Syllabus
Thirteen lectures and 13 practices, each in duration of 2 lessons. Topics:
Deteiled comment on the base of the topic: fossils and fossilization (definition, fosilization conditions and processes, biocenoses, taphonomy, biomineralization).
Basic data: systematics (classification, theoretic taxonomy, nomeclature).
The ground of the paleoecology: biosystems, environment, ecologic factors, relationships od organisms to each other and environment, introduction to population analysis, paleoecologic reconstructions.
Large scale evolution of the environment: paleobiogeography, climate, provincionality, paleogeography, events.
Geologic activity of organisms: formation of rocks, biotic environmental changes
Evolution mechanisms: microevolution, speciation, macroevolution, natural selection, evolutionary theories, rate of evolution, evolution of high taxa, parallelism and convergention, coevolution.
Evolution of ecosystems: origin of life, Precambrian life, reef evolution, evolutionary faunas, tiering, terrestrialization, flight.
Events: mass extinctions, rejuvenations of global ecosystem
Annotation
The course is subdivided into two parts. The first one is focused on theoretical questions connected with the study of fossil ecosystems.
An attention is paid to fossils, their origin and classification, geological activities of organisms, palaeoecological factor, which affected the distribution patters of organisms in geological past, and also to palaeobiogeography. The second part is aimed at questions of evolution, development of some phenomena of the global ecosystem, and significant events of geological periods.