- Lecture
- Laboratory
- Videos
- The fossil record: what is the fossil record, how the record is interpreted, and the influence of taphonomic processes.
- Geologic time, uniformitarian thinking, and global processes: plate tectonics and global change.
- Classification, systematics, and organic evolution: old and new viewpoints.
- Defining the dinosaur: characteristics that identify an organism; why ichthyosaurs are not dinosaurs.
- The major groups of dinosaurs: Saurischia and Ornithischia, and subgroups; old and new interpretations of appearance in life, physiology (warm or cold blooded), and behaviour.
- The origins of dinosaurs and the groups they replaced: how the dinosaurs competed successfully and became dominant on Earth.
- Dinosaur evolution and adaptive radiations throughout the Mesozoic (Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous periods).
- The Mesozoic non-dinosaurs: other animals that were present and how they interacted with dinosaurs.
- Dinosaurs, feathers, and the rise of birds: how it is possible that some dinosaurs are still extant, flying all around us.
- Dinosaur extinction (aside from the birds): summary of the hypotheses available, with special attention to the Chicxulub crater and the impact hypothesis; how such an event could happen in the future, and how it might affect humans.
- How dinosaur extinction affected the evolution of mammals. Human evolution if dinosaurs had not become extinct.
- Evolutionary speculation: How their descendants might look, if the dinosaurs had not become extinct.
Upon completion of the course the student will be able to:
- Distinguish between major groups of dinosaurs on the basis of general morphology, using shared derived characteristics for these groups 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 paleogeography to the distribution and occurrence of dinosaur fossils.
- Make inferences about the age and paleoenvironments of dinosaurs using basic stratigraphic principles, absolute ages and interpretations of depositional environment.
- Employ anatomical language to describe and differentiate between fossil vertebrates.
- Discuss how the study of dinosaurs is representative of the iterative nature of the scientific method, recognizing the role of basic observations, new discoveries and advances in study techniques.
- Explain how scientists infer dinosaur behaviour from fossil remains such as bones and trackways.
Evaluation will be carried out in accordance with Douglas College 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:
Lab assignments 10-20%
Lab exams (2) 20-30%
Term paper 5%
Participation 5%
Mid-term exam 20%
Final Exam 30%
Students should consult the bookstore for the latest required course materials, including the textbook.
The course will use Fastovsky, D. E., and Weishampel, D. B., Dinosaurs: a concise natural history, latest edition, Cambridge University Press or an equivalent text.