Paleontology ((4))

Catalog description

Lectures and labs focusing on life through time, with emphasis on paleoecology, evolution, extinction, paleobiogeography, and the relationships between paleobiota and environmental change. Recognition of major invertebrate fossil groups and assessments of environmental conditions based on fossil evidence will be among the skills learned. Emphasis will be placed on how and why life changed through geologic time, and how these changes influence modern biodiversity, extinction, biogeographic patterns, ecosystem health and evolution. A field trip may be required. 150 minutes of lecture and 150 minutes of lab per week. A course fee is required.