PLBIO 4480 - [Plant Evolution and the Fossil Record]

Spring (offered alternate years). Next Offered: 2019-2020. 3 credits. Student option grading.

Prerequisite: PLBIO 2410 or equivalent, or permission of instructor.

W.L. Crepet.

Introduction to evolution, surveying major changes in plants from the origin of life to the present. Emphasizes plant form and function, adaptations to particular ecologic settings, and evolutionary theory as it relates to plants.

Outcome 1: Distinguish among the three major early Paleozoic vascular plant lineages.

Outcome 2: Distinguish among the major fossil and extant pteridophyte lineages.

Outcome 3: Distinguish among the major fossil and extant seed plant lineages.

Outcome 4: Explain the pattern of evolution of plants in time.

Outcome 5: Communicate the basic principles of modern (cladistic) phylogenetic analysis including the concept of homology and of evolutionary biology including: Darwinian evolution by means of natural selection; speciation; adaptive radiation and the environment; the role of the fossil record in understanding evolution.