Required readings in bold; additional readings in plain text. These pdfs are accessible from a University of Maryland IP address; additionally, they may be retrieved through the Journals tab of Research Port.

WEEK 1 (Jan. 29, 31)

Overview of Phanerozoic History::

• Sheehan, P.M. 2001. History of marine biodiversity. Geological Journal 36: 231-249.

Animal Phylogeny:

• Donoghue, P.C.J. & I.J. Sansom. 2002. Origin and early evolution of vertebrate skeletonization. Microscopy Research and Technique 59: 352-372.
• Halanych, K.M. 2004. The new view of animal phylogeny. Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics 35: 229-256.
• For those who want a refresher at reading cladograms, try:
  • Baum, D.A., S.D. Smith & S.S.S. Donovan. 2005. The tree-thinking challenge. Science 310: 979-980.
  • Quizzes associated with the above article
  • Gregory, T.R. 2008. Understanding evolutionary trees. Evolution Education & Outreach 1: 121-137.

WEEK 2 (Feb. 5, 7)

Problems with Molecular Divergence Dates:

• Benton, M.J., & P.C.J. Donoghue. 2007. Paleontological evidence to date the Tree of Life. Molecular Biology and Evolution 24: 26-53.
• Donoghue, P.C.J., & M.J. Benton. 2007. Rocks and clocks: calibrating the Tree of Life using fossils and molecules. Trends in Ecology & Evolution 22: 424-431.
• Graur, D., & W. Martin. 2004. Reading the entrails of chickens: molecular timescales of evolution and the illusion of precision. Trends in Genetics 20: 80-86.
• Hug, L.A., & A.J. Roger. 2007. The impact of fossils and taxon sampling on ancient molecular dating analyses. Molecular Biology and Evolution 24: 1889-1897.
• Müller, J., & R.R. Reisz. 2005. Four well-constrained calibration points from the vertebrate fossil record for molecular clock estimates. BioEssays 27: 1069-1075.

Deep Green: Plant Phylogeny:

• Bateman, R.M., J. Hilton & P.J. Rudall. 2006. Morphological and molecular phylogenetic context of the angiosperms: contrasting the 'top-down' and 'bottom-up' approaches used to infer the likely characteristics of the first flowers. Journal of Experimental Botany 57: 3471-3503.
• Crane, P.R., P. Herendeen & E.M. Friis. 2004. Fossils and plant phylogeny. American Journal of Botany 91: 1683-1699.
• Donoghue, M.J. 2005. Key innovations, convergence, and success: macroevolutionary lessons from plant phylogeny. Paleobiology 31, Suppl. to 2: 77-93.
• Palmer, J.D., D.E. Soltis, & M.W. Chase. 2004. The plant tree of life: an overview and some points of view. American Journal of Botany 91: 1437-1445.

WEEK 3 (Feb. 12 [Darwin's 199th Birthday!], 14)

Macroevolution and Macroecology:

• Butterfield, N.J. 2007. Macroevolution and macroecology through Deep Time. Palaeontology 50: 41-55.
• Jackson, J.B.C. & D.H. Erwin. 2006. What can we learn about ecology and evolution from the fossil record? Trends in Ecology and Evolution 21: 322-328.
• Kemp, T.S. 2007. The origin of higher taxa: macroevolutionary processes, and the case of the mammals. Acta Zoologica 88: 3–22.
• Leiberman, B.S., W. Miller III & N. Eldredge. 2007. Paleontological patterns, macroecological dynamics and the evolutionary process. Evolutionary Biology 34: 28-48.
• Vrba, E.S. 2005. Mass turnover and heterochrony events in response to physical change. Paleobiology 31, Suppl. to 2: 157-174.

WEEK 4 (Feb. 19, 21)

Multicellularity and the Garden of Ediacara:

• Canfield, D.E., S.W. Poulton & G.M. Narbonne. 2007. Late-Neoproterozoic deep-ocean oxygenation and the rise of animal life. Science 315: 92-95.
• Droser, M.L., J.G. Gehling & Sören R. Jensen. 2006. Assemblage palaeoecology of the Ediacara biota: The unabridged edition? Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 232; 131-147.
• Erwin, D.H., & E.H. Davidson. 2002. The last common bilaterian ancestor. Development 129: 3021-3032.
• Grosberg, R.K. & R.R. Strathman. 2007. The evolution of multicellularity: a minor major transition? Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics 38: 621-654.
• MacFadden, K.A., J. Huang, X. Chu, G. Jiang, A.J. Kaufman, C. Zhou, X. Yuan & S. Xiao. 2008. Pulsed oxidation and biological evolution in the Ediacaran Doushantuo Formation. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in press.
• Narbonne, G.M. 2004. Modular construction of early Ediacaran complex life forms. Science 305: 1141-1144. [See also Perspectives on this paper:
  • Braiser, M., & J. Antcliffe. 2004. PALEOBIOLOGY: Decoding the Ediacaran enigma. Science 305: 1115-1117.]
• Narbonne, G.M. 2005. The Ediacaran biota: Neoproterozoic origin of animals and their ecosystems. Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences 33: 421-442.
• Seilacher, A. 2007. The nature of vendobionts. Geological Society, London, Special Publications 286: 387-397. [This is but one article in a recent volume dedicated to the Ediacaran biota:
  • Vickers-Rich, P., & P. Komarower. 2007. The Rise and Fall of the Ediacaran Biota. Geological Society, London, Special Publications 286.]
• Shen, B., L. Dong, S. Xiao & M. Kowalewski. 2008. The Avalon Explosion: evolution of Ediacara morphospace. Science 319: 81-84.
• Steiner, M., & J. Reitner. 2001. Evidence of organic structures in Ediacara-type fossils and associated microbial mats. Geology 29: 1119–1122.
• Valentine, J.2. 2002. Prelude to the Cambrian Explosion. Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences 30: 285-306.
• Xiao, S., B. Shen, C. Zhou, G. Xie, & X. Yuan. 2005. A uniquely preserved Ediacaran fossil with direct evidence for a quilted bodyplan. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 102: 10227-10232.

