E&ES
227: Principles of Geobiology
and
E&ES
229: Invertebrate Paleontology
Spring 2004
Class
227 meets: Tuesday and Thursday 9:00-10:20 am; Room
309
Lab
class 229 meets Tuesday 1:10-4.00 pm; Room
309
Life on Earth has changed over
the hundreds of millions of years of geological time. We will look
into current concepts in evolutionary theory as well as into the
development of evolutionary theory over time, and into recent methods
of determining phylogenies ('family trees') of organisms (cladistic
theory) and their consequences for understanding the relations
between different organisms. We will spend most of our time looking
at the diversity of building plans of living and extinct animals of
the different Phyla,
with emphasis on invertebrate animals, and at linkages between
morphology and function in ecosystems. We will aim at understanding
the long-term evolutionary patterns of life on Earth, its diversity,
mass extinctions and recovery, and the evolution over time of
different ecosystems.
Fossils will be studied in
laboratory class E&ES 229, co-registration in which is required.
During the laboratory course we will look at fossils from the
Wesleyan Collection to understand invertebrate morphology, physiology
and ecology of living and extinct invertebrate animals, with emphasis
on understanding of the different building plans of animals in the
most common Phyla. We will look particularly at the linkage of form
and function, the evolution of morphological and ecological diversity
over time, and pay attention to various modes of preservation of
fossils.
Major
readings: 
Text book for both E&ES 227
and E&ES 229: D.R. Prothero: BRINGING FOSSILS TO LIFE (WCB McGraw
Hill; 1998). There will be additional readings from the primary
literature, which will be made available in the class room and/or on
reserve. In the syllabus, there will be links to reading as well as
web reading for each lecture. For E&ES 229 laboratory notes will
be supplied in addition to the text book material. The first edition
is OK for the class; the second edition has one additional chapter
(Chapter 19).
Click here
for list of reading in addition to textbook
Expectations:
You are expected to develop insight into
the biology of invertebrates, in global ecological changes over Earth
history (including patterns in diversity), and an understanding of
the interactions between Earth and life.
For E&ES 227 here will be a midterm
and a comprehensive final exam (in exam week), and a
term
paper (due May 4). For the
term paper you are expected to select a period of Earth history and
describe its fauna, flora and ecology. For E&ES 229 there will be
three laboratory tests during the semester.
Grades for 227:
- Class participation:
10%
- Mid term exam: 20%
- Term paper: 35 %
- Final Exam: 35%
Grades for 229: