PALEOBIOLOGY


CLASS DOWNLOADS
 READING #1 (R1) 


Dept. #0423, Course #317-0
Date & time:  Winter Quarter (alternate years)
Average enrollment: 25

COURSE DESCRIPTION: Review of major fossil groups and major events in the 
history of life;  origin and early evolution of life, speciation and mass 
extinction, evolution of communities and ecosystems through geologic time;  
Application of paleobiologic methods to geologic problem solving and 
paleoenvironmental reconstruction (e.g., biostratigraphy, functional 
morphology, community paleoecology, etc.).


PREREQUISITES:  GEOL A01 or B01 (or equivalent)
                BIOL B10-1, A03 (or equivalent)
                Instructor consent


SYLLABUS
Winter Quarter, 2005
CLASS MEETINGS
Lecture   		TTH 2:00 - 3:20  (Locy 301)
Office Hours  		TH 3:30-4:30  (Locy 313)


READING MATERIAL
Textbook: Prothero, 2004, Bringing Fossils to LIfe: 
            An Introduction to Paleobiology, 2nd ed., 
			McGraw Hill Publ., Boston, 503 pp.

Plus supplemental reading from:      
		  D.E.G. Briggs and P.R. Crowther, 1990,  
		    Paleobiology: A Synthesis Blackwell
		    Scientific Publ., London, 583 pp.

          Boardman, Cheetham and Rowell, 1987,             
            Fossil Invertebrates, Blackwell Sci. 
            Pubs., 713 pp. 

		  and related articles


EVALUATION
a) Midterm exam  (2/3 @ 2:00-3:20, LOCY 301)
b) Research project report  (due in class on Tuesday 3/8)
c) Final exam  (3/17 @ 3:00, LOCY 301)


Lecture/Reading Schedule
Date       Topic                                    Reading	
1/4     1. Introduction & Overview                  P1a, R1 
1/6     2. Fossils and Fossilization                P1b, R2 

1/11    3. Variation & Speciation                   P2, P3; R3
1/13    4. Systematics/Classification               P4; R4 

1/18    5. Evolution and the fossil record          P5; R5 
1/20    6. Extinction                               P6; R6 

1/25    7. Functional Morphology                    P7; R8 
1/27    8. Marine ecology/Environ. parameters       P8a; HANDOUT

2/1     9. Paleoecology                             P8b; R9 
2/3        Midterm Exam

2/8     10. Biogeography & Biostratigraphy          P9-10; R10 
2/10    11. Fossil Taxa I - Molecular/Microfossils  P11; R11 

2/15    12. Fossil Taxa II - Colonial organisms     P12; R12 
2/17    13. Fossil Taxa III - Sessile organisms     P13, 15, 16; R13 

2/22    14. Fossil Taxa IV - Mobile organisms       P14, 16; R14 
2/24    15. Fossil Taxa V- Trace fossils/Ichnology  P18; R15 

3/1     16. Origin/early evolution of life          R16 
3/3     17. Major events in the history of life     R17 

3/8     18. Major patterns in the history of life   R18 
3/17        Final Exam