WEEK 5 (Feb. 26, 28)

Cambrian Explosion:

• Braiser, M.D., & J.F. Lindsay. 2001. Did supercontinental amalgamation trigger the "Cambrian Explosion"? pp. 69-89, in Zhuravlev, A.Y., & R. Riding (eds.), Ecology of the Cambrian Radiation. Columbia University Press.
• Brennan, S.T., T.K. Lowenstein, & J. Horita. 2004. Seawater chemistry and the advent of biocalcification. Geology 32: 473–476.
• Briggs, D.E.G., & R.A. Fortey. 2005. Wonderful strife: systematics, stem groups, and the phylogenetic signal of the Cambrian radiation. Paleobiology 31, Suppl. to 2: 36-55.
• Cartwright, P., & A. Collins. 2007. Fossils and phylogenies: integrating multiple lines of evidence to investigate the origin of early major metazoan lineages. Integrative and Comparative Biology 47: 744-751.
• Cohen, B.L. 2005. Not armour, but biomechanics, ecological opportunity and increased fecundity as keys to the origin and expansion of the mineralized benthic metazoan fauna. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 85: 483–490.
• Hu, S., M. Steiner, M. Zhu, B.-D. Erdtmann, H. Luo, L. Chen. & B. Weber. 2007. Diverse pelagic predators from the Chengjiang Lagerstätte and the establishment of modern-style pelagic ecosystems in the early Cambrian. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 254: 307-316.
• Janvier, P. 2003. Vertebrate characters and the Cambrian vertebrates. Comptes Rendus Palevol 2: 523-531.
• Lieberman, B.S. 2008. The Cambrian radiation of bilaterians: Evolutionary origins and palaeontological emergence; earth history change and biotic factors. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 258: 180-188. [This is but one article in a recent volume dedicated to the Cambrian Explosion:
  Dornbos, S.Q., & S. Xiao. 2008. The Dawn of Animal Life: Evolutionary and Palaeoecological Patterns in the Neoproterozoic-Cambrian Animal Fossil Record, The Dawn of Animal Life: Evolutionary and Palaeoecological Patterns in the Neoproterozoic-Cambrian Animal Fossil Record. Geological Society of America Annual Meeting. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 258: 135-256.]
• Marshall, C.R. 2006. Explaning the Cambrian "Explosion" of animals. Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences 34: 355-384.
• Peterson, K.J., M.A. McPeek & D.A.D. Evans. 2005. Tempo and mode of early animal evolution: inferences from rocks, Hox, and molecular clocks. Paleobiology 31, Suppl. to 2: 36-55.

Conqueror Worm: Cambrian Substrate Revolution:

• Bottjer, D.J., J.W. Hagadorn & S.Q. Dornbos. 2000. The Cambrian substrate revolution. GSA Today 10 (9): 1-7.
• Carrera, M.G, & J.P. Botting. 2008. Evolutionary history of Cambrian spiculate sponges: implications for the Cambrian Evolutionary Fauna. Palaios 23: 124–138.
• Dornbos, S.Q., D.J. Bottjer & J.-Y. Chen. 2005. Paleoecology of benthic metazoans in the Early Cambrian Maotianshan Shale biota and the Middle Cambrian Burgess Shale biota: evidence for the Cambrian substrate revolution. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 220: 47-67.
• Droser, M.L., S. Jensen, & J.G. Gehling. 2002. Trace fossils and substrates of the terminal Proterozoic-Cambrian transition: Implications for the record of early bilaterians and sediment mixing. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 99: 12572-12576.
• Jensen, S., M.L. Droser, & J.G. Gehling. 2005. Trace fossil preservation and the early evolution of animals. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 220: 19-30.
• Marenco, K.N., & D.J. Bottjer. 2008. The importance of Planolites in the Cambrian substrate revolution Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 258: 189-199.

WEEK 6 (March 4, 6)

Ordovician Radiation:

• Bambach, R.K., A.W. Bush & D.H. Erwin. 2007. Autecology and the filling of ecospace: key metazoan radiations. Palaeontology 50: 1-22.
• Droser, M.L. & S. Finnegan. 2003. The Ordovician Radiation: a follow-up to the Cambrian Explosion? Integrative and Comparative Biology 43: 178-184.
• Harper, D.A.T. 2006. The Ordovician biodiversification: Setting an agenda for marine life. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 232: 148-166.
• Servais, T., O. Lehnert, J. Li, G.L. MULLINS, A. Munnecke, A. Nützel, & M. Vecoli. 2008. The Ordovician Biodiversification: revolution in the oceanic trophic chain. Lethaia 41: 99-109.
• Trotter, J.A., I.S. Williams, C.R. Barnes, C. Lécuyer, & R.S. Nicoll. 2008. Did cooling oceans trigger Ordovician biodiversification? Evidence from conodont thermometry. Science 321: 550-554.

