PALEO 520 Syllabus Time: Room: Instructor Erin Maxwell Office ...

data (if relevant). The presenter should be prepared to provide a few points for
discussion. Presentations should be formal (i.e., powerpoint or other visual aids); I will
organize a projector.
Term paper and abstract guidelines
Your term paper should be 20-30 pages long (including references). It should be
a literature review discussing either a theoretical problem in vertebrate paleontology (for
instance, “Can we identify ‘ancestors’ in the fossil record?”), or a critical evaluation of a
set of methodologies (example: “Methods for estimating time of origin of a clade”). If the
latter approach is selected, strengths and weaknesses of the chosen methodologies as well
as potential alternate methods need to be discussed. The paper can also take the form of a
test of the different methods on a sample data set. Your presentation and your paper
should not overlap. The term paper is due (in hard copy) April 9 th .
Please hand in a 1-page proposal (single-spaced) including at least four references
for your term paper by February 12 th . The proposal should include the following details:
1) Topic (what is the problem to be investigated? Why is it of interest?); 2) Background
(quick summary of existing literature conflict) 3) Objectives (how you plan on
approaching the problem – non-biased summary? Point-of-view piece? With data?). The
proposal is binding, in the sense that if your term paper is on a different topic than that
outlined in the proposal, you may be penalized. If you really need to switch topics, come
talk to me no less than one week before the term paper is due and provide me with a new
proposal. The new proposal will be regraded. I reserve the right to refuse the topic switch.
Focus papers
Phylogenetic analysis of morphological data: Folinsbee, K.E., D.C. Evans, J. Fröbisch,
L.A. Tsuji and D.R. Brooks. 2007. Quantitative approaches to phylogenetics. In
Handbook of Paleoanthropology pp. 67-215.
Character analysis: Poe, S. and J.J. Wiens. Character selection and the methodology of
morphological phylogenetics. In J.J. Wiens (ed.), Phylogenetic analysis of morphological
data. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington. pp. 20-36.
Biomechanics and functional morphology: Koehl, M.A.R. 1996. When does morphology
matter? Annual review of Ecology and Systematics 27:501-542.
Morphospace and constraint: Richardson, M.K. and A.D. Chipman. 2003.
Developmental constraints in a comparative framework: a test case using variations in
phalanx number during amniote evolution. Journal of Experimental Zoology (Mol Dev
Evol) 296B:8-22.
Adaptation: Baum, D.A., and A. Larson. 1991. Adaptation reviewed: a phylogenetic
methodology for studying character macroevolution. Systematic Zoology 40(1):1-18.
Species concepts: de Queiroz, K. 2007. Species concepts and species delimitation.
Systematic Biology 56(6):879-886.