SL30060: Evolution in deep time (BB30131)
[Page last updated: 26 October 2023]
Academic Year: | 2023/24 |
Owning Department/School: | Department of Life Sciences |
Credits: | 6 [equivalent to 12 CATS credits] |
Notional Study Hours: | 120 |
Level: | Honours (FHEQ level 6) |
Period: |
- Semester 2
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Assessment Summary: | ES 100% |
Assessment Detail: |
- BB30131 Essay 1 (ES 50%)
- BB30131 Essay 2 (ES 50%)
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Supplementary Assessment: |
- Like-for-like reassessment (where allowed by programme regulations)
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Requisites: |
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Learning Outcomes: |
After taking this course the student should be able to:
* utilise concepts from palaeobiology and neontology to discuss theories of the diversification of multicellular life, the evolution of phyla, the nature of evolutionary processes, and the role of stochastic processes in macroevolution.
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Aims: | To develop an understanding of the following issues:
a) Modern biology enables us to study perhaps 2% of the animal and plant species that have ever existed. How can we study the remaining 98%, and what can we learn from them?
b) The diversity of the evidence for evolution
c) Most modern major groups (Phyla) of animals, from the simplest to the most complex, appeared together, fully formed in the fossil record some 540 million years ago. This vexed Darwin, and is still problematic today. Was the explosion of design real, and how can we understand it?
d) How can we study evolution in deep time?
e) The nature of the fossil record.
f) The relationship between palaeontology, modern ecology and developmental biology.
g) Major patterns in the evolution of life (mass extinctions, major radiations and competition between groups).
h) The evolution, history and biomechanics of some major extinct groups (e.g., Dinosauria, Eurypterida)
i) The evolution of Man.
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Skills: | Learning and studying T/F/A, Written communication T/F/A, Information handling & retrieval T/F/A, Working independently T/F.
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Content: | Why study extinct organisms?; The Cambrian explosion of animal design - Darwin's headache; Speciation and biodiversity throughout the fossil record; Molecular clocks; Bodyplans, fossils, development and molecular biology - is an integrated approach possible?; Reconstructing the tree of life - morphology, molecules or both?; Biomechanics of dinosaurs, giant marine reptiles and giant scorpions: what can we deduce about function and life history from fossils?; Can we find any general "rules" and patterns in the history of Life?; The evolution of large size; Competition between clades and clade replacement (examples from fish and tetrapods); What influences the success of lineages through time?; Recapitulation and heterochrony; Palaeobiogeography - the relationship between groups, continents and time; The evolution of Man.
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Course availability: |
SL30060 is Optional on the following courses:
Department of Chemistry
- USSC-AFB01 : BSc(Hons) Natural Sciences (Biology with Chemistry stream) (Year 3)
- USSC-AAB01 : BSc(Hons) Natural Sciences (Biology with Chemistry stream) with Study year abroad (Year 4)
- USSC-AKB01 : BSc(Hons) Natural Sciences (Biology with Chemistry stream) with Year long work placement (Year 4)
- USSC-AFB01 : BSc(Hons) Natural Sciences (Biology with Environmental Science stream) (Year 3)
- USSC-AAB01 : BSc(Hons) Natural Sciences (Biology with Environmental Science stream) with Study year abroad (Year 4)
- USSC-AKB01 : BSc(Hons) Natural Sciences (Biology with Environmental Science stream) with Year long work placement (Year 4)
- USSC-AFB01 : BSc(Hons) Natural Sciences (Biology with Pharmacology stream) (Year 3)
- USSC-AAB01 : BSc(Hons) Natural Sciences (Biology with Pharmacology stream) with Study year abroad (Year 4)
- USSC-AKB01 : BSc(Hons) Natural Sciences (Biology with Pharmacology stream) with Year long work placement (Year 4)
- USSC-AFB01 : BSc(Hons) Natural Sciences (Biology with Physics stream) (Year 3)
- USSC-AAB01 : BSc(Hons) Natural Sciences (Biology with Physics stream) with Study year abroad (Year 4)
- USSC-AKB01 : BSc(Hons) Natural Sciences (Biology with Physics stream) with Year long work placement (Year 4)
- USSC-AFB01 : BSc(Hons) Natural Sciences (Chemistry with Biology stream) (Year 3)
- USSC-AAB01 : BSc(Hons) Natural Sciences (Chemistry with Biology stream) with Study year abroad (Year 4)
- USSC-AKB01 : BSc(Hons) Natural Sciences (Chemistry with Biology stream) with Year long work placement (Year 4)
- USSC-AFB01 : BSc(Hons) Natural Sciences (Chemistry with Environmental Science stream) (Year 3)