Late Ordovician Extinction and Recovery:

• Brenchley, P.J., G.A. Carden, L. Hints, D. Kaljo, J.D. Marshall, T. Martma, T. Meidla, & J. Nõlvak. 2003. High-resolution stable isotope stratigraphy of Upper Ordovician sequences: Constraints on the timing of bioevents and environmental changes associated with mass extinction and glaciation. GSA Bulletin 115: 89–104.
• Krug, A.Z. & M.E. Patzkowsky. 2004. Rapid recovery from the Late Ordovician mass extinction Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 101: 17605-17610.
• Sheehan, P.M. 2001. The Late Ordovician mass extinction. Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences 29: 331-364.

Late Devonian Extinction and Recovery:

• Algeo, T.J., & S.E. Scheckler. 1998. Terrestrial-marine teleconnections in the Devonian: links between the evolution of land plants, weathering processes, and marine anoxic events. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B 353: 113-130.
• Bond, D.P.G., & P.B. Wignall. 2008. The role of sea-level change and marine anoxia in the Frasnian-Famennian (Late Devonian) mass extinction. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 263:107-118.
• Copper, P. 2002. Reef development at the Frasnian/Famennian mass extinction boundary. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 181: 27-65.
• Goddéris, Y. and Michael M. Joachimski. 2004. Global change in the Late Devonian: modelling the Frasnian–Famennian short-term carbon isotope excursions. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 202: 309-329.
• House, M.R. 2003. Strength, timing, setting and cause of mid-Palaeozoic extinctions. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 181: 5-25.
• McGhee, G.R., Jr. 2001. The 'multiple impacts hypothesis' for mass extinction: a comparison of the Late Devonian and the late Eocene. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 176: 47-58.
• Peterhänsel, A., & B.R. Pratt. 2001. Nutrient-triggered bioerosion on a giant carbonate platform masking the postextinction Famennian benthic community. Geology 29: 1079–1082.
• Racki, G. 1999. The Frasnian–Famennian biotic crisis: How many (if any) bolide impacts? International Journal of Earth Sciences 87: 617-632.
• Streel, M., M.V. Caputo, S. Loboziak & J.H.G. Melo. 2000. Late Frasnian–Famennian climates based on palynomorph analyses and the question of the Late Devonian glaciations. Earth-Science Reviews 52: 121-173.

WEEK 7 (March 11, 13)

The Colonization of Freshwater and Land (and Romer's Gap):

• Algeo, T.J., S.E. Scheckler & J.B. Maynard. 2001. Effects of the Middle to Late Devonian spread of vascular land plants on weathering regimes, marine biotas, and global climate. pp. 213-236 in Gensel, P.G. & D. Edwards (ed.) Plants Invade the Land: Evolutionary and Environmental Perspectives. Columbia Univ. Press.
• Buatois, L.A., M.K. Gingras, J. MacEachern, M.G. Mángano, J.-P. Zonnenveld, S.G. Pemberton, R.G. Netto & A. Martin. 2005. Colonization of brackish-water systems through time: evidence from the trace-fossil record. Palaios 20: 321-347.
• Clack, J.A. 2006. The emergence of early tetrapods. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 232: 167-189.
• Clack, J.A. 2007. Devonian climate change, breathing, and the origin of the tetrapod stem group. Integrative and Comparative Biology 47: 510-523.
• Coates, M.I., M. Ruta, & M. Friedman. 2008. Ever since Owen: Changing perspectives on the early evolution of tetrapods. Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics 39: 571-592.
• Gensel, P.G. 2008. The earliest land plants. Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics 39: 459-477.
• Labandeira, C.C. 2005. Invasion of the continents: cyanobacterial crusts to tree-inhabiting arthropods. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 20: 253-262.
• Park, L.E., & E.H. Gierlowski-Kordesch. 2007. Paleozoic lake faunas: Establishing aquatic life on land. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 249: 160-179.
• Ward, P., C. Labandeira, M. Laurin & R.A. Berner. 2006. Confirmation of Romer's Gap as a low oxygen interval constraining the timing of initial arthropod and vertebrate terrestrialization. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 103: 16818-16822.

Rise of the Forests and Devonian-Carboniferous Environments:

• Boyce, C.K., C.L. Hotton, M.L. Fogel, G.D. Cody, R.M. Hazen, A.H. Knoll & F.M. Hueber. 2007. Devonian landscape heterogeneity recorded by a giant fungus. Geology 35: 399–402.
• DiMichele, W.A., R.A. Gastaldo & H.W. Pfefferkorn. 2005. Plant biodiversity partitioning in the Late Carboniferous and Early Permian and its implications for ecosystem assembly Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences, ser. 4 56, Suppl. I: 32–49.
• DiMichele, W.A., ­H.W. Pfefferkorn & ­R.A. Gastaldo. 2001. Response of Late Carboniferous and Early Permian plant communities to climate change. Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences 29: 461-487.
• Elick, J.M., S.G. Driese & C.I. Mora. 1998. Very large plant and root traces from the Early to Middle Devonian: Implications for early terrestrial ecosystems and atmospheric p(CO₂). Geology 26: 143–146.
• Poulson, C.J., D. Pollard, I.P. Montañez & D. Rowley. 2007. Late Paleozoic tropical climate response to Gondwanan deglaciation Geology 35: 771–774.
• Retallack, G.J. 1997. Early forest soils and their role in Devonian global change. Science 276: 583-585.
• Stein, W.E., F. Mannolini, L. VanAller Hernick, E. Landing & C.M. Berry. 2007. Giant cladoxylopsid trees resolve the enigma of the Earth's earliest forest stumps at Gilboa. Nature 446: 904-907.

