Biology 766
Advanced Topics: Paleobotany
Fall 2009
Meets Fridays, 9:10-11:10 in 9 Halsey Science
Instructor: Dr. Thomas G. Lammers
Office: 9C Halsey Office hours: Mon 10:30 AM – 12:30 PM
E-mail: lammers@uwosh.edu Wed 12:30 – 2:00 PM
Phone: 424-1002 Thu 12:30 – 2:00 PM
Textbooks:
There is no required text, due to the current unavailability of a suitable book. For reference, the following two books are available in the classroom:
Thomas N. Taylor, Paleobotany: An Introduction to Fossil Plant Biology (McGraw-Hill, 1981).
Wilson N. Stewart & Gar W. Rothwell, Paleobotany and the Evolution of Plants, 2nd ed. (Cambridge University Press, 1993).
Objectives:
The primary objective of this course is to acquaint you with the evolutionary history of the Plant Kingdom, emphasizing major groups and important trends in morphology.
Evaluation:
There will be two examinations, each worth 35 points. There will be one classroom presentation, worth 30 points. Your grade will be the sum of these three items, according to the following scale:
0-69 F 70-71 C- 72-77 C 78-79 C+
80-81 B- 82-87 B 88-89 B+ 90-91 A- 92-100 A
For the classroom presentation, you will locate for the date indicated on the schedule below a recent research article in the primary literature in which a new species of fossil vascular plant is described. You will make an informal 10-15 minute presentation on that species, summarizing what is known and what is not known about it. Of special interest will be an interpretation of what it may have been like as an actual living species in its natural environment.
Date
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Topic
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Presentation
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11Sep
|
Introduction: plants & paleontology
|
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18 Sep
|
Origin of land plants: Bryophyta & Rhynioposida
|
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25 Sep
|
Early diversification: Zosterophyllopsida & early Lycopsida
|
|
2 Oct
|
More diversification: later Lycopsida and Trimerophytopsida
|
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16 Oct
|
Sphenopsida
|
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23 Oct
|
Ferns
|
Dittel, Widholm
|
30 Oct
|
Exam A major transition: progymnosperms
|
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6 Nov
|
Fern-like gymnosperms: evolution of the seed
|
Holzbauer, Koenigs
|
13 Nov
|
Cycads & cycadeoids
|
Pagel, Schultz
|
20 Nov
|
Gymnosperm experiments and a living fossil
|
Mesko, Murphy
|
4 Dec
|
Conifers
|
Blank, Sheth
|
11 Dec
|
Angiosperms: evolution of the flower
|
Kaminske
|
18 Dec
|
Exam
|
| |