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Introduction to Paleontology, created in conjunction with the Smithsonian, takes you on a thrilling journey through Earth’s history—from a lifeless planet to initial bursts of life, from extinctions to recovery, and ultimately to our world today. Relying considerably on the National Museum of Natural History’s curatorial expertise and extensive collections of paleontological fossils, maps, records, and images, and taught by award-winning professor Stuart Sutherland, Professor of Teaching in the Department of Earth Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, this course explains how the science of paleontology developed—coalescing information from geology, biology, ecology, anthropology, and archaeology to help us better understand the fascinating and sometimes shocking history of our constantly changing planet. In this course, you will learn how fossils are formed, from single-celled organisms to megafauna, and how paleontologists use both fossils and trace fossils to learn about the minerology, climate, and atmospheric chemistry of the time. You’ll learn about the mass extinctions that threatened the survival of life on earth and the ways in which life has recovered, adapted, evolved, and spread over time. You’ll meet some of the fascinating creatures who are now extinct, including the 21st-century discovery and classification of Homo floresiensis on the Indonesian island of Flores. Dr. Sutherland concludes by explaining the ways in which paleontology can contribute to some of the challenges faced today by life on Earth and our exploration of other worlds.
History on a Geological Scale
Life Cast in Ancient Stone
Tools of the Paleontological Trade
How Do You Fossilize Behavior?
Taxonomy: The Order of Life
Minerals and the Evolving Earth
Fossil Timekeepers
Fossils and the Shifting Crust
Our Vast Troves of Microfossils
Ocean Fire and the Origin of Life
The Ancient Roots of Biodiversity
Arthropod Rule on Planet Earth
Devonian Death and the Spread of Forests
Life’s Greatest Crisis: The Permian
Life’s Slow Recovery after the Permian
Dinosaur Interpretations and Spinosaurus
Whales: Throwing Away Legs for the Sea
Insects, Plants, and the Rise of Flower Power
The Not-So-Humble Story of Grass
Australia’s Megafauna: Komodo Dragons
Mammoths, Mastodons, and the Quest to Clone
The Little People of Flores
The Neanderthal among Us