WEEK 8 (March 25, 27)

Permo-Triassic Extinction(s) and Recovery:

• Benton, M.J., & R.J. Twitchett. 2003. How to kill (almost) all life: the end-Permian extinction event. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 18: 358-365.
• Benton, M.J., V.P. Tverdokhlebov & M.V. Surkov. 2004. Ecosystem remodelling among vertebrates at the Permian–Triassic boundary in Russia. Nature 432:97-100.
• Clapham, M.E., & D.J. Bottjer. 2007. Prolonged Permian–Triassic ecological crisis recorded by molluscan dominance in Late Permian offshore assemblages. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 104: 12971-12975.
• Huey, R.B., & P.D. Ward. 2005. Hypoxia, global warming, and terrestrial Late Permian extinctions. Science 308:398-401.
• Knoll, A.H., R.K. Bambach, J.L. Payne, S. Pruss & W.W. Fischer. 2007. Paleophysiology and end-Permian mass extinction. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 256: 295-313.
• Payne, J.L., D.J. Lehrmann, J. Wei, M.J. Orchard, D.P. Schrag, & A.H. Knoll. 2004. Large perturbations of the carbon cycle during recovery from the end-Permian extinction. Science 305: 506-509.
• Retallack, G.J., C.A. Metzger, T. Greaver, A.H. Jahren, R.M.H. Smith & N.D. Sheldon. 2006. Middle-Late Permian mass extinction on land. Geological Society of America Bulletin 118: 1398–1411.
• Rettallack, G.J., R.H.M. Smith & P.D. Ward. 2003. Vertebrate extinction across Permian–Triassic boundary in Karoo Basin, South Africa. Geological Society of America Bulletin 115:1133–1152.
• Smith, R.M.H., & P.D. Ward. 2001. Pattern of vertebrate extinctions across an event bed at the Permian-Triassic boundary in the Karoo Basin of South Africa. Geology 29: 1147–1150.
• Tverdokhlebov, V.P., G.I. Tverdokhlebova, A.V. Minikh, M.V. Surkov & M.J. Benton. 2005. Upper Permian vertebrates and their sedimentological context in the South Urals, Russia. Earth-Science Reviews 69: 27-77.
• Ward, P., J. Botha, R. Buick, M.O. DeKock, D.H. Erwin, G.H. Garrison, J.L. Kirschvink & R. Smith. 2005. Abrupt and gradual extinction among Late Permian land vertebrates in the Karoo Basin, South Africa. Science 307:709-714.
• Yin, H., Q. Feng, X. Lai, A. Baud & J Tong. 2007. The protracted Permo-Triassic crisis and multi-episode extinction around the Permian–Triassic boundary. Global and Planetary Change 55: 1-20.

Recovery from the Permo-Triassic Extinction:

• Beatty, T.W., J.-P. Zonneveld, & C.M. Henderson. 2008. Anomalously diverse Early Triassic ichnofossil assemblages in northwest Pangea: a case for a shallow-marine habitable zone. Geology 36:771-774.
• Chen, Z.Q., J. Tong, K. Kaiho, & H. Kawahata. 2007. Onset of biotic and environmental recovery from the end-Permian mass extinction within 1–2 million years: A case study of the Lower Triassic of the Meishan section, South China. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 252: 176-187.
• Fraiser, M.L., & D.J. Bottjer. 2005. Restructuring in benthic level-bottom shallow marine communities due to prolonged environmental stress following the end-Permian mass extinction. Comptes Rendus Paleovol 4: 583-591.
• Fraiser, M.L., & D.J. Bottjer. 2007. Elevated atmospheric CO₂ and the delayed biotic recovery from the end-Permian mass extinction. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 252: 164-175.
• Grauvogel-Stamm, L., & S. Ash. 2005. Recovery of the Triassic land flora from the end-Permian life crisis. Comptes Rendus Palevol 4: 593-608. [Errata]
• Leighton, L.R., & C.L. Schneider. 2008. Taxon characteristics that promote survivorship through the Permian–Triassic interval: transition from the Paleozoic to the Mesozoic brachiopod fauna. Paleobiology 34: 65-79.
• Mary, M., & A.D. Woods. 2008. Stromatolites of the Lower Triassic Union Wash Formation, CA: Evidence for continued post-extinction environmental stress in western North America through the Spathian. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 261: 78-86.
• Roopnarine, P.D., K.D. Angielczyk, S.C. Wang & R. Hertog. 2007. Trophic network models explain instability of Early Triassic terrestrial communities. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 274: 2077-2086.
• Sahney, S. & M.J. Benton. 2008. Recovery from the most profound mass extinction of all time. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B 275: 759-765.
• Smith, R. & J. Botha. 2005. The recovery of terrestrial vertebrate diversity in the South African Karoo Basin after the end Permian extinction. Comptes Rendus Paleovol 4:555-568.
• Tong, J., S. Zhang, J. Zuo, & X. Xiong. 2007. Events during Early Triassic recovery from the end-Permian extinction. Global and Planetary Change 55: 66-80.
• Twitchett, R.J. 2007. The Lilliput effect in the aftermath of the end-Permian extinction event. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 252: 132-144.
• Ward, P., D.R. Montgomery, & R. Smith. 2000. Altered river morphology in South Africa related to the Permian-Triassic extinction. Science 289: 1740-1743.
• Woods, A.D. 2005. Paleoceanographic and paleoclimatic context of Early Triassic time. Comptes Rendus Paleovol 4: 463-472.

