Earth Sciences 103 - Spring 2015

The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs

EASC 103 is an introductory course that deals with Dinosauria, and in particular, how our understanding of this extinct group of animals has been radically altered in the light of new discoveries during the last few decades. There are no pre-requisites for this course.

Course Organization

3 hours of lecture per week.

Course Textbook

Dinosaurs The Textbook by Spencer G. Lucas, Fourth or Fifth Edition. 2004 McGraw Hill, 280 pages. (Note: This text will be in the Bookstore sometime in January as a courseware package because the book is currently out of print).

Instructor: Robbie Dunlop email: rdunlop@sfu.ca phone: 778-782-4925 Office: TASC1-7223

Course Grading

In-Class Questions/Exercises: 10%
Quiz 1: 10%
Quiz 2: 15%
Quiz 3: 25%
Final Lecture Exam: 40% ( Covers all material )

Lecture Topics Covered (Click on subject for lecture notes)	Text Chapter	Internet References
Course Introduction Dinosaurs in the Public Eye Dinosaur Hunters	16, Appendix 1	Dinosaur Hunters Bob Bakker Prehistoric Planet PaleoNews World's first dinosaur skeleton Michael Skrepnick's Dinosaur Art
Fossils Sedimentary Environments Geologic Time	3	Earth's Cycles Steno's Principles Insects in Amber
Evolution, Phylogeny and Classification The Origin of Dinosaurs	2 4	Organic Evolution What Is Cladistics? Dinosaur Precursors
Theropods Theropod Behaviour	5	Dinosaur National Monument
Saurischia; Sauropodomorphs Sauropod Behaviour	6
Ornithopods; Ornithopod Behaviour	7	Mummified Hadrosaurs
Stegosaurs Ankylosaurs	8	Ankylosauria
Ceratopsians Pachycephalosaurs	9	Marginocephalia Information about Ceratopsidians
The Dinosaurian World	10	Introduction To The Mesozoic The Triassic Period Triassic Creatures Jurassic Dinosaurs The Real Jurassic Park
Hot-Blooded Dinosaurs?	13	Tracking Dinosaurs Dinosaur Trackways
The Origin of Birds	14	Birds are Dinosaurs The Solnhofen Limestone
Dinosaur Extinctions	15	Extinctions