Aug. 30 Introduction: Why Study Fossils?
Reading: B&H Chap. 1

Sept. 1 Taphonomy I: Properties and Habitats of Good Fossil Makers
Reading: B&W Chap. 3
Suppl. Online Reading: Knoll 2003

Sept. 3 Taphonomy II: Fossils as Sedimentary Particles & Taphonomic Filters
Reading: B&H Chap. 3

LAB 1: Analytical: Fossilization and Taphonomy (Clarkson Chap. 1)

Sept. 6 LABOR DAY - No Class Sept. 8 Taphonomy III: Modes of Fossilization & Lagerstätten
Reading: Prothero Chap. 1

Sept. 10 Biostratigraphy I
Reading: B&H Chap. 2
LAB 2: Descriptive: Micropaleontology: Clarkson Chap. 3

Sept. 13 Biostratigraphy II and Trace Fossils I
Reading: B&H Chaps. 2, 19

Sept. 15 Trace Fossils II
Reading: B&H Chap. 19

Sept. 17 Variation and Fossil Individuals
LAB 3: Descriptive: Sponges and Cnidaria (Clarkson Chaps. 4-5)

Sept. 20 Fossil Species and Species Criteria

Sept. 22 Alpha Taxonomy & Identifying Fossils

Sept. 24 Macroevolution and the Fossil Record
Reading: B&H Chap. 5
LAB 4: Analytical: Taxonomy and Phylogenetics

Sept. 27 Cladistics I: Methods of Phylogenetic Analysis
Reading: B&H Chap. 7
Online Reading: Cladistics for Palaeontologists, particluarly Introduction, Characters, Tree-Building, Optimization
Report I due

Sept. 29 Cladistics II: Phylogenetic Inferences
Reading: Prothero Chap. 4
Online Reading: Cladistics for Palaeontologists, particularly Consensus & Support, Missing Information and Stratigraphy; Donoghue and Benton 2007

LAB 5: Descriptive: Bryozoans and Brachiopods (Clarkson Chaps. 6-7)

Oct. 1 Extinctions & Mass Extinction
Reading: B&H Chap. 7

Oct. 4 Evo-Devo, Deep Homology, and the Origins of Evolutionary Novelty

Oct. 6 Exam I

Oct. 8 Paleoecology, the Fundamental Niche, and Extinction
Reading: Prothero Chaps. 6, 8
Suppl. Online Reading: Jackson and Overpeck 2000
LAB 6: Descriptive: Mollusca (Clarkson Chap. 8)

Oct. 11, 13 No lectures: Annual Meeting of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology

Oct. 15 Paleoenvironmental Analysis & Biochemical Paleontology
Reading: B&H Chap. 4
LAB 7: Analytical: Biostratigraphy and the PaleoDB

Oct. 18 Faunal Analyses: Paleontology of Communities
Reading: B&H Chap. 4
Suppl. Online Reading: Bambach et al. 2007, Dunne et al. 2008

Oct. 20 Lineage-Based Analyses: Trends in Taxa

Oct. 22 Functional Morphology
Reading: B&H Chap. 6
LAB: PRACTICAL I (Covers Sept. 3 through Oct. 8)

Oct. 25 The Oldest Fossils & Prokaryote Fossil History
Reading: B&H Chap. 8
Suppl. Online Reading: Brasier et al. 2006, Schopf 2006
Report II due

Oct. 27 Fossil Protists
Reading: B&H Chap. 9
Online Reading: Knoll et al. 2006

Oct. 29 Precambrian Macrofossils: the Garden of Ediacara and the Long Fuse of the Cambrian Explosion
Reading: B&H Chap. 10
Suppl. Online Reading: Marshall 2006, Narbonne 2005
Paper Topics Due
LAB 8: Descriptive: Arthropoda (Clarkson Chap. 11)

Nov. 1 Poriferans and Cnidarians
Reading: B&H Chap. 11

Nov. 3 Basal Bilateralians, Bryozoans, Brachiopods
Reading: B&H Chap. 12
Suppl. Online Reading: Halanych 2004

Nov. 5 Mollusks I: Basal Forms through Gastropods
Reading: Prothero Chap. 15
LAB 9: Descriptive: Echinodermata & Graptolithina (Clarkson Chaps. 9-10)

Nov. 8 Mollusks II: Cephalopods & Bivalves
Reading: Prothero Chap. 15

Nov. 10 Exam II

Nov. 12 Arthropods I: Basal forms, Myriapods, Arachnomorphs
Reading: B&H Chap. 14
Paper Initial Bibliography Due
LAB 10: Descriptive: Vertebrate Paleontology

Nov. 15 Arthropods II: Pancrustacea
Reading: B&H Chap. 14

Nov. 17 Introduction to Deuterostomia: Basal Deuterostomes, Hemichordates, Basal Echinoderms
Reading: B&H Chap. 15

Nov. 19 Echinoderms II: Crinoids & Eleutherozoans
Reading: B&H Chap. 15
LAB 11: Paleobotany

Nov. 22 Basal Chordates & the Origin of the Vertebrates
Reading: B&H Chap. 16

Nov. 24 Vertebrate Paleontology I: Paleoichthyology
Reading: B&H Chap. 16

Nov. 25-26 Thanksgiving Recess: enjoy your roasted dinosaur

Nov. 29 Vertebrate Paleontology II: Fossil Tetrapods
Reading: B&H Chap. 17

Dec. 1 Vertebrate Paleontology II: Fossil Tetrapods - continued and Paleobotany I: Spore Plants & the Colonization of Land
Reading: B&H Chap. 18
Suppl. Online Reading: Crane et al. 2004

Dec. 3 Paleobotany II: Seed Plants
Reading: B&H Chap. 18
Suppl. Online Reading: Soltis et al. 2008
LAB 12: Analytical: Paleoecology & Paleoenvironmental Analysis

Dec. 6 Student Presentations

Dec. 8 Student Presentations
PAPERS DUE!

Dec. 10 The Future of Paleontology
LAB: PRACTICAL II (Covers Oct. 11 to Dec. 3)

Dec. 16 (Thursday!) FINAL EXAM, PLS 1162, 1:30-3:30 pm

For a formatted printable copy of the complete syllabus, click here.

Class Location & Time, Policies, Textbooks, etc.

Handouts

Links to Other Resources

Last modified: 16 September 2010