| Date | Description |
|---|---|
| August 23 | Lecture 1: Overview of lecture topics; course requirements; intro of Associate Instructors. What is a dinosaur, and what isn’t a dinosaur? BE SMART, Season 8, Ep 14, 8 minhttps://www.pbs.org/video/what-is-a-dinosaur-and-what-isnt-a-dinosaur-xnqx5p/Assignment: Preface; Chapters 1 and 16 |
| August 25 | Lecture 2: Course themes, semester threads, and the process of fossilization. An illustrated history of dinosaurs. PSB EONS Episode 13 min.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JDnQmBFxIfE Assignment: Textbook Chapter 2 |
| August 30 | Lecture 3: When Dinosaurs Roamed America (DVD) |
| September 1 | Lecture 4: Dinosaur groupings based on pelvic structure. Dinosaurs 101 National Geographic 4 minutes https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/dinosaurs-101 Assignment: Pages 95-97, 113-115, 211-214, 243-246 |
| September 6 | Lecture 5: Cladograms and hypothesis testing, and a reminder on evolution. Assignment: Chapters 3 and 4 |
| September 8 | Lecture 6: Building animals, characteristics of vertebrates, and a bit on a predatory bite. Assignment: Chapters 3 and 4 |
| September 13 | Lecture 7: Evolution of fish - how did the earliest fish bite? Pre-exam questions Assignment: review lecture notes |
| September 15 | Lecture 8: Focus on fish forms and finish our foray into fossils of fish. Assignment: review lecture notes |
| September 20 | Lecture 9: Evolution of amphibians: oldest, modern, and structural changes in the history of the group. Your inner fish (DVD) Assignment: review lecture notes and Chapter 4 |
| September 22 | Lecture 10: Amphibians to reptiles: - a major break from water for the amniotes. Assignment: review lecture notes |
| September 27 | Lecture 11: Major amniote groups, including the group to which dinosaurs belong; Overview of exam materials including tetrapod and amniote cladograms |
| September 29 | Exam 1 |
| October 4 | 4 Lecture 12: Herbivorous and carnivorous dinosaurs - feeding habits of the big beasts. Assignment: Chapters 6 and 9, and pages 243-252, 296-303, 322-329 |
| October 6 | Lecture 13: Herbivory and carnivory, continued. Assignment: Chapters 6 and 9, and pages 243-252, 296-303, 322-329 |
| October 11 | Lecture 14: Dinosaur thermoregulation, from large babies to the biggest of beasts. Assignment: Chapter 14 |
| October 13 | Lecture 15: Dinosaur social behavior – who made music and who rammed heads? Dinosaur eggs and nests and investment in parental care. Assignment: Relevant parts of Chapters 10, 11 and 12, and as guided by lecture information and slides. |
| October 18 | Lecture 16: The time the dinosaurs roamed the land - what did the land look like so long ago? Assignment: Chapter 2 revisited |
| October 20 | Lecture 17: Biological evolution of dinosaur groups – putting it all together |
| October 25 | Lecture 18: Dinosaur body and trace fossils: in-class exercise. How dinosaurs coupled up. EONS Season 4, Episode 12; 8 min. https://www.pbs.org/video/how-dinosaurs-coupled-up-knepg5/ |
| October 27 | Lecture 19: Earliest evolution of plants - when did food for the herbivorous dinosaurs evolve? Antarctic Dinosaurs (DVD). Assignment: Chapter 15 |
| November 1 | Lecture 20: Evolution of more plant food for the HUGE dinosaurs, or, in scientific jargon: Evolutionary history of vascular land plants. Assignment: Chapter 15 and review notes |
| November 3 | Lecture 21: The age of the flowering plants: using plants as environmental indicators. Review of topics for Exam 2 |
| November 8 | Exam 2 - comprehensive from the beginning of the semester |
| November 10 | Lecture 22: Characteristics and success of birds/avian dinosaurs, and their relation to terrestrial dinosaurs. Assignment: Chapter 5, p. 105-109, Chapter 7 |
| November 15 | Lecture 23: Dinosaur and bird cladograms, and mysteries of feathered reptiles unveiled. Assignment: Chapters 7 and 8 |
| November 17 | Lecture 24: Feathers! Who had them, when did they originate, and what were they used for? Assignment: Chapter 8 |
| November 22-24 | THANKSGIVING BREAK – no class meeting |
| November 29 | Lecture 25: What is a dinosaur? Reptiles that are not dinosaurs: are they still around today? Where are all the medium sized dinosaurs? EONS Season 4, Ep 4, 11min. https://www.pbs.org/video/where-are-all-the-medium-sized-dinosaurs-2fwjwj/ Assignment: Chapter 5 |
| December 1 | Lecture 26: Bizarre Dinosaurs: how did these crazy forms function?!? (DVD) |
| December 6 | Lecture 27: The Cretaceous-Paleogene mass extinction: A giant meteorite impact, and more…. Assignment: Chapter 17 |
| December 8 | Lecture 28: Semester review of Dinosaurs and Their Relatives during this last class period |
| December 15 | FINAL EXAM: 12:40-2:40 p.m., Thurs., December 15. Final Exam is Comprehensive. Everyone must take final exam, worth 30% of total grade. |
