Evolution, Palaeobiology and Fossils

Russell Garwood, University of Manchester

This part of my website links to learning resources – web pages including videos, quizzes and 3D models – that cover a series of topics in palaeontology and ancient life.

2022

Learning resources

This page links to two more. One of these focusses on fossils, and the other, evolution & palaeobiology. Each of these index pages then links to sites on specific topics with the learning content on – each is roughly equivalent to a single lecture. Below is an overview of these two areas – click on a link to one to begin.

If you are new to palaeontology/geology, you might find this primer on the geological column provides useful context for the timescales involved.

If you would like to learn about who wrote these materials, please click here to visit the homepage of my website.

    Ten sites, covering:

    • The origins and history of life, first in the sea and then its move onto land.
    • Evolution, biogeography and ecology in deep time.
    • Extinctions, and how palaeobiology can inform conservation in today's ecosystems.

    As well as providing an understanding evolution and the history of life, these aim to explain the origins of the biodiversity and ecosystems around us today, and how we can try and minimise the impact our activity as humans has on these.

    Explore evolution & palaeobiology

Eight sites introducing a number of major invertebrate animal groups commonly found as fossils, including:

  • Trilobites
  • Brachiopods
  • Molluscs, including:
    • Bivalves
    • Ammonoids
    • Gastropods
  • Corals
  • Echinoids
  • Graptolites

You can also find a site introducing microfossils, and a site providing a basic introduction to biostratigraphy.

Explore fossils