Paleontology: Ancient Marine Reptiles
Description
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About this course: Paleontology: Ancient Marine Reptiles is a four-lesson course teaching a comprehensive overview of the evolutionary changes that occur when air-breathing terrestrial animals return to water. This course examines the diversity, adaptations, convergence, and phylogenetic relationships of extinct marine reptiles. Students will explore three major groups of marine reptiles: ichthyosaurs, plesiosaurs, and mosasaurs. Watch a preview of the course here: https://uofa.ualberta.ca/courses/paleontology-marine-reptiles
Created by: University of Alberta
-
Taught by: Michael Caldwell, Professor
Department of Biological Sciences -
Taught by: Halle P. Street, Sessional Instructor
…
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When you enroll for courses through Coursera you get to choose for a paid plan or for a free plan .
- Free plan: No certicification and/or audit only. You will have access to all course materials except graded items.
- Paid plan: Commit to earning a Certificate—it's a trusted, shareable way to showcase your new skills.
About this course: Paleontology: Ancient Marine Reptiles is a four-lesson course teaching a comprehensive overview of the evolutionary changes that occur when air-breathing terrestrial animals return to water. This course examines the diversity, adaptations, convergence, and phylogenetic relationships of extinct marine reptiles. Students will explore three major groups of marine reptiles: ichthyosaurs, plesiosaurs, and mosasaurs. Watch a preview of the course here: https://uofa.ualberta.ca/courses/paleontology-marine-reptiles
Created by: University of Alberta
-
Taught by: Michael Caldwell, Professor
Department of Biological Sciences -
Taught by: Halle P. Street, Sessional Instructor
Faculty of Science
Commitment 4 weeks of study, 3-5 hours/week Language English How To Pass Pass all graded assignments to complete the course. User Ratings 4.8 stars Average User Rating 4.8See what learners said Coursework
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Syllabus
WEEK 1
Introduction to Marine Reptiles
Welcome to the first lesson of Palaeontology: Ancient Marine
Reptiles. In this lesson we will explore the main theme of the
course: the aquatic problem. In other words, what happens when a
terrestrial animal returns to the water permanently? How do
air-breathing, land-lubbing creatures once again adapt to life in
the sea? Life in water is very different than life on land. Water
is much denser than air, which affects all aspects of an animal's
life including movement, sight, and hearing. In addition, animals
that return to the water cannot breathe water, and so must return
to the surface for air. Water also conducts heat much better than
air, making staying warm and active a challenge. Despite all these
obstacles, many land animals have returned to the water throughout
the course of evolutionary history. In fact, many examples of them
are living today including whales, seals, crocodiles, sea turtles
and penguins. Each of these animals had ancestors that returned to
the water. The process of overcoming the challenges associated with
this transition is what we refer to as the aquatic problem. This
lesson will explore many different types of adaptations that modern
and extinct animals have evolved to meet these challenges. You will
be introduced to some extinct groups of reptiles you have probably
never heard of, and will gain a new appreciation for how well
suited modern marine animals are to their environment. Just a quick
note before you get started: 'Palaios' is the Greek word for
'ancient', so palaeontology or paleontology is the study of ancient
life. Both spellings are correct, with palaeontology used in
Britain, and paleontology more common in the US.
5 videos, 6 readings expand
- Video: Course Preview Video
- Reading: Instructional Staff
- Reading: Meet Your Presenter: Scott Persons
- Reading: Course Glossary
- Reading: Acknowledgements
- Reading: Interactive Learning Objects
- Reading: Lesson 1 Course Notes
- Video: 1.1 Adaptations of Aquatic Tetrapods
- Video: 1.2 The Aquatic Problem - Part 1
- Video: 1.2 The Aquatic Problem - Part 2
- Video: 1.3 Classifying Aquatic Amniotes
Graded: Module 1 Assessment (Graded)
WEEK 2
Ichthyopterygians
Welcome back! We hope that you enjoyed the first lesson of the
Ancient Marine Reptiles mini MOOC. In lesson one, we discussed a
variety of modern and extinct groups of aquatic amniotes. Some of
these groups would have been familiar to you, and some you had
probably never heard of before. We also explored some of the many
differences between living in water and living on land, and we gave
examples of how some amniote groups have overcome these challenging
differences. As you may have already seen, some of the solutions to
the different aspects of the aquatic problem were solved in the
same way by unrelated groups- a phenomenon called convergence. The
next three lessons will build on your understanding of the aquatic
problem as we investigate it more detail in three extinct groups of
marine reptiles: the ichthyopterygians, sauropterygians, and
mosasauroids. Each lesson will follow the same general outline.
First, we will introduce you to the group and some of its
diversity. The second part of each lesson will focus on how that
group adapted to solve the aquatic problem, and how this resulted
in specializations for feeding, locomotion and reproduction.
Finally we will give you an overview of the evolutionary history of
the group through time and space, as well as presenting some
important fossils and localities from Canada and around the world.
