Some palaeo-related discussion

Hello, my brethren.

Hope you're all well. Sadly I won't be making it out to Denver this year, but I hope anyone who goes has fun.

Now then, to business. John and I spent a few weeks in Santa Barbara doing a palaeobiological analysis course, and I thought it would be useful to let you all know what we actually covered, in case of any questions or discussions that might lead from it. We started with a bit of stuff about the philosophy of stats, and then covered geometric morphometrics, community palaeoecology (with lots of mathematical proofs), diversity curves, quantitative biochronology, phylogenetics (of the maximum likelihood variety), and speciation and extinction (lots of simulations, basically). So there you go.

And now a question for Ben. I read your report on your MSc project in the TMS newletter, and towards the end you mention the expansion of grasslands modulating silica supply to the oceans (presumably because of the phytoliths within the grasses?). Anyway, coming from the point of view of someone who has studied the expansion of grasslands but knows bugger all about the silica cycle, I'm just wondering how important a factor you think this would be in terms of radiolarian evolution, and the amount of silica reaching the oceans in general. The timing is rather interesting (late Eocene-early Oligocene), as this is when grasslands are hypothesised to have developed in South America (evidenced by hypsodonty rather than grass fossils themselves). Anyway, it struck me as being an interesting discussion point.

TTFN.