Syllabus Information

5.1. Methodological overview

The methodology followed in this course is oriented towards achievement of the learning objectives. The course is divided into three topics and a seminar that cover the contents of the course, from the origin of life on Earth to the contributions of paleodiversity studies to geology, biology, ecology, and evolution. The seminar is dedicated to the contribution of Paleontology  to interplanetary studies, such as the detection of fossil life on other planets like Mars.

Practice sessions, which are related to the theoretical part, deal with techniques for the analysis of the biological record in the past, shape analysis, evolution of fossil associations and paleoenvironmental, paleoecological and paleobiogeographic inferences.
The course has a workload distributed in the following methodologies:

• 1. Theory sessions (1.9 ECTS): detailed discussion of the issues with the help of ICT and active participation of students.
• 2. Laboratory sessions (2.8 ECTS): application of various techniques for solving problems based on real or potential cases, use of general or specific software.
• 3. Seminar (0.3 ECTS): discussion of the proposed topic.

In order to optimize the coordination between theory and practice, the course is taught in intensive four-hour sessions that will mix the introduction of the key theoretical aspects with their application.

5.2. Learning tasks

Paleontology and dynamics of the biosphere is a 5 ECTS credit course, consisting of 50 hours of theory and practice sessions distributed throughout the second semester. At the end of the course a seminar will be held in which students are given the opportunity to interact with terrestrial biosphere researchers working in other fields. The practice sessions consist on solving both simple and more complex problems related to the theoretical core concepts previously introduced.

5.3. Syllabus

The course will address the following topics:

Topic 1: Contributions of paleontology to the knowledge of the biosphere

• 1.1. Contributions of paleontology to the knowledge of the biosphere and its dynamics: a historical perspective.
• 1.2. The phenomenon of life on Earth
• 1.3. The origin of life: the interpretation of the fossil record

Topic 2: The evolution of the shape of organisms

• 2.1. Diversification and morphological and ecological disparity. Environmental change and natural selection in paleontology. Coevolution.
• 2.2. Phylogenetic inference and its application in Paleobiogeography

Topic 3: The study of palaeobiodiversity

• 3.1. Contributions of taphonomic analysis on the correct interpretation of the fossil record and analysis of the palaeobiodiversity.
• 3.2. Geosphere and Biosphere: impact of the organisms in the ecosystems of the past and in the fossil record.
• 3.3. Biosphere response to environmental perturbations at regional and global scale.
• 3.4. Periodicity on a geological scale of biotic events.
• 3.5. Using paleontological data banks in the study of biodiversity and its dynamics.
• 3.6. Contributions in the fields of Evolutionary ecology, Macroecology and Historical Biogeography.

Seminar

• Contributions of Paleontology in the field of astrobiology

5.4. Course planning and calendar

The course will be taught in theoretical and practical sessions of 3-4 hours on Mondays in the morning. The final schedules are available on the website of the Faculty of Science.
More information will be available on bulletin boards, in class, the virtual platform Moodle (https://moodle2.unizar.es/add/), or on the website Aragosaurus (http://www.aragosaurus.com/).

5.5. Bibliography and recommended resources

• Arsuaga Ferreras, Juan Luis. El enigma de la esfinge : [las causas, el curso y el propósito de la evolución] / Juan Luis Arsuaga . - 1a. ed. Barcelona : Areté, D.L. 2001
• Asher, R.J. . From Clone to Bone. The synergy of morphological and Molecular Tools in Paleobiology. Cambridge University press. 2012
• Benton, M.J. . The History of Life: A Very Short Introduction. 1st Oxford University Press. 2008
• Brenchley, P.J. . Palaeoecology: Ecosystems, environment and evolution. 1st Chapman & Hall. 1997
• Crisci, J.V. . Introducción a la teoría y práctica de la biogeografía histórica. Sociedad Argentina de Botánica. 2000
• Darwin, Charles. El origen de las especies por medio de la selección natural / Charles Darwin ; la traducción del inglés ha sido hecha por Antonio de Zulueta Madrid : Calpe, 1921
• Domènech, Rosa. Introducción a los fósiles / Rosa Domènech, Jordi Martinell ; con la colaboración de Carles Martín-Closas Barcelona [etc.] : Masson, D.L. 1996
• Donogue P.C.J.. Telling the Evolutionary Time. Taylor & Francis. 2003
• Felsenstein, Joseph.. Inferring phylogenies / Josephe Felsenstein. Sunderland, Mass. : Sinauer Associates, 2004.
• Freeman, Scott. Análisis evolutivo / Scott Freeman, Jon C. Herron ; traducción, José Luis Ménsua Fernández, Santiago Elena Fito. - 2ª ed. Madrid [etc.] : Prentice Hall, D.L. 2002
• Hammer, Oyvind. Paleontological data analysis / Hammer à?yvind and David A.T. Harper Malden, Massachusetts : Blackwell Publishing, 2006
• Numerical palaeobiology : computer-based modelling and analysis of fossils and their distributions / edited by David A. T. Harper Chichester [etc.] : John Wiley & Sons, 2000
• Cladistics : the theory and practice of parsimony analysis / Ian J. Kitching ... [et al.]. . - 2nd ed. Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, 1998
• Lemey, P.. The phylogenetic handbook. Apractical approach to phylogenetic Analysis and Hypothesis testing. 2nd Cambridge University press. 2009
• López Martínez, Nieves. Paleontología : conceptos y métodos / Nieves López Martínez, Jaime Truyols Santonja Madrid : Síntesis, D.L. 1994
• Guía de campo de los fósiles de España / Nieves López Martínez (coordinadora) Madrid : Pirámide, D.L. 1986
• Guía de campo de los fósiles de España / Nieves López Martínez (coordinadora) . - 2a. ed. Madrid : Pirámide, D.L. 1987
• Guía de campo de los fósiles de España / Nieves López Martínez (coordinadora) . - [3a. ed.] Madrid : Pirámide, 1988
• Paleontología de invertebrados / editores, M. Luisa Martínez Chacón y Pascual Rivas Madrid [etc.] : Sociedad Española de Paleontología [etc.] , 2009
• McKinney, M.L.. Biodiversity dynamics. Turnover of populations, taxa, and communities. Columbia University press. 1998
• Micropaleontología / Eustoquio Molina (editor) Zaragoza: Prensas Universitarias de Zaragoza, 2002
• Parenti L.R.. Comparative Biogeography. Discovering and classifying biogeographical patterns of a dynamic Earth. . University of California press. 2009
• Patzkowsky, M.E. . Stratigraphic paleobiology. Understanding the distribution of fósil taxa in time and space. University of Chicago Press. 2012
• Skelton, Peter. Cladistics : a practical primer on CD-ROM / by Peter Skelton and Andrew Smith ; accompanying booklet by Neale Monks Cambridge : Cambridge University Press , 2002
• Tudge, Colin. La variedad de la vida : historia de todas las criaturas de la tierra / Colin Tudge ; [traducción castellana de Joan Lluis Riera] Barcelona : Crítica, D.L. 2001
• Wheeler, W.C. . Systematics: a course of lectures. Wiley-Blackwell. 2012
• Zunino, M .. Biogeografía. La dimensión espacial de la evolución. Fondo de Cultura económica. Mexico. 2003
• Head M. J. & Gibbard P.L. . Early Middle Pleistocene transitions: The Land-Ocean Evidence.. London [Geological Society London Special Publications n.247. Pag: 277-286]