EOS3103 Palaentology & Evolution

This module will introduce students to palaeontology (the study of fossils). All of the major animal groups, who have left their mark in the fossil record, will be examined. Emphasis will be placed firmly on understanding form and function in organisms and how it has related to their habitat over time. The course will finish with the topic of human evolution. Students will be trained to think both logically and critically; they will be shown how to develop arguments and answer questions based on the data available to them (or indeed collected by them in class). The background theme of the entire course will be to provide students with an appreciation for the story of evolution of life on Earth over the past c.541 million years.