In lesson two, we will study the first of the three major groups of
extinct marine amniotes: the ichthyopterygians. The
ichthyopterygians were highly specialized animals. Most of the
later members looked something like a dolphin or a tuna, a great
example of convergent evolution. These reptiles were probably among
the fastest aquatic creatures that ever lived. They were found all
over the world, from the early Triassic to the mid-Cretaceous, a
span of 150 million years. By the end of this lesson, you should be
familiar with the history and diversity of this group, and be able
to appreciate some of their impressive specializations to solve the
aquatic problem.
4 videos, 1 reading expand
- Reading: Lesson 2 Course Notes
- Video: 2.1 Ichthyopterygian Diversity
- Video: 2.2 Ichthyopterygian Paleobiology - Part 1
- Video: 2.2 Ichthyopterygian Paleobiology - Part 2
- Video: 2.3 Stratigraphic Record of Ichthyopterygians
Graded: Module 2 Assessment (Graded)
WEEK 3
Sauropterygians
Welcome back! We hope you enjoyed the lesson on ichthyopterygians,
the first of three in depth explorations of an extinct marine
reptile group that we will cover. In this lesson you learned that
ichthyosaurs are among the most specialized reptiles that ever
lived. They had many adaptations to solving the aquatic problem
including large eyes for seeing in deep water, powerful tails to
power their thunniform swimming, and two sets of flippers for
stability and steering. We also discussed the hypothesis that
ichthyosaurs may have overcome the problem of being cold-blooded
reptiles living in water by evolving some endothermic capabilities.
Even though ichthyopterygians were well adapted for a life in the
water, this lineage still went extinct long before the
End-Cretaceous Mass Extinction for unknown reasons. The lesson you
are about to start will follow a similar format to lesson 2, but
instead of ichthyopterygians, we will be investigating a second
major marine reptile lineage: the sauropterygians. These animals
shared the seas with the ichthyosaurs for much of their 180 million
year existence. You may already know some of the members of this
group such as the long-necked elasmosaurs and the massive-jawed
pliosaurs such as Liopleurodon. In this lesson we will expand your
knowledge of these animals by introducing you to their lizard-like
ancestors and a wider variety of the derived members. We will
present you with one of the biggest unsolved mysteries surrounding
marine reptiles: how did plesiosaurs use their four massive,
wing-like flippers to swim? We will also look at how they ate and
reproduced, and we will finish by taking you on a worldwide tour of
plesiosaur diversity through time. We hope you enjoy learning about
this group of reptiles, who had adaptations so unique that they
have never been seen in any other lineage of marine tetrapods.
5 videos, 1 reading expand
- Reading: Lesson 3 Course Notes
- Video: 3.1 Sauropterygian Diversity - Part 1
- Video: 3.1 Sauropterygian Diversity - Part 2
- Video: 3.2 Sauropterygian Paleobiology - Part 1
- Video: 3.2 Sauropterygian Paleobiology - Part 2
- Video: 3.3 Stratigraphic Record of Sauropterygians
Graded: Module 3 Assessment (Graded)
WEEK 4
Mosasauroids
Welcome to the final lesson in Palaeontology: Ancient Marine
Reptiles. The lesson you just finished gave you an in depth look at
one of the most morphologically disparate groups of marine
tetrapods to ever live. There were the turtle-shaped placodonts
with crushing teeth; the extraordinarily long-neck elasmosaurs; and
the pliosaurs with jaws massive enough to take on nearly any prey.
Even though sauropterygians evolved many different body plans, they
all shared certain adaptations for solving the aquatic problem such
as live birth and appendicular locomotion. In contrast, the final
group we will investigate showed convergence on one morphotype. The
mosasaurs, though diverse, were all fairly long reptiles, with
large jaws, four flippers and a long, lobed tail. You may recognise
one of them from Jurassic World, where an enormous
genetically-engineered Mosasaurus leaped out of the water to eat a
shark. This last lesson will once again start by examining the
diversity of the group, from their terrestrial origins to last days
of the Cretaceous when they ruled as apex predators. We will
investigate the specific adaptations of the group to the aquatic
problem, and finish with an overview of the history of mosasaurs
throughout time and space. Please enjoy the last lesson of
Palaeontology: Ancient Marine Reptiles. It is an appropriate way to
finish this course since the mosasaurs were among the largest and
most powerful marine predators to ever live, and were the last
major marine reptile group to evolve during the Mesozoic.
5 videos, 1 reading expand
- Reading: Lesson 4 Course Notes
- Video: 4.1 Mosasauroid Diversity - Part 1
- Video: 4.1 Mosasauroid Diversity - Part 2
- Video: 4.2 Mosasauroid Paleobiology - Part 1
- Video: 4.2 Mosasauroid Paleobiology - Part 2
- Video: 4.3 Stratigraphic Record of Mosasauroids
Graded: Module 4 Assessment (Graded)
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