- USSC-AAB01 : BSc(Hons) Natural Sciences (Chemistry with Environmental Science stream) with Study year abroad (Year 4)
- USSC-AKB01 : BSc(Hons) Natural Sciences (Chemistry with Environmental Science stream) with Year long work placement (Year 4)
- USSC-AFB01 : BSc(Hons) Natural Sciences (Chemistry with Pharmacology stream) (Year 3)
- USSC-AAB01 : BSc(Hons) Natural Sciences (Chemistry with Pharmacology stream) with Study year abroad (Year 4)
- USSC-AKB01 : BSc(Hons) Natural Sciences (Chemistry with Pharmacology stream) with Year long work placement (Year 4)
- USSC-AFB01 : BSc(Hons) Natural Sciences (Environmental Science with Biology stream) (Year 3)
- USSC-AAB01 : BSc(Hons) Natural Sciences (Environmental Science with Biology stream) with Study year abroad (Year 4)
- USSC-AKB01 : BSc(Hons) Natural Sciences (Environmental Science with Biology stream) with Year long work placement (Year 4)
- USSC-AFB01 : BSc(Hons) Natural Sciences (Environmental Science with Chemistry stream) (Year 3)
- USSC-AAB01 : BSc(Hons) Natural Sciences (Environmental Science with Chemistry stream) with Study year abroad (Year 4)
- USSC-AKB01 : BSc(Hons) Natural Sciences (Environmental Science with Chemistry stream) with Year long work placement (Year 4)
- USSC-AFB01 : BSc(Hons) Natural Sciences (Pharmacology with Biology stream) (Year 3)
- USSC-AAB01 : BSc(Hons) Natural Sciences (Pharmacology with Biology stream) with Study year abroad (Year 4)
- USSC-AKB01 : BSc(Hons) Natural Sciences (Pharmacology with Biology stream) with Year long work placement (Year 4)
- USSC-AFB01 : BSc(Hons) Natural Sciences (Pharmacology with Chemistry stream) (Year 3)
- USSC-AAB01 : BSc(Hons) Natural Sciences (Pharmacology with Chemistry stream) with Study year abroad (Year 4)
- USSC-AKB01 : BSc(Hons) Natural Sciences (Pharmacology with Chemistry stream) with Year long work placement (Year 4)
- USSC-AFB01 : BSc(Hons) Natural Sciences (Physics with Biology stream) (Year 3)
- USSC-AAB01 : BSc(Hons) Natural Sciences (Physics with Biology stream) with Study year abroad (Year 4)
- USSC-AKB01 : BSc(Hons) Natural Sciences (Physics with Biology stream) with Year long work placement (Year 4)
- USSC-AFM01 : MSci(Hons) Natural Sciences (Biology with Chemistry stream) (Year 3)
- USSC-AAM01 : MSci(Hons) Natural Sciences (Biology with Chemistry stream) with Study year abroad (Year 4)
- USSC-AKM01 : MSci(Hons) Natural Sciences (Biology with Chemistry stream) with Professional Placement (Year 4)
- USSC-AFM01 : MSci(Hons) Natural Sciences (Biology with Pharmacology stream) (Year 3)
- USSC-AAM01 : MSci(Hons) Natural Sciences (Biology with Pharmacology stream) with Study year abroad (Year 4)
- USSC-AKM01 : MSci(Hons) Natural Sciences (Biology with Pharmacology stream) with Professional Placement (Year 4)
- USSC-AFM01 : MSci(Hons) Natural Sciences (Biology with Physics stream) (Year 3)
- USSC-AAM01 : MSci(Hons) Natural Sciences (Biology with Physics stream) with Study year abroad (Year 4)
- USSC-AKM01 : MSci(Hons) Natural Sciences (Biology with Physics stream) with Professional Placement (Year 4)
- USSC-AFM01 : MSci(Hons) Natural Sciences (Chemistry with Biology stream) (Year 3)
- USSC-AAM01 : MSci(Hons) Natural Sciences (Chemistry with Biology stream) with Study year abroad (Year 4)
- USSC-AKM01 : MSci(Hons) Natural Sciences (Chemistry with Biology stream) with Professional Placement (Year 4)
- USSC-AFM01 : MSci(Hons) Natural Sciences (Chemistry with Pharmacology stream) (Year 3)
- USSC-AAM01 : MSci(Hons) Natural Sciences (Chemistry with Pharmacology stream) with Study year abroad (Year 4)
- USSC-AKM01 : MSci(Hons) Natural Sciences (Chemistry with Pharmacology stream) with Professional Placement (Year 4)
- USSC-AFM01 : MSci(Hons) Natural Sciences (Physics with Biology stream) (Year 3)
- USSC-AAM01 : MSci(Hons) Natural Sciences (Physics with Biology stream) with Study year abroad (Year 4)
- USSC-AKM01 : MSci(Hons) Natural Sciences (Physics with Biology stream) with Professional Placement (Year 4)
Department of Life Sciences
- USSL-AFB02 : BSc(Hons) Biology (Year 3)
- USSL-AKB02 : BSc(Hons) Biology with Professional Placement (Year 4)
- USSL-AFM02 : MBiol(Hons) Biology (Year 3)
- USSL-AKM02 : MBiol(Hons) Biology with Professional Placement (Year 4)
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Notes: - This unit catalogue is applicable for the 2023/24 academic year only. Students continuing their studies into 2024/25 and beyond should not assume that this unit will be available in future years in the format displayed here for 2023/24.
- Courses and units are subject to change in accordance with normal University procedures.
- Availability of units will be subject to constraints such as staff availability, minimum and maximum group sizes, and timetabling factors as well as a student's ability to meet any pre-requisite rules.
- Find out more about these and other important University terms and conditions here.
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