GEOL 330
THE AGE OF REPTILES

1. Catalog Entry

GEOL 330. The Age of Reptiles
Three hours lecture (3).

Prerequisites: GEOL 105 and GEOL 100 or GEOL 106, or BIOL 102 or BIOL 112 or BIOL 215 and BIOL 216 or permission of the instructor.

Investigates the geology, paleoecology, and flora and fauna of the Mesozoic Era, the Age of Reptiles. Topics to be studied are the rise, evolution, and extinction of the dinosaurs and other large reptiles such as the pleisiosaurs, icthyosaurs, mosasaurs, and pterosaurs; the origins of mammals and birds; as well as the climate, paleogeography, plate tectonics, and flora extant during this span of geologic time.

2. Detailed Description of Content of Course

Lecture Outline

1. Introduction

a. Interest in dinosaurs and the Mesozoic Era
b. What were dinosaurs and where and when did they live?
c. Overview of field work on dinosaurs

2. Historical Aspects of the Discovery and Study of the Dinosaurs and Their Kin

a. Discovery of the first large Mesozoic reptiles
b. Some of the early dinosaur hunters and their discoveries

3. Evolution, Phylogeny, and Classification

a. Lamarckian evolution
b. Darwinian evolution
c. Inheritance
d. Punctuated equilibria
e. Classification

4. Geologic Time, Sedimentary Environments, and Fossilization

a. The geologic time scale
b. The periods of the Mesozoic
c. Environments where terrestrial Mesozoic vertebrates are found
d. Modes of fossilization and taphonomy

5. A Brief History of the Mesozoic

a. Plate tectonics and paleogeography
b. Paleoclimate
c. The origin and ancestry of dinosaurs
d. Other Mesozoic vertebrates: icthyosaurs, mosasaurs, pterosaurs, birds, and mammals
e. Marine and terrestrial floras

6. Field Work

a. Prospecting
b. Extracting fossils from the ground
c. Preparation
d. Ethical considerations in collecting

7. Cretaceous Extinctions

a. Scope -- it wasn't just the dinosaurs
b. Theories

3. Detailed Description of Conduct of Course

During the first portion of the semester students will attend lectures presented by the instructor and guest lecturers and view video tapes covering topics pertinent to the course. They will then complete a research paper dealing with some aspect of the Mesozoic Era that will be agreed upon by the individual students and the instructor. These papers will be submitted to be edited and evaluated by one of the students' cohorts and will then be revised by the author and resubmitted to be read and critiqued by all members of the class. The research papers and lectures will then provide the basis for mutual discussion.

4. Goals and Objective of Course

Having successfully completed this course, the student will:

1. have basic understandings of the history of the geology, paleoenvironment, and biosphere of the Mesozoic Era as well as the history of the study of the Mesozoic Era.
2. be familiar with the modern theories of biologic evolution and classification.
3. develop a deeper appreciation of geologic time, the process of fossilization and the stratigraphy of terriginous depositional systems.
4. know how to prospect for vertebrate fossils and how to collect and prepare them.
5. understand some of the ethical considerations involved with the collection of fossils.
6. have explored the prevalent theories of the Cretaceous-Tertiary extinctions.
7. have planned, written, revised, and edited a well-organized, scientific research paper designed around stringent and formal guidelines as well as proofread and criticized a number of other papers of that ilk.

5. Assessment Measures

1. Comprehensive Examinations
2. Research paper

a. Performance on editing a cohort's paper
b. Graded revised paper
c. Critiques

(1) Performance on critical analysis of cohorts' papers
(2) Class' evaluations of individual papers
(3) Participation in class discussion

6. Other Course Information

None

7. Approval and Subsequent Reviews

Date Action Reviewed By
September 2005 Reviewed and Approved Stephen W. Lenhart, Chair