Lecture: 2 hours/week
and
Lab: 2 hours/week
This course is presented using lectures and laboratories that illustrate the practical aspects of the lecture material. Coordination between the lecture and laboratories will be maintained, where possible.
- Fossils: Definition, interpretation and influence of taphonomic processes
- Geologic time: uniformitarianism, evolution, previous mass extinctions, plate tectonics and global environmental change
- Classification: systematics, cladistics and characteristics that separate the major groups of dinosaurs
- Origin and evolution of the dinosaurs
- Mesozoic paleobiology: what other plants and animals existed with the dinosaurs and affected their evolution
- Dinosaur evolution: adaptive radiation of groups of Saurischia and Ornithischia throughout the Mesozoic era
- The rise of birds: evolution, timing and function of feathers, and why some dinosaurs still exist around us
- Non-avian dinosaur extinction: different extinction hypotheses and evidence supporting the impact hypothesis
- Dinosaur metabolisms: endothermy, ectothermy and other hypotheses for dinosaurs' metabolic rates
- Dinosaurs and the media: how public perception of dinosaur science has changed over time
Upon successful completion of the course, students will be able to:
- distinguish between major groups of dinosaurs on the basis of general morphology;
- use shared derived characteristics for the major groups of dinosaurs to interpret evolutionary relationships;
- read, construct and annotate a simple phylogenetic tree to interpret and test relationships between major groups of dinosaurs;
- relate changes in plate tectonics and paleogeography to dinosaur evolution;
- infer the age of dinosaur fossils using relative and absolute age dating;
- describe and differentiate between fossil vertebrates;
- explain how the study of dinosaurs is representative of the iterative nature of the scientific method, including the role of new observations, discoveries and advances in study techniques;
- analyze differences between the fossil evidence and how the media and public view dinosaurs;
- use fossil remains such as bones and trackways to infer dinosaur behaviour.
Assessment will be in accordance with the ºÚÁϳԹÏÍøÆØÒ»Çø¶þÇø Evaluation Policy. The instructor will present a written course outline with specific evaluation criteria at the beginning of the semester. Evaluation will be based on the following:
Lecture assignments and quizzes: 0-20%
Laboratory assignments: 9-20%
Laboratory tests: 20-30%
Term Projects: 0-20%
Term tests: 20-30%
Final Exam: 25-30%
Total: 100%
Consult the ºÚÁϳԹÏÍøÆØÒ»Çø¶þÇø Bookstore for the latest required textbooks and materials. Example textbooks and materials include:
Fastovsky, D. E., and Weishampel, D. B. (Current edition). Dinosaurs: a concise natural history. Cambridge University Press.
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