By David M. Raup , W.W. Norton, 1992. Night comes to the Cretaceous . By James Lawrence Powell , W.H. Freeman and Harvest Books, 1998. We will explore and interpret some of the most important events and processes in the history of life. Lectures will be interactive in nature.
Many people find that studying the history of life is greatly enriching.
Long after this course is over, I hope that you will be able to use the critical thinking skills you developed here to help solve many types of problems. The rest of the course will explore the processes of evolution, and extinction. There will be two exams during the term and no exam during finals week. You will select a fossil that is greatly to your liking from the displays at the University of Michigan Exhibit Museum of Natural History and interpret the significance of your specimen for understanding the history of life, evolution, and extinction. You are expected to devote a great deal of energy to this project through the term to be sure it is well-researched, reasoned, and presented.