Course 01:460:305:01
Fall 2008
EVOLUTION AND GEOLOGICAL
TIME
(Tuesdays, Thursdays 1.40 p.m.— 3.00 p.m.)
(Allison Road Classroom(ARC) Room 203 / Busch Campus)
Alternative room: Department of Earth Sciences, Wright Labs, Room 339)
Instructor
Marie-Pierre Aubry, Professor, Department of Geology, Rutgers University
(Busch Campus, Wright Lab, Room 239C)
email: aubry@rci.rutgers.edu
(Office hours: Tuesday, Thursday: 11 a.m.-12.15 p.m.)
Syllabus
1- Introduction: objectives of the course, requirements, examinations, reading
2- The scientific method
3- Modern Biodiversity. Systematics.
4- Basic elements of organic classification
5- What is Life?
5- The concept of Deep Time is linked to the Science of stratigraphy.
(Making a scroll)
7- Fossils: what are they and what do they tell us?
8- Early life (From 3.8 Ga to 550 Ma): The first and essential steps of organic evolution
9- The origin of life: How and where did it start?
10- The Cambrian explosion: Much happening in a short time.
11- From echinoderms to reptiles: The four wonders of vertebrate evolution.
12- From reptiles to mammals: Tooth for tooth, ear for ear!
13- From reptiles to birds: our cousins, the dinosaurs.
14- Ichthyosaurs, plesiosaurs, sharks and whales: dj vu all over again!
15- Pterosaurs and birds: acrobats in different skies!
16- Late Neogene Hominid Evolution: The Last Five Million Years on the blue planet
17- In the meanwhile, plants were transforming the landÉ
18- The oceanic meadow: the phytoplankton take off!
19- An asteroid has crashed in the Yucatan Peninsula!
20- Did kangaroos choose to settle in Australia?
21- Darwin in his time and today.
There are three requirements associated with this course:
1- Four LECTURE PERIODS will be represented in the form of TWO guided visits to the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) in New York City (Central Park West, 79th Street). These two visits are MANDATORY. Each visit, 3-hours-long, will be organized on a Friday or a Saturday, at your convenience. The first, in September, is meant for you to gather material that will help you understand the content of the course. The second, in November, will help you review what we have learned in class.
2- Preparation of TWO scrolls to illustrate the evolutionary events that took place over ~ 3.8 billion years. The scrolls are designed to help you study, get a sense of deep time and appreciate the unfolding evolutionary process. The construction/preparation of scrolls will be explained in class.
3- The writing of YOUR book (that complements the scroll) on what organic evolution is about, and how modern biodiversity relates to earlier life forms.
Scrolls and book will include examples discussed during classes at the AMNH, and are part of your final exam. Scrolls are expected to be prepared as the class progresses, and will be required with each examination.
Reading
Course Text:
— Gould, S. J., 2001, The Book of Life, W. W. Norton & Company Ltd., 256 pp.
Course content available at Internet Site: www.rci.rutgers.edu/~aubry
Additional (recommended) Reading:
— Levin, H. L., 1999, The Earth Through Time, 6th ed., Saunders College Publishers/Harcourt Brace and Co., Publishers, 568 pp.
— Strickberger M. W., 2000, EVOLUTION, 3rd ed., Jones and Bartlett Publishers, 722pp.
— Atlas of LIFE ON EARTH, 2001, Barnes & Noble BOOKS, 368 pp.
Examination
There will be two mid-term, 1 h-long examinations:
1- Thursday 5 October .
2- To be determined in November
3- There is no final exam per se. The final grade is based on your scrolls and book (50%) in addition to the results of the 2 exams.
NOTE: While there is no written final exam, there will be an oral exam consisting of a 20 to 30 minute discussion of your book, scrolls and what you have learned in class.
WARNING: This course requires regular study and involvement. It is designed to educate you as to the biological and physical processes that have occurred through time, leading to todayŐs biological diversity. Because evolution in this course is studied from a historical perspective, the syllabus follows a logical progression. To easily follow this progression you must be willing to study regularly for the course and attend the lectures. The syllabus informs you as to the content of the course. However the sequence of classes on different topics may not always follow the syllabus.
If you want to learn about the natural world around you and its origins, and about the origin of humans this course is for you. This course will not seem difficult and you will benefit from it if you are willing to come to each class having studied the facts discussed/covered in the previous class. Completion of/updating your scrolls after each class will help you enjoy the course. If you are not willing or able to make this regular effort, you may consider taking another course.