I am Andrea ‘Tracemaker’ Baucon, welcome on my homepage!

My research interests are focused on the study of Ichnology, that is the study of life-substrate interactions. You can find me on the peak of the mountains looking for fossil tracks or I can annoy your beach-time while looking for recent worm burrows on the tidal flat.

However, I am not only studying traces: I also produce them!
I am involved in Digital Arts and multimedia design…follow my creative traces in this website!

Research interests

I research on fossil burrowsmodern burrowsastrobiologygeology and arthistory of science

research interests of Andrea Baucon

TRACE FOSSILS

The fossilized products of life-substrate interactions (ichnofossils or trace fossils) are the only direct evidence for ancient animal behaviour. For instance, trilobite burrows and dinosaur tracks can tell us how their producers moved, dwelled or searched for food. I am interested in using ichnofossils for understanding behaviour and environment of extinct animals.

MODERN ANIMAL ARCHITECTURES

Life produces sophisticate architectures by interacting with the substrate, e.g. the U-shaped burrows of bristleworms and the underground tunnels of ants. I am interested in understanding how animals build such architectures, what is their function and whether their distribution is environmentally-controlled.

COMPUTATIONAL PALEONTOLOGY

I am interested in using computational tools to explore quantitatively the fossil record. Fractal analysis can quantify geometries of extinct life; geostatistics allows to estimate the values of (paleo)biologically important variables at unsampled positions; network theory is very useful for finding patterns in complex paleontological datasets.

ASTROBIOLOGY

Burrows, trails and tracks preserve the activity of soft-bodied organisms, are resilient to processes that obliterate other biological signatures and their shape is virtually independent from the biochemistry of their tracemakers. These properties motivate me to apply the study of life-substrate interactions (ichnology) to the search for life beyond Earth.

GEOLOGY IN ART & HISTORY OF PALAEONTOLOGY

Since Leonardo da Vinci times, art has been a passionate way to describe geological phenomena. I am interested in walking along this line of continuity between science and art to explore the history of geology, with particular emphasis on palaeontology.

I PRODUCE TRACES

by interacting with the substrate

SCIENTIFIC PORTFOLIO

interested in exploring my research? Click on the images below!

A predictive model for the ichnological suitability of the Jezero crater, Mars: searching for fossilized traces of life-substrate interactions in the 2020 Rover Mission Landing Site

7. Astrobiology

Ichnofossils, Cracks or Crystals? A Test for Biogenicity of Stick-Like Structures from Vera Rubin Ridge, Mars

7. Astrobiology

Ichnoassociations, facies and depositional environments of a modern barrier-island: Ilha da Tavira (Ria Formosa, Portugal)

5. Neoichnology

Small-world dynamics drove Phanerozoic divergence of burrowing behaviors

1. Palaeoichnology, 2. Paleozoic, 3. Mesozoic, 4. Cenozoic, 6. Computational palaeontology

Ethology of the trace fossil Chondrites: form, function and environment

1. Palaeoichnology, 2. Paleozoic, 3. Mesozoic, 4. Cenozoic, 5. Neoichnology, 6. Computational palaeontology

Does the Ichnogis method work? A test of prediction performance in a microtidal environment: The Mula di Muggia (Northern Adriatic, Italy)

5. Neoichnology, 6. Computational palaeontology

Da Vinci’s paleodictyon: The fractal beauty of traces

1. Palaeoichnology, 6. Computational palaeontology, 8. History of palaeontology

A multidisciplinary study of ecosystem evolution through early Pleistocene climate change from the marine Arda River section, Italy

1. Palaeoichnology, 4. Cenozoic

Leonardo da Vinci - from the homepage of Andrea Baucon

LEONARDO DA VINCI, THE FOUNDING FATHER OF ICHNOLOGY

8. History of palaeontology

Behaviors mapped by new geographies: Ichnonetwork analysis of the Val Dolce Formation (lower Permian; Italy-Austria)

