BIOL3703 Vertebrate Palaeontology

Dr Aaron Camens

2016

4.5

1 x 1-hour lecture weekly
1 x 2-hour workshop per semester
4 x 4-hour practicals per semester
1 x 5-hour field trip-1 once-only
9 x 8-hour field trips per semester
1 x 49-hour project work per semester

1 BIOL2706 - Vertebrate Anatomy and Evolution
2 18 Units in ARCH, BIOL, CHEM, EASC or ENVS topics
Must Satisfy: ((1) or (2))

BIOL8703 has been successfully completed

Students will learn about early vertebrate evolution and systematics through to the emergence of the modern Australian fauna and the extinction of the megafauna. Content includes comparative anatomy, taxonomy, systematics, taphonomy and biostratigraphy of Australian fossil vertebrates with particular emphasis on marsupials. It also includes a week-long field trip (in the mid-semester break) to Bone Gulch on the Murray River in NSW where students will get on site experience in fossil excavation, sieving, logging a geological section, dating methods and field trip logistics.

This topic aims to develop an understanding of the concepts and methods used by vertebrate palaeontologists to reconstruct the history of life on earth and in the process provide students with an overview of the evolution and radiation of the Australian mammal fauna.

At the completion of the topic, students are expected to be able to:

Interpret a local fossil-bearing stratigraphic section and describe the site formation history of a fossil site
Have some understanding of the methods used to, document, excavate and transport fossils to a laboratory for further preparation and study
Make a preliminary identification of the fossil(s) from teeth and skeletal elements
Have some understanding of the application of taphonomic principles in (a) determining the likely cause of death and (b) in the reconstruction of a fossil community
Apply general principles to the identification and classification of Australasian reptiles and mammals
Collect palaeontological data from a sample of fossil material in order to interpret the faunal composition, geological context, palaeoecology and taphonomic history of the sample
Have gained some insight into research in at least one aspect of contemporary vertebrate palaeontology

Key dates and timetable

Timetable details for 2016 are no longer published.

This information is from current details held on the Student Information System. Please report any errors or omissions to the relevant College Office.