Minor in Paleobiology
The Minor in Paleobiology is focused on introducing students to the geological record and evolution of life on Earth, from humble single-celled beginnings to early hominid evolution. The fossil record offers a unique window through which to observe the evolutionary relationships of plants and animals and their response to the timing of key events such as mass extinctions, biotic turnover, shifting continental configuration, and climatic perturbations through “deep time”. Students earning this minor will gain a unique perspective of the various environmental and ecological challenges that the world has encountered, both in the past and present. Coverage includes biological aspects such as the evolutionary trajectories of major vertebrate and invertebrate fossil groups, their origins, morphology, paleoecology, and biodiversity trends through time, as well as geological topics in sedimentology, taphonomy, and stratigraphy. The minor is intended to prepare students with discipline-specific knowledge and career-specific skills in critical, analytical, and integrative thinking grounded in the scientific method. Such a degree is applicable to a variety of employment opportunities including (but not limited to) National Park Service officer, Environmental scientist or consultant, Research or consultant paleontologist, Exploration geologist, Museum curators, College/University academic, High School science teacher, Education officer or scientific reporter/writer, Geotourism guide/officer.
Requirements
Students admitted to the Minor in Paleobiology must have successfully completed either GEOL 1100 Introduction to the Earth with Laboratory or GEOL 1200 Environmental Geology with Laboratory with a minimum of a C- grade. Must complete at least 15 credit hours, including the core course requirements in GEOL and ANTHRO, and must complete one lab course.
A minor consists of at least 15 credits, including at least 6 credits numbered 2000 or above, 9 of the required credits must be taken in MU course work. This requirement can be reduced from 9 to 6 at the discretion of an individual department. Students must meet the minimum GPA requirements for a minor, which in no case can be lower than 2.0. In addition, a student cannot receive a grade lower than a C- in any course applied towards a minor in the College. For more information, please see Requirements for Optional Minor.
| Core Course Requirements | 6-9 | |
| Must select one course from both GEOL and ANTHRO | ||
| GEOL 2350 | Earth and Life Through Time | 3 |
| GEOL 2360 | Earth and Life Through Time Laboratory | 1 |
| ANTHRO 2050 | Introduction to Biological Anthropology with Laboratory | 5 |
| ANTHRO 2051 | Introduction to Biological Anthropology | 3 |
| ANTHRO 2052 | Biological Anthropology Laboratory | 2 |
| Electives | 6-9 | |
| ANTHRO 2500 | Primate Anatomy and Evolution | 3 |
| ANTHRO 4500 | Human Origins | 5 |
| GEOL 2150 | The Age of the Dinosaurs | 3 |
| GEOL 3550 | Introduction to Paleontology with Laboratory | 4 |
| GEOL 3800 | Sedimentology and Stratigraphy with Lab | 4 |
| GEOL 4350 | Taphonomy | 3 |
| GEOL 4370 | Conservation Paleobiology | 3 |
| BIO_SC 3650 | General Ecology | 5 |
| BIO_SC 3400 | Evolution and Ecology | 3 |
| BIO_SC 4600 | Evolution | 3 |