WEEK 9 (April 1, 3)

Triassic/Jurassic Extinction and Recovery:

• Hesselbo, S.P., C.A. McRoberts & József Pálfy. 2007. Triassic–Jurassic boundary events: problems, progress, possibilities. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 244: 1-10.
• Hesselbo, S.P., S.A. Robinson, F. Surlyk & S. Piasecki. 2002. Terrestrial and marine extinction at the Triassic-Jurassic boundary synchronized with major carbon-cycle perturbation: A link to initiation of massive volcanism? Geology 30: 251–254.
• Mander, L., R.J. Twitchett & M.J. Benton. 2008. Palaeoecology of the Late Triassic extinction event in the SW UK. Journal of the Geological Society, London 165: 319-332.
• McElwain, J., M.E. Popa, S.P. Hesselbo, M. Haworth & F. Surlyk. 2007. Macroecological responses of terrestrial vegetation to climatic and atmospheric change across the Triassic/Jurassic boundary in East Greenland. Paleobiology 33: 547–573.
• Olsen, P.E., D.V. Kent, H.-D. Sues, C. Koeberl, H. Huber, A. Montanari, E.C. Rainforth, S.J. Fowell, M.J. Szajna, & B.W. Hartline. 2002. Ascent of dinosaurs linked to an iridium anomaly at the Triassic-Jurassic boundary. Science 296: 1305-1307.
• Tanner, L.H., S.G. Lucas & M.G. Chapman. 2004. Assessing the record and causes of Late Triassic extinctions. Earth-Science Reviews 65: 103-139.
• Ward, P.D., J.W. Haggart, E.S. Carter, D. Wilbur, H.W. Tipper & T. Evans. 2001. Sudden productivity collapse associated with the Triassic-Jurassic boundary mass extinction. Science 292: 1148-1151.

Mid-Mesozoic Marine Revolution:

• Aberhan, M.. W. Kiessling & F.T. Fürsich. 2006. Testing the role of biological interactions in the evolution of mid-Mesozoic marine benthic ecosystems. Paleobiology 32: 259–277.
• Harper, E.M. 2003. The Mesozoic marine revolution. Pp. 433-455 in P.H. Kelley, M. Kowalewski & T.A. Hansen (eds.), Predator-Prey Interactions in the Fossil Record. Topics in Geobiology 20. Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers, New York. [see Holtz for hardcopy.]
• Harper, E.M. 2006. Dissecting post-Palaeozoic arms races. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 232: 322-343.
• Huntly, J.W., & M. Kowalewski. 2007. Strong coupling of predation intensity and diversity in the Phanerozoic fossil record. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 104: 15006-15010.
• Kowalewski, M., W. Kiessling, M. Aberhan, F.T.. Fürsich, D. Scarponi, S.L. Barbour Wood & A.P. Hoffmeister. 2006. Ecological, taxonomic, and taphonomic components of the post-Paleozoic increase in sample-level species diversity of marine benthos Paleobiology 32: 533–561.
• Vermeij, G.J. 2008. Escalation and its role in Jurassic biotic history. I>Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 263: 3-8.

WEEK 10 (April 8, 10)

Cretaceous/Paleogene Extinction and Recovery:

• Beerling, D.J., B.H. Lomax, D.L. Royer, G.R. Upchurch, & L.R. Kump. 2002. An atmospheric pCO₂ reconstruction across the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary from leaf megafossils. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 99: 7836-7840.
• Buffetaut, E. 2004. Polar dinosaurs and the question of dinosaur extinctions: a brief review. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 214: 225-231.
• D'Hondt, S. 2005. Consequences of the Cretaceous/Paleogene mass extinction for marine ecosystems. Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics 36: 295-317.
• Kring, D.A. 2007. The Chicxulub impact event and its environmental consequences at the Cretaceous–Tertiary boundary. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 255: 4-21.
• Kriwet, J., & M.J. Benton. 2004. Neoselachian (Chondrichthyes, Elasmobranchii) diversity across the Cretaceous–Tertiary boundary. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 214: 181-194.
• Molina, E., L. Alegret, I. Arenillas & J.A. Arz. 2005. The Cretaceous/Paleogene boundary at the Agost section revisited: paleoenvironmental reconstruction and mass extinction pattern. Journal of Iberian Geology 31: 135-148.
• Nicols, D.J. 2007. Selected plant microfossil records of the terminal Cretaceous event in terrestrial rocks, western North America. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 255: 22-34.
• Robertson, D.S., M.C. McKenna, O.B. Toon, S. Hope & J.A. Lillegraven. 2004. Survival in the first hours of the Cenozoic. Geological Society of America Bulletin 116: 760-768.
• Vajda, V., & S. McLoughlin. 2004. Fungal proliferation at the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary. Science 303: 1489.
• Wilf, P., K.R. Johnson & B.T. Huber. 2003. Correlated terrestrial and marine evidence for global climate changes before mass extinction at the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 100:599-604.

Cretaceous/Paleogene Recovery:

• Bown, P. 2005. Selective calcareous nannoplankton survivorship at the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary. Geology 33: 653–656.
• Coxall, H.K., S. D'Hondt & J.C. Zachos. 2006. Pelagic evolution and environmental recovery after the Cretaceous-Paleogene mass extinction. Geology 34: 297-300.
• Fuqua, L.M., T.J. Bralower, M.A. Arthur & M.E. Patzkowsky. 2008. Evolution of calcareous nannoplankton and the recovery of marine food webs after the Cretaceous-Paleocene mass extinction. Palaios 23: 185–194.
• Galeotti, S., H. Brinkhuis, & M. Huber. 2004. Records of post–Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary millennial-scale cooling from the western Tethys: A smoking gun for the impact-winter hypothesis? Geology 32: 529–532.
• Kiessling, W., & R.C. Baron-Szabo. 2004. Extinction and recovery patterns of scleractinian corals at the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 214: 195-223. [One of a number of papers in:
  Kiessling, W., &. D. Lazarus (eds.) 2004. Mesozoic-Cenozoic Bioevents. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 214: 179-294.]
• Wilf, P., C. Labandeira, K.R. Johnson & B. Ellis. 2006. Decoupled plant and insect diversity after the end Cretaceous extinction. Science 313: 1112-1115.

