This course provides an introduction to the dinosaurs and the physical environment of the Earth during the Mesozoic era in which nonavian dinosaurs lived. Students will engage with the processes of fossilization and discover how we have learned about these ancient species. Important topics include dinosaur groups, interrelationships and evolution, the skeletal and trace fossil record, inferred lifestyles and behaviors, the origin of birds, Mesozoic paleoclimate, sedimentary paleoenvironments, plate tectonics and the supercontinent cycle. Hypotheses explaining mass extinctions of dinosaur lineages will be reviewed and evaluated.
Terms Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
Credits: 3.00
Textbook information will be available online for each term's courses 45 days prior to the first day of classes
for the term.
The courses in this catalog are identified by prefixes and numbers that were assigned by Florida's Statewide
Course Numbering System, a system used by all public postsecondary institutions in Florida and 32 non-public
institutions. Seminole State controls the description, credit and content of its own courses.
