Biology 766
ADVANCED TOPICS: PALEOBOTANY
Fall 2009
Meets Fridays, 9:10-11:10 in 9 Halsey Science
Instructor:
Office:
E-mail:
Phone:
Dr. Thomas G. Lammers
9C Halsey
lammers@uwosh.edu
424-1002
Office hours:
Mon 10:30 AM – 12:30 PM
Wed 12:30 – 2:00 PM
Thu 12:30 – 2:00 PM
Textbooks:
There is no required text, due to the current unavailability of a suitable book. For reference, the
following two books are available in the classroom:
Thomas N. Taylor, Paleobotany: An Introduction to Fossil Plant Biology (McGraw-Hill, 1981).
Wilson N. Stewart & Gar W. Rothwell, Paleobotany and the Evolution of Plants, 2nd ed. (Cambridge University Press, 1993).
Objectives:
The primary objective of this course is to acquaint you with the evolutionary history of the Plant
Kingdom, emphasizing major groups and important trends in morphology.
Evaluation:
There will be two examinations, each worth 35 points. There will be one classroom
presentation, worth 30 points. Your grade will be the sum of these three items, according to the
following scale:
0-69 F
80-81 B-
70-71 C82-87 B
72-77 C
88-89 B+
78-79 C+
90-91 A-
92-100 A
For the classroom presentation, you will locate for the date indicated on the schedule below a
recent research article in the primary literature in which a new species of fossil vascular plant is
described. You will make an informal 10-15 minute presentation on that species, summarizing
what is known and what is not known about it. Of special interest will be an interpretation of
what it may have been like as an actual living species in its natural environment.
Date
11Sep
18 Sep
25 Sep
2 Oct
16 Oct
23 Oct
30 Oct
6 Nov
13 Nov
20 Nov
4 Dec
11 Dec
18 Dec
Topic
Introduction: plants & paleontology
Origin of land plants: Bryophyta & Rhynioposida
Early diversification: Zosterophyllopsida & early Lycopsida
More diversification: later Lycopsida and Trimerophytopsida
Sphenopsida
Ferns
Exam A major transition: progymnosperms
Fern-like gymnosperms: evolution of the seed
Cycads & cycadeoids
Gymnosperm experiments and a living fossil
Conifers
Angiosperms: evolution of the flower
Exam
Presentation
Dittel, Widholm
Holzbauer, Koenigs
Pagel, Schultz
Mesko, Murphy
Blank, Sheth
Kaminske