WEEK 11 (April 15, 17)

Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum:

• Beard, K.C. 2008. The oldest North American primate and mammalian biogeography during the Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in press.
• Currano, E.D., P. Wilf, S.L. Wing, C.C. Labandeira, E.C. Lovelock, & D.L. Royer. 2008. Sharply increased insect herbivory during the Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 105: 1960-1964.
• Higgins, J.A., & D.P. Schrag. 2006. Beyond methane: Towards a theory for the Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 245: 523-537.
• Gingerich, P.D. 2006. Environment and evolution through the Paleocene–Eocene thermal maximum. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 21: 246-253.
• Smith, T., K.D. Rose & P.D. Gingerich. 2006. Rapid Asia–Europe–North America geographic dispersal of earliest Eocene primate Teilhardina during the Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 103: 11223-11227.
• Wing, S.L., G.J. Harrington, F.A. Smith, J.I. Bloch, D.M. Boyer, K.H. Freeman. 2005. Transient floral change and rapid global warming at the Paleocene-Eocene boundary. Science 310: 993-996.

Late Eocene Extinctions and Recovery:

• Hansen, T.A., Pa.H. Kelley, & D.M. Haasl. 2004 Paleoecological patterns in molluscan extinctions and recoveries: comparison of the Cretaceous–Paleogene and Eocene–Oligocene extinctions in North America. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 214: 233-242.
• Retallack, G.J., W.N. Orr, D.R. Prothero, R.A. Duncan, P.R. Kester & C.P. Ambers. 2004. Eocene-Oligocene extinction and paleoclimatic change near Eugene, Oregon. Geological Society of America Bulletin 116: 817–839.

The C₃/C₄ Transition and Spread of the Grasslands

• Beerling, D.J., & C.P. Osborne. 2006. The origin of the savanna biome. Global Change Biology 12: 2023–2031.
• Bobe, R., & A.K. Behrensmeyer. 2004. The expansion of grassland ecosystems in Africa in relation to mammalian evolution and the origin of the genus Homo. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 207: 399-420.
• Cerling, T.E., J.R. Ehleringer & J.M. Harris. 1998. Carbon dioxide starvation, the development of C₄ ecosystems, and mammalian evolution. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B 353: 159-171.
• Fortelius, M., J. Eronen, J. Jernvall, L. Liu, D. Pushkina, J. Rinne, A. Tesakov, I. Vislobokova, Z. Zhang & L. Zhou. 2002. Fossil mammals resolve regional patterns of Eurasian climate change over 20 million years. Evolutionary Ecology Research 4: 1005–1016.
• Jacobs, B.F. 2004. Palaeobotanical studies from tropical Africa: relevance to the evolution of forest, woodland and savannah biomes. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B 359: 1573-1583.
• Janis, C.M., J. Damuth & J.M. Theodor. 2004. The species richness of Miocene browsers, and implications for habitat type and primary productivity in the North American grassland biome. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 207: 371-398.
• Keeley, J.E., & P.W. Rundel. 2005. Fire and the Miocene expansion of C₄ grasslands. Ecology Letters 8: 683-690.
• MacFadden, B.J. 2000. Cenozoic mammalian herbivores from the Americas: reconstructing ancient diets and terrestrial communities. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 31: 33-59.
• Osborne, C.P. 2008. Atmosphere, ecology and evolution: what drove the Miocene expansion of C4 grasslands? Journal of Ecology 96: 35-45.
• Retallack, G.J. 2001. Cenozoic expansion of grasslands and climatic cooling. Journal of Geology 109: 407–426.
• Tipple, B.J. & M. Pagani. 2007. The early origins of terrestrial C₄ photosynthesis. Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences 35: 435-461.
• Woodward, F.I., M.R. Lomas, C.K. Kelly. 2004. Global climate and the distribution of plant biomes. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B 359: 1465-1476.

WEEK 12 (April 22, 24)

Quaternary Environmental Changes and Macroevolution:

• Bennett, K.D. 2004. Continuing the debate on the role of Quaternary environmental change for macroevolution. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B 359: 295-303.
• deMenocal, P.B. 2004. African climate change and faunal evolution during the Pliocene–Pleistocene. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 220: 3-24.
• Guthrie, R.D. 2001. Origin and causes of the mammoth steppe: a story of cloud cover, woolly mammal tooth pits, buckles, and inside-out Beringia. Quaternary Science Reviews 20: 549-574.
• Jackson, S.T., & J.T. Overpeck. 2000. Responses of plant populations and communities to environmental changes of the late Quaternary. Paleobiology 26, Suppl. to 2: 194–220.
• Lister, A.M. 2004. The impact of Quaternary Ice Ages on mammalian evolution. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B 359: 221-241.
• Stewart, J.R. 2005. The ecology and adaptation of Neanderthals during the non-analogue environment of Oxygen Isotope Stage 3. Quaternary International 137: 35-46.
• Vrba, E.S., & D. DeGusta. 2004. Do species populations really start small? New perspectives from the Late Neogene fossil record of African mammals. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B 359: 285-293.
• Williams, J.W., B.N. Shuman, T. Webb III, P.J. Bartlein & P.L. Leduc. 2004. Late-Quaternary vegetation dynamics in North America: scaling from taxa to biomes. Ecological Monographs 74: 309-334.
• Willis, K.J., & K.J. Niklas. 2004. The role of Quaternary environmental change in plant macroevolution: the exception or the rule? Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B 359: 159-172.

