling, and powerful non-invasive high-resolution methods such vacuum SEM and tomographic scanning. These advances are reformulating macroevolutionary approaches and challenging long-established paradigms. The lecture will focus on two emblematic examples: the Cambrian explosion, now better understood as a prolonged process with multiple phases rather than a single event, and the dinosaur–bird transition, interpreted as the culmination of trends deeply rooted in dinosaurian biology. Through these cases, it will be argued that contemporary paleobiology not only reconstructs the past but aspires to become a predictive science capable of identifying the general rules that shape biological diversity across geological time.