| Anthropology 362: Human Paleontology |
| Fall 2009 |
| Class time: M (1:40-2:55), W (1:40-2:55 and 3:05-4:20) |
| Professor: Kate Pechenkina, Ph. D. |
| office: Powdermaker Hall 312A |
| telephone: (718) 997-5529 |
| fax: (718) 997-2885 |
| e-mail: |
| office hours: Manday 3 PM to 4:30 PM |
| web-page |
| Required Course Materials: |
| Course Pack |
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Course Description: An examination of the fossil evidence for human evolution. Instruction will be carried out using a variety of formats: lecture, class discussion and direct examination of hominid morphology using casts and powerpoint images. Paleoanthropology is an interdisciplinary field and information from primatology, ecology, archeology and geology will be synthesized with our observations of hominid morphology to provide a holistic view of hominid evolution. I hope that each student will gain an appreciation of the track that human evolution took. Rather than being an inexorable development of morphological form culminating with modern humans, the evolution of our family is marked by a great deal of natural experimentation. Diverse communities of hominids lived in the past, with our now extinct cousins often being more common than our direct ancestors. This class will examine this morphological diversity, to better understand the biological relationships, behaviors and adaptations of our extinct relatives, and to gain a deeper understanding of when the characteristics defining modern humans emerged. |
| Course structure: Attendance is mandatory. Lectures will highlight material from the reading, but will not necessarily cover every topic in the articles. You are expected to have completed the assigned reading before lecture, so that you can make sense of the presented material and participate in class discussion. Lectures may include material that is not in the readings, and you are responsible for all material presented in lecture and covered in the assigned reading. This syllabus is a plan not a promise. You should expect modifications to the reading list as the semester progresses. |
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Exams and Grading: Your grade will be based upon performance on lab assignments, five quizzes, two exams, and class participation. Class participation is essential for me to assess whether students are completing and comprehending the assigned reading, and to have effective seminar sessions. Late assignments submitted before the final examination will receive a maximum of 80% credit. |
| The grade breakdown is as follows: |
| 25% Assignments |
| 25% Quizzes |
| 5% Class participation and readings |
| 20% Midterm exam: weeks 1-7 (10/21) |
| 25% Final exam (Mon 12/21 11:00 am - 1:00 pm) |
Lateness: Arriving late to class disrupts the lecture and is disrespectful to others. |
Syllabus | ||||
| week | dates | topic | readings | quizzes and due dates |
| 1 | 8/31 9/2 | Introduction, Evolutionary Mechanisms Anatomy, review | ||
| 2 | 9/7 9/9 | NO CLASS - Monday schedule Timescale and dating methods |
Morse 1888 | |
| 3 | 9/14 9/16 | Primates, Primate origins Primate Evolution |
Delson and Tattersall 2007; Franzen et al. 2009 |
9/16:Quiz 1 (evolution-general concepts; anatomy) |
| 4 | 9/21 9/23 | Cladistics and primate taxonomy Laboratory Exercise 1 (non-human primates) | Delson 2007 | |
| 5 | 9/28 9/29 9/30 | no class Hominins - Introduction, origins of bipedality Mio-Pliocene Hominins |
Wong 2003; Zollikofer 2005 |
9/30:Quiz 2 (primates, primate evolution) |
| 6 | 10/5 10/7 | Australopiths Laboratory Exercise 2 | Ardipithecus !! Ardi's skeleton Asfaw et al. 1999 White 2003; Laden and Wrangham 2005 | 10/5: lab 1 is due |
| 7 | 10/12 10/14 | Columbus Day: no class Hominin behavior | Rosenberg and Trevathan 1995; Teaford and Ungar 2000; Weston 2004 | 10/14: lab 2 is due 10/14: Quiz 3 (Hominins) |
| 8 | 10/19 10/21 | Review MIDTERM EXAMINATION | Wood 2002 | |
| 9 | 10/26 10/28 | The earliest Homo, H. habelis
and H. rudolfensis The Oldowan technology, archaeological sites | Leakey et al. 1964; Wood and Collard 1999 Plummer 2004; Blumenschine 1987 | |
| 10 | 11/2 11/4 | Homo ergaster & Homo erectus Homo erectus cntd. begin Laboratory Exercise 3 |
Anton and Swisher 2004; Bermudez et al. 2004; Gabunia et al. 2001; Milton 1999; Schwartz 2004 | |
| 11 | 11/9 11/11 | Homo heidelbergensis Evolution of Language and Brain | Rightmire 1998; Dennell 1997 | 11/11:Quiz 4 (early Homo) |
| 12 | 11/16 11/18 | Neanderthals Neanderthals cntd. begin Exercise 4 | Trinkaus and Shipman 1993 | 11/16: lab 3 is due |
| 13 | 11/23 11/25 | Origin of Anatomically Modern Humans Multiregional continuity vs. Single origin begin Laboratory exercise 5 | White et al. 2003 Hodgson and Disotell 2008; Frayer et al. 1993 |
11/25: lab 4 is due |
| 14 | 11/30 12/02 | The Human Revolution; Flores; Laboratory exercise 5 | Klein 2000; Stringer 2002; Wolpoff et al. 2000 Brown 2004 |
12/02:Quiz 5 (Homo sapiens origin) |
| 15 | 12/07 12/9 | Anatomically modern humans; human adaptations Review | Caspari and Lee 2004; | 12/07: lab 5 is due |
| FINAL EXAMINATION:
Mon 12/21 11:00 am - 1:00 pm | ||||