Quaternary Intercontinental Migration and Megafaunal Extinctions:

• Boeskorov, G.G. 2006. Arctic Siberia: refuge of the Mammoth fauna in the Holocene. Quaternary Science Reviews 142-143: 119-123.
• Burney, D.A., & T.F. Flannery. 2005. Fifty millennia of catastrophic extinctions after human contact. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 20: 395-401. [See also response and counter-response to this:
  • Wroe, S., J. Field, & D.K. Grayson. 2006. Megafaunal extinction: climate, humans and assumptions. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 21: 61-62.
  • Burney, D.A., & T.F. Flannery. 2006. Response to Wroe et al.: Island extinctions versus continental extinctions. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 21: 63-64.]
• Forster, P. 2004. Ice Ages and the mitochondrial DNA chronology of human dispersals: a review. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B 359: 255-264.
• Gamble, C., W. Davies, P. Pettitt & M. Richards. 2004. Climate change and evolving human diversity in Europe during the last glacial. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B 359: 243-254.
• Goebel, T., M.R. Waters, & D.H. O'Rourke. 2008. The late Pleistocene dispersal of modern humans in the Americas. Science 319: 1497-1502.
• Grayson, D.K., & D.J. Meltzer. 2003. A requiem for North American overkill. Journal of Archaeological Science 30: 585-593. [See also response and counter-response:
  • Fiedel, S., & G. Haynes. 2004. A premature burial: comments on Grayson and Meltzer's "Requiem for overkill". Journal of Archaeological Science 31: 121-131.
  • Grayson, D.K., & D.J. Meltzer. 2004. North American overkill continued? Journal of Archaeological Science 31: 133-136.]
• Guthrie, R.D. 2003. Rapid body size decline in Alaskan Pleistocene horses before extinction. Nature 426: 169-171.
• Haynes, G. 2002. The catastrophic extinction of North American mammoths and mastodons. World Archaeology 33: 391-416.
• Haynes, G. 2006. A review of some attacks on the overkill hypothesis, with special attention to misrepresentations and doubletalk. Quaternary International 169-170: 84-94.
• Johnson, C.N., & G.J. Prideaux. 2004. Extinctions of herbivorous mammals in the late Pleistocene of Australia in relation to their feeding ecology: No evidence for environmental change as cause of extinction. Austral Ecology 29: 553-557.
• Koch, P., & A.D. Barosky. 2006. Late Quaternary extinctions: state of the debate. Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics 37: 215-250.
• Louys, J., D. Curnoe, & H. Tong. 2007. Characteristics of Pleistocene megafauna extinctions in Southeast Asia. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 243: 152-173.
• Lyons, S.K., F.A. Smith, & J.H. Brown. 2004. Of mice, mastodons and men: human-mediated extinctions on four continents. Evolutionary Ecology Research 6: 339-358.
• Steadman, D.W., P.S. Martin, R.D.E. MacPhee, A.J.T. Jull, H.G. McDonald, C.A. Woods, M. Iturralde-Vinent, & G.W.L. Hodgins. 2005. Asynchronous extinction of late Quaternary sloths on continents and islands. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 102: 11763-11768.
• Stuart, A.J., P.A. Kosintsev, T.F.G. Higham, & A.M. Lister. 2004. Pleistocene to Holocene extinction dynamics in giant deer and woolly mammoth. Nature 431: 684-689. [See also erratum for figure here.]
• Webb, S.D. 2006. The Great American Biotic Interchange: patterns and processes. Annals of the Missouri Botanical Gardens 93: 245-257.

WEEK 13 (May 6, 8)

Calcite vs. Aragonite Seas:

• Knoll, A.H. 2003. Biomineralization and evolutionary history. Reviews in Mineralogy and Geochemistry 54: 329-356. [See Holtz for pdf if you do not have access to this volume.]
• Martin, R.E., A. Quigg & Victor Podkovyrov. 2008. Marine biodiversification in response to evolving phytoplankton stoichiometry. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 258: 277-291.
• Porter, S.M. 2007. Seawater chemistry and early carbonate biomineralization. Science 316: 1302.
• Stanley, S.M. 2006. Influence of seawater chemistry on biomineralization throughout phanerozoic time: paleontological and experimental evidence. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 232: 214-236.
• Stanley, S.M., & L.A. Hardie. 1998. Secular oscillations in the carbonate mineralogy of reef-building and sediment-producing organisms driven by tectonically forced shifts in seawater chemistry. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 144: 3-19.
• Zhuravlev, A. Yu., & R. Wood. 2008. Eve of biomineralization: controls on skeletal mineralogy. Geology 36: 923-926.

Reefs Through Time:

• Debrenne, F. 2007. Lower Cambrian archaeocyathan bioconstructions. Comptes Rendus Paleovol 6: 5-19.
• Gütz, S. 2003. Biotic interaction and synecology in a Late Cretaceous coral–rudist biostrome of southeastern Spain. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 193: 125-138.
• Kiessling, W. 2001. Paleoclimatic significance of Phanerozoic reefs. Geology 29: 751–754.
• Kiessling, W. 2005. Long-term relationships between ecological stability and biodiversity in Phanerozoic reefs. Nature 433: 410-413.
• Pruss, S.B., & D.J. Bottjer. 2005. The reorganization of reef communities following the end-Permian mass extinction. Comptes Rendus Palevol 4: 553-568.
• Riding, R. 2002. Structure and composition of organic reefs and carbonate mud mounds: concepts and categories. Earth-Science Reviews 58: 163-231. [Long, but a good overview of concepts and terminology.]
• Stanley, G.D., Jr. 2003. The evolution of modern corals and their early history. Earth-Science Reviews 60: 195-225.
• Wood, R. 1998. The ecological evolution of reefs. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 29: 179-206.
• Wood, R. 2001. Biodiversity and the history of reefs. Geological Journal 36: 251-263.

