Students will learn the fundamental processes of how and what we know about the fossil record, with a special focus on dinosaurs. Topics include fossilization, fossil collection/curation, morphological analysis, organismal evolution, paleoecology, protection of fossils, speciation, stratigraphy, and taphonomy. Students learn how paleontological research determines the ages, behaviour, breeding, life cycles, physiology, sexes and other aspects of the biology of dinosaurs and other extinct animals.
Prerequisites: Biology 30 or equivalent, or any 100-level course in the Faculty of Science.
Note: Students who have obtained credit for PALEO 201 cannot take PALEO 200 for credit.
About the Course
Students will learn how paleontologists learn about and understand the past through the fossil record. By the end of this course, you should be able to:
- Identify major types of dinosaurs and be able to describe their primary morphological features.
- Describe the relationships of major dinosaur groups relative to each other and the major living vertebrate groups.
- Explain the scientific methods and techniques used to study dinosaur palaeobiology, including excavation and preparation, taxonomy, phylogeny, functional morphology, and palaeoecology.
- Analyze and evaluate both general news articles and popular culture representations of dinosaurs in the media for scientific accuracy.
- Critically evaluate testable hypotheses about dinosaur evolution, ecology, and behaviour.
Each lesson is accompanied by a study guide and supplementary readings or videos.
This class consists of lecture videos from 3-30 minutes in length, interspersed with integrated quiz questions in addition to an ungraded unit test after each of the 12 lessons; these materials are the same for both PALEO 200 and PALEO 201. PALEO 200 and PALEO 201 students are required to take a midterm and final exam on campus. PALEO 201 students will also be required to complete assignments relating to the in-class activities and field trips.
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