PhD: Treptichnids, T. pedum, and the evolution of behavioral complexity over the Ediacaran-Cambrian boundary

The Department of Palaeontology and Historical Geology is seeking a highly motivated PhD student (m/f/d) to conduct research on a DFG-funded project focused on trace fossils, and the evolution of behavioral complexity over the Ediacaran-Cambrian boundary. This project will combine detailed specimen-based analysis of trace fossils with exploratory fieldwork in southern Namibia, and neoichnological experiments in collaboration with scientists at Senckenberg am Meer in Wilhelmshaven. With this combination of approaches we aim to answer three principal questions:

1) How does the complexity of treptichnid trace fossils change through the late Ediacaran and Cambrian?

2) What specific behaviors do these burrows represent?

And finally:

3) What were the geobiological impacts of these behaviors?

At the culmination of this work, we aim to produce a comprehensive understanding of treptichnid- style burrows, the implications of these behaviors for the character of animal evolution over the Ediacaran-Cambrian boundary, and the utility of Treptichnus pedum as a biostratigraphic marker for the base of the Phanerozoic.