GEOL 204 The Fossil Record Lectures

GEOL 204 Dinosaurs, Early Humans, Ancestors & Evolution:
The Fossil Record of Vanished Worlds of the Prehistoric Past

Spring Semester 2021

Close up of the Thermopolis specimen of the Jurassic primitive feathered dinosaur Archaeopteryx

CLASS SCHEDULE & LECTURE NOTES

Week I (Jan. 25-29)

Jan. 25 Discussion: Introductions; Course Logistics; Policy Review; Overview of Syllabus
Jan. 26 Review Meeting: Overview of Course & Its Topics
Lecture: "Into the Darkness of Prehistory: Our Long Quest for Origins"
Lecture: "Clocks in the Rocks: The Geologic Record & Geologic Time"

Week II (Feb. 1-5)

Feb. 1 Discussion: The Scale of Geologic Time; HW on Geologic Time & Paleoenvironments provided
Feb. 2 Review Meeting
Lecture: "Bones in the Stones & Shells in the Shales: Fossils and Fossilization"
Lecture: "Bringing Fossils to Life: Paleobiology and the Methods of Science"
Feb 5 Quiz 1 due

Week III (Feb. 8-12)

Feb. 8 Discussion: Scientific Papers; Geologic Time HW due; HW on Understanding Scientific Papers provided
Feb. 9 Review Meeting
Lecture: "'What is It?': Identifying Fossils and the Nature of Species"
Lecture: "Descent with Modification: Evolution & Natural Selection"

Week IV (Feb. 15-19)

Feb. 15 Discussion: Platform Presentations overview; Guide to making PowerPoints; Scientific Papers HW due; HW on PaleoCSI provided
Feb. 16 Review Meeting
Lecture: "Tempo & Mode: Origins & the Fossil Record"
Lecture: "The Tree of Life: Reconstructing the Patterns of Evolution"
Feb. 19 Quiz 2 due

Week V (Feb. 22-26)

Feb. 22 Discussion:Tree of Life; Midterm Review; PaleoCSI HW due; Evolution & Tree of Life HW provided
Feb. 23 Review Meeting & Midterm Review
ONLINE MIDTERM EXAM I Feb. 24-26
Lecture: "Earth & Life Through Time; The Broad Pattern of the History of Life"
Lecture: "Climate Emergencies Past & Present: The PETM and the Anthropocene Contrasted"

Week VI (Mar. 1-5)

Mar. 1 Discussion: Presentations 1-3; Evolution HW due; HW on Paleoclimate provided; PowerPoints for Presentations due for all students
Mar. 2 Review Meeting
Lecture: "Awful Changes: Mass Extinctions"
Lecture: "Death from Above: The Cretaceous/Paleogene Mass Extinction"
Mar. 5 Quiz 3 due

Week VII (Mar. 8-12)

Mar. 8 Discussion: Presentations 4-6; Paleoclimate HW due; HW on Mass Extinctions provided
Mar. 9 Review Meeting
Lecture: Death from Below: The Permo-Triassic Mass Extinction & Mass Extinction Wrap Up"
Lecture: First Impressions to Shell Games: The Garden of Ediacara and the Cambrian Explosion"

Spring Break Week (Mar. 14-18)

Week VIII (Mar. 22-26)

Mar. 22 Discussion: Presentations 7-9; Mass Extinction HW due
Mar. 23 Review Meeting
Lecture: "A Tale of Two Dynasties: The Rise and Fall of Trilobites and Ammonoids"
Lecture: "'Fearfully Great Lizards': The Rise of the Dinosaurs"
Mar. 26 Quiz 4 due

Week IX (Mar. 29-Apr. 2)

Mar. 29 Discussion: Presentations 10-12; Midterm Review
Mar. 30 Review Meeting
Lecture: "Feathered Dragons: Dinosaurs and the Origin of Birds"
Lecture: "The Hot-Blooded Dinosaurs: Reconstructing Dinosaur Physiology"

Week X (Apr. 5-9)

Apr. 5 Discussion: Presentations 13-15; Midterm Review continued
Apr. 6 Review Meeting & Midterm Review
ONLINE MIDTERM EXAM II Apr. 7-9
Lecture: "Furry Conquerors: Cenozoic Mammalian Diversification"
Lecture: "Drawing Out Leviathan: The Origins of Whales"

Week XI (Apr. 12-16)

Apr. 12 Discussion: Presentations 16-18; Fossil Record in Popular Culture project overview
Apr. 13 Review Meeting
Lecture: "Wild and Wooly: Origins of the Quaternary Ice Age and Its Fauna
Lecture: "The Scatterlings of Africa: The Origins of Humanity"
Apr. 16 Quiz 5 due

Week XII (Apr. 19-23)

Apr. 19 Discussion: Presentations 19-20; HW on Human Origins provided
Apr. 20 Review Meeting
Lecture: "Last Man Standing: The Rise of Homo sapiens"
Lecture: "Out of Eden: The Spread of Homo sapiens"

Week XIII (Apr. 26-30)

Apr. 26 Discussion: Human Origins HW due; Fossil Record in Popular Culture presentations I
Apr. 27 Review Meeting
Lecture: "The Call of Distant Mammoths: The Pleistocene Megafaunal Extinctions"
Lecture: "The Sixth Extinction: The Holocene Extinctions & Modern Defaunations"
Apr. 30 Quiz 6 due

Week XIV (May 3-7)

May 3 Discussion: Fossil Record in Popular Culture presentations II
May 4 Review Meeting
Lecture: "Reversing the Tide? Conservation Paleontology, Rewilding, and De-extinction"
Lecture: "The Earth After Us: The Fossil Record of the Anthropocene and Beyond"

Week XV (May 10-11)

May 10 Discussion: Final Exam Review
May 11 Review Meeting & Final Review
Lecture: "What Good is the Fossil Record? Perspectives of the Prehistoric Past"
May 11 Quiz 7 due
May 13-15: FINAL EXAM online

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

To the main syllabus

Last modified: 25 March 2021

Mass death assemblage of the Ordovician trilobite Dikelokephalina