Paleobiology-evolution

FaculteitFaculty of Geosciences

NiveauBachelor

Studiejaar2026-2027

Beschrijving

Course goals

The students can:

calculate the diversity of past and present ecosystems and discuss the limitations of sampling methods and diversity metrics,
apply an understanding of the mechanisms of evolution to records of changes in fossil organisms,
interpret the paleoenvironment based on fossils,
carry out a simple phylogenetic analysis on morphological data,
identify a source of paleontological data for a given question, design simple data collection and analysis,

document their observations in a technical reports or illustration using correct paleontological terminology.

Content

This course offers a broad overview of the fossil record with special emphasis on evolution and biodiversity changes since the Palaeozoic. The focus in the first part of the course is mainly on marine invertebrates; the second part deals with terrestrial vegetation and vertebrates.
Based on the development of life on earth, the global increase in diversity will be discussed, as well as insight into factors involved, such as extinctions, radiations, climate and palaeo-geography. The paleobiological development of marine and terrestrial life will be placed into the context of large-scale geosphere processes such as plate tectonics, atmosphere-biosphere interactions, and the global carbon cycle through time. A second goal is to critically reflect on natural dynamics of biodiversity versus modern biodiversity loss, the human induced “mass-exctinction” of the 21st century.

This course introduces several paleontological techniques ranging from micro- and macro-fossil determination and taxonomical classification, numerical data analysis for paleoecological reconstructions to the application of proxy-based inference models for paleoclimate reconstructions. This course introduces several paleontological techniques ranging from micro- and macro-fossil determination and taxonomical classification, data analysis for paleoecological reconstructions to the application of proxy-based inference models for paleoclimate reconstructions. In the practicals, faunal change and migrations are discussed in relation to changes in local communities on longer time scales. The practicals use a combination of fossil specimens and computer simulations. From floral assemblages, the climate of the Cenozoic will be reconstructed.

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