VERTEBRATE PALEONTOLOGY

Catalog description

Vertebrate paleontology provides a direct means for studying the history of backboned animals over deep time. The course focuses on the evolution of the skeleton both across the fossil record and based on modern findings from comparative anatomy and embryology. Skeletal evolution forms the centerpiece for inferring the origin, evolution, functional morphology and paleoecology of the vertebrates: fishes, amphibians and amniotes (the Reptilia (including Birds) and Synapsida (including Mammals)). Offered in even-numbered springs.