From: web-form@Oswego.EDU Sent: Wednesday, December 12, 2007 9:05 AM To: ucc@oswego.edu Subject: Web Form: Course_Submission Department_Chair: Alfred Stamm Department_Chair_Email: stamm@oswegoe.edu Additional_Contact: Dave Valentino Additional_Contact_Email: dvalenti@oswego.edu Course_Number: GEO 440 Course_Type: Updated Course Course_Title: Invertebrate Paleontology Catalog_Description: A systematic approach to the morphology, ecology, and evolution of the major taxa preserved in the rock record. Emphasis will be on invertebrate phyla. The taxonomic groups are used to exemplify the prevailing themes of paleontological investigations, adaptation and functional morphology; paleoecology; evolution; biostratigraphy; paleobiogeography. Required field trip; fee required. Prerequisites: Geo 100, Geo 100L, Geo 200, Geo 200L, or permission of instructor. Sp_every Spring: Yes Semester_Hours: 4 Justification: A one semester, 4 credit (3 hrs lecture, 3 hrs lab) course in invertebrate paleontology is fundamental to the core curriculum in the B.A. and B.S. Geology programs. Both geology and Ad. Ed., earth science concentrate majors will take this course. The class size is limited to 24 because of lab-space limitations and the management of the required field activities. This course is offered at the 420 level due to the advanced subject matter and the number of lower-level prerequisites. Course_Objectives: The main objective is to understand the morphology of zoological groups preserved in the fossil record for purposes of: 1) identification of fossils based on appearance; 2) familiarization with the meaning of structural characters; 3) establishment of race-history relationships. Additional objective is to apply knowledge of fossils in solving problems in biogeography, stratigraphy and sedimentation environments. Course_Description: An introduction to the systematics, morphology, ecology and evolution of the major taxa preserved in the rock record. The taxonomic groups are used to exemplify the prevailing themes of paleontological investigations: adaptation and functional morphology, biostratigraphy, paleoecology evolution and paleobiogeography. Resources: Topic specific software is utilized to complete some lab assignment. The portable computer projection system (Smart-Cart) in Piez Hall is used. Students use the geology computer lab, located in Piez 339, for writing and computational assignments related to the course. The current journals (hardcopy and on-line) that support Geo 320, 420 and 440 will be used for the offering of the revised course proposed herein. Bibliography: Basan, Paul, and others, 1978, Trace Fossil Concepts: Soc. Econ. Paleontologists and Mineralogists Short Course No., 5, Tulsa, Oklahoma, 201 p. Baumiller, T. K., 2003. Evaluating the interaction between platyceratid gastropods and crinoids: a cost-benefit approach, Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, v. 201, p. 199-209. Behrensmeyer, A. K., Fursich, F. T., Gastaldo, R. A., Kidwell, S. M., Kosnik, M. A., Kowalewski, M., Plotnick, R. E., Rogers, R. R. and Alroy, J., 2005. Are the most durable shelly taxa also the most common in the marine fossil record?, Paleobiology, v. 31, p. 607-623. Caroll, M., Kowalewski, M., Simoes, M. G. and Goodfriend, G. A., Quantitative estimates of time-averaging in terebratulid brachiopod shell accumulations from a modern tropical shelf, Paleobiology, v. 29, p. 381-402. Gould, S. J. and Calloway, C. B., 1980. Clams and brachiopods - ships that pass in the night, Paleobiology, v. 6, no. 4., p. 383-396. Friedman, G.M., Sanders, J.E., and Kopaska-Merkel, D.C., 1992, Principles of Sedimentary Deposits: MacMillan, New York, 717p. Hallam, A., 1992, Phanerozoic Sea-level Changes: Columbia University Press, New York, 266 p. Hallam, A., 1981, Facies Interpretation and the Stratigraphic Record: W.H. Freeman and Co., San Francisco, 291p. Hunt, G. and Chapman, R. E., 2001. Evaluating hypotheses of instar-grouping in arthropods: a maximum likelihood approach, Paleobiology, v. 27, p. 466-484. Hwang, K., Huh, M., Lockley, M. G., Unwin, D. M., Wright, J. L., 2002. New pterosaur tracks (Pteraichnidae) from the Late Cretaceous Uhangri Formation, southwestern Korea, Geology Magazine, v. 139, p. 421-435. Iten, H. V., Lichternwalter, M., de Moraes Leme, J., Simoes, M. G., 2006. Possible taphonomic bias in the preservation of phosphatic macroinvertebrates in the uppermost Maquoketa formation (Upper Ordovician) of northeastern Iowa (North-Central USA), Journal of Taphonomy, v. 4, p. 129-144. Jones, D. S. and Gould, S. J., 1999. Direct measurement of age in fossil Gryphaea: the solution to a classic problem in heterochrony, Paleobiology, v. 25, p. 158-187. Kidwell, S. M., 2002. Mesh-size effects on the ecological fidelity of death assemblages: a meta-analysis of molluscan live-dead studies, Geobios, v. 24, p. 107-119. Other_Comments: The revised course proposed here is due to the recent changes to the B.A. and B.S. geology programs. The most substantial change to the geology programs is to the core curriculum in the field of "soft-rock" geology (sedimentology, stratigraphy, sedimentary petrology and paleontology). Currently the B.A. and B.S. programs require the completion of 2 out of 4, and 3 out of 4 courses for a total of 6 and 9 credits in this field respectively. The proposed changes require a two course sequence in Sedimentation & stratigraphy (GEO 420), and Paleontology (GEO 440) for a total of 8 credits for both the B.A. and B.S. geology programs. The current offering of these courses reflects the interests of the "soft-rock" geology faculty in the late 1990's, and none of those faculty are currently at Oswego. The proposed changes are a return to the way that these courses were required prior to 2001, and this change was strongly recommended during the geology program review. 1. Most of GEO 320, Sedimentology (3 cr) and GEO 420, Stratigraphy (3 cr) will be integrated into one course entitled Sedimentation and Stratigraphy (GEO 420) and offered for 4 credits (3 hours lecture and 3 hours lab per week). Prior to 2001, GEO 420 existed as a 4 credit course that integrated major components in sedimentology. 2. Some of GEO 320, Sedimentology (3 cr) and GEO 440, Invertebrate Paleontology (3 cr) will be integrated and offered as one 4 credit course (3 hours of lecture and 3 hours of lab per week). Prior to 2001, GEO 440 existed as a 4 credit course that included major concepts in sedimentology. IP_Adress: 129.3.26.149