1. Palaeoichnology, 2. Paleozoic, 6. Computational palaeontology

STARS OF THE AFTERMATH: ASTERIACITES BEDS FROM THE LOWER TRIASSIC OF THE CARNIC ALPS (WERFEN FORMATION, SAURIS DI SOPRA), ITALY

1. Palaeoichnology, 3. Mesozoic

A History of Ideas in Ichnology

8. History of palaeontology

“A new study [led by Andrea Baucon] suggests that burrows, borings and trails are ideal to detect any type of extraterrestrial life that may have been existed”

– National Geographic (September 2017)

National Geographic

“A team led by Andrea Baucon […] suggests that astrobiologists should follow suit and search not just for living and fossilised creatures, but also the traces they may have left behind”

– Mika McKinnon, New Scientist (22 July 2017)

new scientist

“A team of scientists […] led by Andrea Baucon […] proposes a new approach to astrobiology (the search for evidence of the existence of life on other planets): following the fossilized traces left by organisms”

– Matteo Marini, La Repubblica.it (July 2017)

“Baucon also discovered evidence that Leonardo da Vinci was the first to understand trace fossils, pushing the science of ichnology back several centuries”

– Adrienne Mayor, The First Fossil Hunters: Dinosaurs, Mammoths, and Myth in Greek and Roman Times (2011)

TRACEMAKER BLOG

follow my research in a timeline fashion

August 2023

Pharaoh-era bees found naturally mummified on the Southwest Coast of Portugal

August 13, 2023 Uncategorized 0

X-ray micro-computed tomography of a 3000-years-old bee found inside its brood cell. About 2975 years…

July 2022

Discussing about ichnology and astrobiology on Focus TV

July 1, 2022 Uncategorized 0

I presented my research on the ‘Pale Blue Dot’ #documentary, which aired on Focus TV….

May 2022

The fourth episode of a ‘Pale Blue Dot’ is now online!

May 8, 2022 Uncategorized 0

In November 2021 I took part in a Mediaset production named ‘A Pale Blue Dot’….

Piacenza chiama Marte (Piacenza calling Mars)

May 5, 2022 Uncategorized 0

Ho curato la mostra “Piacenza chiama Marte”, organizzata in collaborazione con Annarita Volpi e Girolamo…

March 2022

Ichnology on Rai3

March 26, 2022 Uncategorized 0

Me and Girolamo Lo Russo discussed the relationship between #ichnology and #Leonardo da Vinci. Where?…

I have been interviewed about my research on Leonardo da Vinci

March 26, 2022 Uncategorized 0

I have been interviewed about my research on Leonardo da Vinci and palaeontology. The interview…

We discovered the palaeontological laboratory of Leonardo da Vinci

March 16, 2022 Uncategorized 0

ANSA, the leading wire service in Italy presented my research about a new paleontological site…

The third episode of ‘A Pale Blue Dot’ is now online!

March 15, 2022 Uncategorized 0

The third episode of a ‘Pale Blue Dot’ is online! It is a documentary which…

January 2022

PALEOECOLOGY TEST!

January 6, 2022 Uncategorized 0

I am teaching the course “Palaeoecology: methods and applications” at the University of Genova. Here…

December 2021

My new video is online!

December 27, 2021 Uncategorized 0

I just published my new video about palaeontology! I apply the key tools of paleontology…

STUDYING LIFE-SUBSTRATE INTERACTIONS

from the Mediterranean Sea to Mongolia

Andrea Baucon in Mongolia

POPULARIZATION OF GEOLOGY

creative ways to disseminate geology

Exhibits

Paleobiologica – 600 million years in art is a set of large-sized paintings that I realized for Dinoexpo, world’s largest travelling exibition about dinosaurs

Geology&Art is an exhibit exploring the aesthetic diversity of geological art.

Why geology in art? I tackled this question by interviewing contemporary artists dealing with geology. The answer is surprising!

Videos

Mongolia in Super 8 is the reportage of a scientific expedition in Mongolia. Proudly made with a noisy Super 8 camera!

Geodelia is a Video Art installation linking Geology and Art. Do petrographic thin secions fit well into a music festival?