GEOL 366Paleobiology (LEC)

Catalog

The study of fossils in the geologic record and their biological and geological significance. Lecture topics include a survey of present-day organisms, principles of ecology, principles of paleo-ecology, microbial biology and the fossil record of microbes, and what fossils can and cannot tell us about conditions on the surface of the Earth. Discusses evolution at length, including such topics as the timing and tempo of major evolutionary breakthroughs ("the Cambrian explosion," the adaptive radiation of land plants and animals, etc.). Laboratory introduces the major fossil groups and the interpretive tools needed to understand fossils. Format: Three hours of lecture and one 3-hour laboratory per week. Grades based on two in-class examinations (66 percent) and approximately five laboratory quizzes (33 percent).