Atmospheres and Evolution:

• Berner, R.A., J.M. VandenBrooks & P.D. Ward. 2007. EVOLUTION: Oxygen and Evolution. Science 316: 557-558.
• Cornette, J.L., B.S. Lieberman & R.H. Goldstein. 2002. Documenting a significant relationship between macroevolutionary origination rates and Phanerozoic pCO₂ levels. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 99: 7832-7835.
• Falkowski, P.G., & Y. Rosenthal. 2001. Biological diversity and resource plunder in the geological record: casual correlations or causal relationships? Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 98: 4290-4292.
• Falkowski, P.G., M.E. Katz, A.J. Milligan, K. Fennel, B.S. Cramer, M.P. Aubry, R.A. Berner, M.J. Novacek, & W.M. Zapol. 2005. The rise of oxygen over the past 205 mllion years and the evolution of large placental mammals. Science 309: 2202-2204.
• Flück, M., K.A. Webster, J. Graham, F. Giomi, F. Gerlach & A. Schmitz. 2007. Coping with cyclic oxygen availability: evolutionary aspects. Integrative and Comparative Biology 47: 524-531.
• Koch, L.G., & S.L. Britton. 2008. Aerobic metabolism underlies complexity and capacity. Journal of Physiology 586: 83-95.
• Peterson, K.J., M.A. McPeek, & D.A.D. Evans. 2005. Tempo and mode of early animal evolution: inferences from rocks, Hox, and molecular clocks. Paleobiology 31 (Suppl. to 2): 36-55.
• Pötner, H.O. 2004. Climate variability and the energetic pathways of evolution: the origin of endothermy in mammals and birds. Physiological and Biochemical Zoology 77: 959–981.
• Rothman, D.H. 2001. Global biodiversity and the ancient carbon cycle. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 98: 4305-4310.

WEEK 14 (May 1)

Ecologic Evolutionary Units and Ecosystem Stability:

• Alroy, J., M. Aberhan, D.J. Bottjer, M. Foote, F.T. Fürsich, P.J. Harries, A.J.W. Hendy, S.M. Holland, L.C. Ivany, W. Kiessling, M.A. Kosnik, C.R. Marshall, A.J. McGowan, A.I. Miller, T.D. Olszewski, M.E. Patzkowsky, S.E. Peters, L. Villier, P.J. Wagner, N. Bonuso, P.S. Borkow, B. Brenneis, M.E. Clapham, L.M. Fall, C.A. Ferguson, V.L. Hanson, A.Z. Krug, K.M. Layou, E.H. Leckey, S. Nürnberg, C.M. Powers, J.A. Sessa, C. Simpson, A. Tomasovych, & C.C. Visaggi. 2008. Phanerozoic trends in the global diversity of marine invertebrates. Science 321: 97-100.
• DiMichele, W.A.,­ A.K. Behrensmeyer, ­T.D. Olszewski, ­C.C. Labandeira, J.M. Pandolfi,­ S.L. Wing & R. Bobe. 2004. Long-term stasis in ecological assemblages: evidence from the fossil record. Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics 5: 285-322
• Sheehan, P.M. 1996. A new look at Ecologic Evolutionary Units (EEUs) Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 127: 21-32.
• Wagner, P.J., M.A. Kosnik & S. Lidgard. 2006. Abundance distributions imply elevated complexity of post-Paleozoic marine ecosystems. Science 314: 1289-1292. [See also Perspectives on this paper:
  • Kiessling, W. 2006. PALEOECOLOGY: Life's complexity cast in stone. Science 314: 1254-1255.]

Mass Extinctions:

• Bambach, R.K. 2006. Phanerozoic diversity mass extinctions. Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences 34: 127-155.
• Bambach, R.K., A.H. Knoll & S.C. Wang. 2004. Origination, extinction, and mass depletions of marine diversity. Paleobiology 30: 522–542.
• Courtillot, V., & P. Olson. 2007. Mantle plumes link magnetic superchrons to phanerozoic mass depletion events. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 260: 495-504.
• Erwin, D.H. 1998. The end and the beginning: recoveries from mass extinctions. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 13: 344-349.
• Jablonski, D. 2001. Lessons from the past: evolutionary impacts of mass extinctions. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 98: 5393-5398.
• Jablonski, D. 2002. Survival without recovery after mass extinctions. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 99: 8139-8144.
• McElwain, J.C. & S.W. Punyasena. 2007. Mass extinction events and the plant fossil record. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 22: 548-557.
• McGhee, G.R., Jr., P.M. Sheehan, D.J. Bottjer & M.L. Droser. 2004. Ecological ranking of Phanerozoic biodiversity crises: ecological and taxonomic severities are decoupled. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 211: 289-297.
• Peters, S.E. 2008. Environmental determinants of extinction selectivity in the fossil record. Nature 454: 626-629.
• Twitchett, R.J. 2006. The palaeoclimatology, palaeoecology and palaeoenvironmental analysis of mass extinction events. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 232: 190-213.