Paleontology of Vertebrata

Lectures:

• Fossilisation of bones and other remains and traces of vertebrates in different environments; taphonomic factors.
• Characteristics of chordates and vertebrates and their origin.
• Review of the development, diversity, palaeobiology and biogeography of the major groups of vertebrates:

Jawless fish (Agnatha), armoured fish (Placodermi), cartilaginous fish (Chondrichthyes), prickly sharks (Acanthodii), bony fish (Osteichthyes; ray-finned fishes – Actinopterygii, lobe-finned fish – Sarcopterygii), amphibians (Amphibia), reptiles (Reptilia: lizards, turtles, snakes, crocodiles, dinosaurs, marine reptiles, pterosaurs, etc.), mammal-like reptiles (Synapsida), birds (Aves) and mammals (Mammalia).

In reviewing the evolution of vertebrates, we will go through the main events of the geological past (plate tectonics, climate change, vegetation, mass extinctions, etc.). Emphasis will be placed on functional morphology, adaptive strategies, the key steps in evolution, for example the development of jaws and paired extremities in the first fish, passage onto land, the origin of amniotes, the development of birds from dinosaurs, mammals, radiation of mammals in the Paleogene, the development of whales and dolphins from terrestrial ancestors, human development.

Exercises:

• Characteristics and types of bones, dermal structures, teeth; ontogenetic development.
• Microscopic structure and microstructure of skeletal tissues; microscopy of histological preparations (dentine, cement, comparison of the compacts in different groups of vertebrates).
• Features and modifications of the skeleton (spine, shoulder, pelvis, extremities, skull, teeth) in a variety of fossil and recent groups of vertebrates.

We will present the main research methods and field and laboratory techniques, including the preparation of fossil remains and the use of comparative collections and professional literature.