The main objective of Paleontological Society Short Courses is to provide up-to-date summaries of the "state of the art" of selected paleontological topics especially for the use and dissemination by those teaching paleontological topics at the university level. Additional, these short courses provide timely summaries for all paleontologists in areas that are peripheral to their main areas of interest. Within this overall purpose, this short course will focus on an, until now, largely overlooked aspects of trace fossils, namely the biological significance and meaning of traces. Individuals invited to contribute to this short course are well known for their sedimentological studies of trace fossils hey are also extremely competent to address the biological components and this has been clearly conveyed in the invitations and subsequent discussions we have had with them. They have all strongly endorsed our approach and will emphasize what is known about the biological aspects of their topic (see enclosed course outline). Our approach to the trace fossil short course will diverge somewhat from the format used in so many of the past short courses. In addition to the talks and short course notes, we will conduct a field trip in the Cincinnati area in order to demonstrate methods of applying trace fossil information to paleoecological interpretations of ancient rocks. In addition, we have arranged for Mark A. Wilson (College of Wooster, Wooster, Ohio) to conduct a one-day course in paleobiology of marine hard substrates.
