Objectives of Programme's Learning Outcomes

• Skills for organising and supporting learning in an evolving dynamic.
• Understand the subject content, its epistemological foundations, its scientific and technological development, its didactics and teaching methodology.

Learning Outcomes of UE

At the end of this course, the student will have mastered the main notions, concepts and knowledge useful to the practice of paleontology, as well as the major stages and processes in the history of life on Earth. He/she will be able to grasp a subject related to the evolution of a group of organisms and to summarize its main characteristics. Fieldwork will enable them to familiarize him/herself with the practical aspects of the discipline, the identification of fossil forms in situ, and the identification of depositional environments.

UE Content: description and pedagogical relevance

This optional course expands on the paleontological concepts covered in the Bachelor's course "Paleontology, Mineralogy and Geology". Elements of anatomy and evolution of each taxonomic group of importance in paleontology will be introduced. This evolutionary history of the groups will be complemented by notions on the planetary mechanisms that have had a direct impact on them: mass extinctions, evolutionary radiation, glacial/interglacial variations. External speakers (V. Fischer - ULiège / A. Nel - MNHN) will provide additional insights into the secondary return to aquatic life and the evolutionary history of arthropods.

Prior Experience

Basic knowledge in biology: principles of taxonomy and phylogeny, anatomical criteria specific to each Metazoan group. Basic knowledge in geology: stratigraphy, plate tectonics, relative and absolute dating.