The Origins course tracks the origin of all things – from the Big Bang to the origin of the Solar System and the Earth. The course follows the evolution of life on our planet through deep geological time to present life forms.
Syllabus
Week 1: Origin of the Elements, the Solar System and the Planets
Week 2: The early Earth and origin of life
Week 3: Origin of the microbial world / The Cambrian Explosion and Exceptional Preservation
Week 4: Transition from Microbial to Macrobial Life: Snowball Earth and the Ediacara Biota / Eukaryotic Evolution and the Phylogeny of All Life
Week 5: Origin of the marine Cambrian and Palaeozoic Evolutionary Faunas / Diversity in deep time / Origin of predation and the Mesozoic Arms race
Week 6: Oxygenation and Animals
Week 7: Origins and Early Development of Plants / The Origin and Diversification of Flowering Plants
Week 8: The Evolution of Insects and their Role in Terrestrial Ecosystems
Week 9: Colonization of the continents and the Origin of the Dinosaurs and Birds/Mass Extinction Events and Their Causes
Week 10: Origin of Recent Climate Change / The Molecular Clock
Week 11:Primate Origins and Evolution / Human Origins and Evolution
Week 12: Modern Diversit
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