Week of Aug. 26
8/27: Introduction to the Course; Course Logistics
8/29: Taphonomy: Making a Fossil Record
8/29 LAB: Fossilization & Taphonomy
Reading: Chap. 1
Week of Sept. 3
9/4: Trace Fossils
9/6: Variation & Fossil Individuals
9/6 LAB: Micropaleontology
Reading: Chaps. 1, 19
9/7 PaleoDB Homework due
Week of Sept. 9
9/10: Fossil Species & Alpha Taxonomy
9/12: Biostratigraphy
9/12 LAB: Sponges & Corals
9/12 Lab Quiz 1
Reading: Chaps. 3, 10
Week of Sept. 16
9/17: Macroevolution in the Fossil Record
9/19: Cladistics & Phylogenetic Inference
9/19 LAB: Bryozoans
9/19 Lab Quiz 2
Reading: Chaps. 4, 5
Online Reading: Cladistics for Palaeontologists from the Paleontological Association:
Introduction, Cladistic Characters,
Tree-Building,
Optimization
9/20 Biostratigraphy Homework Due
Week of Sept. 23
9/24: Archean Fossils & Life's Origins
9/26: Fossil Protists and Metazoan Origins I
9/26 LAB: Brachiopods
9/26 Lab Quiz 3
Reading: Chaps. 8, 12
9/26-27 MIDTERM EXAM I
Week of Sept. 30
10/1: Metazoan Origins II; Sponges
10/3: Overview of Animal Phylogeny & Cnidarians
10/3 LAB: Gastropods & Cephalopods
10/3 Lab Quiz 4
Reading: Chaps. 13, 14
10/4 Alpha Taxonomy Homework Due
Week of Oct. 7
10/8: Ediacaran Metazoans & the Cambrian Explosion
10/10: Animals with Lophophores: Bryozoans & Brachiopods
10/10 LAB: Bivalves
10/10 Lab Quiz 5
Reading: Chap. 14
Online Reading: Cunningham et al. 2017. BioEssays 39:1-12. doi:10.1002/bies.201600120
10/11 Phylogenetic Analysis Homework Due
Week of Oct. 14
10/15: Mollusca I
10/17: Mollusca II
10/17 LAB: Arthropods
10/17 Lab Quiz 6
Reading: Chap. 16
Week of Oct. 21
10/22: Basal Panarthropoda
10/24: Arthropoda I
10/24 LAB: Pelmatozoans
10/24 Lab Quiz 7
Reading: Chap. 15
10/24-25 MIDTERM EXAM II
Week of Oct. 28
10/29: Arthropoda II
10/31: Basal Deuterostomes; Echinodermata I
10/31 LAB: Eleutherozoans
10/31 Lab Quiz 8
Reading: Chaps. 15, 17
11/1 Phylogenetic Inferences Homework Due
Week of Nov. 4
11/5: Echinodermata II
11/5 is ELECTION DAY! Make sure to exercise your responsibility, and vote in the local, state, and national elections!
11/7: Chordates & Paleoichthyology
11/7 LAB: Hemichordates (incl. Graptolithina), Basal Chordates, Paleoichthyology
11/7 Lab Quiz 9
Reading: Chaps. 17, 18
11/8 Paleoecology Homework Due
Week of Nov. 11
11/12: Tetrapod Paleontology
11/14: Paleobotany
11/14 LAB: Terrestrial Vertebrates
11/14 Lab Quiz 10
Reading: Chaps. 18, 20
Week of Nov. 18
11/19: Biomechanics & Functional Morphology
11/21: Morphometrics
11/21 LAB: Paleobotany
11/21 Lab Quiz 11
Reading: Chap. 7
11/21 Paleontology Potpourri Homework Due
Week of Nov. 25
11/26: Paleoecology & Paleoenvironments
Reading: Chap. 8
11/27-29 THANKSGIVING RECESS: Enjoy your roasted dinosaur
Week of Dec. 2
12/3: Macroecological Patterns: Large-Scale Phenomena of the Fossil Record
12/5: The Future of Paleontology
12/5 LAB: Hall of Fossils - Deep Time, National Museum of Natural History field trip
12/5 Lab Quiz 12
Reading: Chap. 6
Week of Dec. 9
12/11-12 FINAL EXAM
For a formatted printable copy of the complete syllabus, click here.
(Note: This is a tentative schedule, and subject to change as necessary – monitor the course ELMS page for current deadlines. In the unlikely event of a prolonged university closing, or an extended absence from the university, adjustments to the course schedule, deadlines, and assignments will be made based on the duration of the closing and the specific dates missed.)
