Week of Aug. 29
8/30: Introduction to the Course; Course Logistics
9/1: Taphonomy: Making a Fossil Record
9/1 LAB: Fossilization & Taphonomy
Reading: Chap. 1
Week of Sept. 5
9/6: Trace Fossils
9/8: Variation & Fossil Individuals
9/8 LAB: Micropaleontology
Reading: Chaps. 1, 19
9/9 PaleoDB Homework due
Week of Sept. 12
9/13: Fossil Species & Alpha Taxonomy
9/15: Biostratigraphy
9/15 LAB: Sponges & Corals
9/15 Lab Quiz 1
Reading: Chaps. 3, 10
Week of Sept. 19
9/20: Macroevolution in the Fossil Record
9/22: Cladistics & Phylogenetic Inference
9/22 LAB: Bryozoans
9/22 Lab Quiz 2
Reading: Chaps. 4, 5
Online Reading: Cladistics for Palaeontologists from the Paleontological Association:
Introduction, Cladistic Characters,
Tree-Building,
Optimization
9/21 Biostratigraphy Homework Due
Week of Sept. 26
9/27-29 MIDTERM EXAM I
9/27: Archean Fossils & Life's Origins
9/29: Fossil Protists and Metazoan Origins I
9/29 LAB: Brachiopods
9/29 Lab Quiz 3
Reading: Chaps. 8, 12
9/30 Alpha Taxonomy Homework Due
Week of Oct. 3
10/4: Metazoan Origins II; Sponges
10/6: Overview of Animal Phylogeny & Cnidarians
10/6 LAB: Gastropods & Cephalopods
10/6 Lab Quiz 4
Reading: Chaps. 13, 14
10/7 Phylogenetic Analysis Homework Due
Week of Oct. 10
10/11: Ediacaran Metazoans & the Cambrian Explosion
10/13: Animals with Lophophores: Bryozoans & Brachiopods
10/13 LAB: Bivalves
10/13 Lab Quiz 5
Reading: Chap. 14
Online Reading: Cunningham et al. 2017. BioEssays 39:1-12. doi:10.1002/bies.201600120
Week of Oct. 17
10/18: Mollusca I
10/20: Mollusca II
10/20 LAB: Arthropods
10/20 Lab Quiz 6
Reading: Chap. 16
Week of Oct. 24
10/25: Basal Panarthropoda
10/27: Arthropoda I
10/27 LAB: Pelmatozoans
10/27 Lab Quiz 7
Reading: Chap. 15
10/27-29 MIDTERM EXAM II
Week of Oct. 31
11/1: Arthropoda II
11/3: Basal Deuterostomes; Echinodermata I
11/3 LAB: Eleutherozoans
11/3 Lab Quiz 8
Reading: Chaps. 15, 17
11/4 Phylogenetic Inferences Homework Due
Week of Nov. 7
11/8: Echinodermata II
11/10: Chordates & Paleoichthyology
11/10 LAB: , Hemichordates (incl. Graptolithina), Basal Chordates, Paleoichthyology
11/10 Lab Quiz 9
Reading: Chaps. 17, 18
11/11 Paleoecology Homework Due
Week of Nov. 14
11/15: Tetrapod Paleontology
11/17: Paleobotany
11/17 LAB: Terrestrial Vertebrates
11/17 Lab Quiz 10
Reading: Chaps. 18, 20
Week of Nov. 21
11/22: Biomechanics & Functional Morphology
Reading: Chap. 7
11/23-27 THANKSGIVING RECESS: Enjoy your roasted dinosaur
Week of Nov. 28
11/29: Morphometrics
12/1: Paleoecology & Paleoenvironments
12/1 LAB: Paleobotany
12/1 Lab Quiz 11
Reading: Chaps. 7, 8
12/2 Paleontology Potpourri Homework Due
Week of Dec. 5
12/6: Macroecological Patterns: Large-Scale Phenomena of the Fossil Record
12/8: The Future of Paleontology
12/8 LAB: Hall of Fossils - Deep Time, National Museum of Natural History field trip
12/8 Lab Quiz 12
Reading: Chap. 6
Week of Dec. 12
12/14-16 FINAL EXAM
For a formatted printable copy of the complete syllabus, click here.
(Note: Syllabus may be altered based on unfolding circumstances.)
