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 |
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-breathi...
5 videos, 6 readings
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 pro...
4 videos, 1 reading
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 li...
5 videos, 1 reading
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 cru...
5 videos, 1 reading
Graded: Module 4 Assessment (Graded)
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University of Alberta
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Ratings and Reviews
Very informative and easy to understand, with key concepts repeated throughout the course
As with all UAlberta Coursera courses, this one is full of information and makes you think about the topics. Thanks for another excellent course!
Satisfied all my expectations. Thank you so much.
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Great class, learned a lot!