Catalog Search Results
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 23
Language
English
Description
Most of the world's coal deposits were laid down in the Carboniferous period, about 300 million years ago. Tour the global environment that created this unique formation and spawned many evolutionary innovations, including the amniotic egg. Also, discover why insects were much larger then than today.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 29
Language
English
Description
Take to the air to discover how creatures evolved the ability to fly. Insects made the leap first, aided by their small size. Feathered dinosaurs are thought to be the progenitors of birds. Unravel the avian link to dinosaur species such as Archaeopteryx and Microraptor.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 13
Language
English
Description
The Cambrian period is notable for its immense variety of animals with many different body plans. In an explosion of diversification, shells, teeth, eyes, and other innovations emerged as creatures competed in an evolutionary arms race. Investigate the key factors driving this transformation.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 35
Language
English
Description
Bearing in mind that humans are a transitional species, not the climax of creation, chart our humble origins and the source of our most distinctive feature: a large brain. Study the fossil record to learn which came first: a big brain or bipedal posture.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 22
Language
English
Description
Hunt for the fishapod - the missing link between fish and four-limbed vertebrates, or tetrapods. Begin by investigating some "living fossils," including the celebrated Coelacanth. Then join the expedition led by paleontologist Neil Shubin that discovered Tiktaalik, a fossil fishapod that made worldwide headlines.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 32
Language
English
Description
Study the most famous mass extinction of all: the disappearance of more than half of all species, including the dinosaurs, at the end of the Cretaceous period, 65.5 million years ago. Follow the clues that suggest an extraterrestrial impact caused a cascade of catastrophes.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 28
Language
English
Description
How accurate are portrayals of dinosaurs in today's media? Learn what the fossil record says about how dinosaurs actually looked and lived. Also, probe the theory that dinosaurs were warm- rather than cold-blooded, which has important implications for their behavior.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 9
Language
English
Description
Did Martian meteorites seed the young Earth with simple life forms? Investigate this intriguing hypothesis. Then embark on a quest for Earth's oldest fossils, exploring their connection to organisms still found on the planet today, some of them hidden deep within the crust.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 26
Language
English
Description
Track down the smoking gun for the End-Permian extinction. Whatever was behind it plunged Earth into an intense greenhouse effect, turning the land into desert and throwing marine ecosystems into a death spiral. Probe a diverse range of theories before settling on the probable cause.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 24
Language
English
Description
Search for the origin of amniotes, which are egg-laying tetrapods, such as reptiles. Delve into the history of classification systems for life. The Linnaean system is based on resemblances between organisms. Learn why the more recent cladistic system, based on shared characteristics, implies that there is no such thing as a reptile.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 20
Language
English
Description
The first vertebrates were easy targets for killer arthropods and other marine predators. What eventually gave them the upper hand? Trace the circuitous evolution of jaws and the rapid development of fish that followed. Also crucial was the internal skeleton, which has some surprising advantages.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 33
Language
English
Description
By the extinction of the dinosaurs, the continents were closing in on the configuration they have today - except North and South America had not yet joined. Tour the distinct flora and fauna of South America before its isolation ended with the land bridge to the north.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 16
Language
English
Description
Earth's fossil record is punctuated with episodes when large fractions of all species abruptly disappeared. Examine the distinction between background extinction and mass extinction. Then look for factors that lead to these periodic catastrophes, and search beyond Earth for a possible explanation.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 5
Language
English
Description
The history of science is marked by ideas that were before their time. One of the most important was Alfred Wegener's concept of continental drift, which was revived in the theory of plate tectonics. Explore the role that fossils played in this original grand unifying theory of geology.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 1
Language
English
Description
Begin the story of life on Earth with an overview of the unifying idea that will govern your exploration. Called Earth system science, this approach views Earth as an integrated network comprising the lithosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere, and biosphere. Sample the complex interactions between these realms.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 8
Language
English
Description
Probe possible scenarios for the origin of life, from the "warm little pond" filled with organic compounds that Charles Darwin envisioned, to deep ocean environments energized by volcanic vents. Sharpen the search by defining the properties that the earliest life must have had.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 11
Language
English
Description
Follow the clues that suggest Earth went through a snowball phase around 635 million years ago, nearly ending life's story. How did it happen? How was it reversed? And above all, how did photosynthetic life survive if it was trapped beneath the ice for millions of years?
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 27
Language
English
Description
From the reptile populations that struggled through the End-Permian extinction, the dinosaurs ultimately emerged. What conditions promoted their evolution and eventual domination of the biosphere? And what other living things shared the planet with these paleontological celebrities?
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 30
Language
English
Description
Plunge into the oceans of the Mesozoic era, 251 - 65.5 million years ago, discovering that some creatures look familiar, while others are incredibly alien. The descendants of one monster of the Mesozoic, the plesiosaur, supposedly survive today in Scotland's Loch Ness. Weigh the evidence for and against these reports.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 4
Language
English
Description
Learn how paleontologists interpret fossils to reconstruct the traits and environments of extinct life forms. Examine some of the pitfalls of the field, including cultural biases that can lead to doubtful conclusions, such as that Tyrannosaurus rex was as terrible as depicted in the movies.
Didn't find it?
Can't find what you are looking for? Try our Materials Request Service. Submit Request