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.

palaeoichnology logo - homepage of Andrea Baucon

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 logo - homepage of Andrea Baucon

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!

All
1. Palaeoichnology
2. Paleozoic
3. Mesozoic
4. Cenozoic
5. Neoichnology
6. Computational palaeontology
7. Astrobiology
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)

La-Repubblica logo

“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)

The-First-Fossil-Hunters3

TRACEMAKER BLOG

follow my research in a timeline fashion

July 2022

Discussing about ichnology and astrobiology on Focus TV

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

Read More
May 2022

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

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

Read More

Piacenza chiama Marte (Piacenza calling Mars)

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

Read More
March 2022

Ichnology on Rai3

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

Read More

I have been interviewed about my research on Leonardo da Vinci

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

Read More

We discovered the palaeontological laboratory of Leonardo da Vinci

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

Read More

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

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

Read More
January 2022

PALEOECOLOGY TEST!

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

Read More
December 2021

My new video is online!

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

Read More

I am on Focus TV/Mediaset Infinity!

I took part in a series of 3 documentaries about palaeontology and astrobiology. The ‘Pale…

Read More

STUDYING LIFE-SUBSTRATE INTERACTIONS

from the Mediterranean Sea to Mongolia

Andrea Baucon in Mongolia

POPULARIZATION OF GEOLOGY

creative ways to disseminate geology

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!

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?