2023 Faculty Courses School of Materials and Chemical Technology Department of Chemical Science and Engineering Graduate major in Chemical Science and Engineering
Frontiers of Environmental Chemistry II
- Academic unit or major
- Graduate major in Chemical Science and Engineering
- Instructor(s)
- Yuri Kimura
- Class Format
- Lecture
- Media-enhanced courses
- -
- Day of week/Period
(Classrooms) - Intensive
- Class
- -
- Course Code
- CAP.I682
- Number of credits
- 100
- Course offered
- 2023
- Offered quarter
- 2Q
- Syllabus updated
- Jul 8, 2025
- Language
- Japanese
Syllabus
Course overview and goals
[Summary] In order to predict possible future global environmental and ecosystem changes, it is important to know the global environmental and ecosystem changes that have occurred in the past. Early tetrapods as successors of the water-to-land transition further expanded their habitats and lifestyles by overcoming water demand for reproduction. Two major groups of amniotes, reptiles and mammals, independently acquired innovative life forms to adapt to new ecological regimes. In this course, we will learn comparative osteology and dental morphology of vertebrates along with evolutionary biological aspects of vertebrate paleontology and will also learn various techniques for inferring paleoecology based on the fossil record.
[Aim] The main objectives of this course are to learn recent progresses in evolutionary biology and paleobiology and to understand how techniques and approaches of geochemical and environmental sciences are have contributed to it. We will dicuss how increased findings of mammalian fossils have offered multidisciplinary approaches, including the latest techniques that are rarely applied to non-mammalian vertebrates.
Course description and aims
At the end of this course, students will have following knowledge and capabilities.
1) Understand how to identify fragmentary fossils based on their anatomical features.
2) Explain the constraints and applicability of fossil-based biological studies.
3) Explain various techniques to reconstruct paleoecology and paleoenvironment of extinct animals.
Keywords
Evolutionary paleobiology, isotope paleoecology, ecomorphology, mammalia
Competencies
- Specialist skills
- Intercultural skills
- Communication skills
- Critical thinking skills
- Practical and/or problem-solving skills
Class flow
Lectures will be conducted by writing on blackboards, using power point slides.
Course schedule/Objectives
| Course schedule | Objectives | |
|---|---|---|
| Class 1 | 1) Skeletal anatomy of vertebrates, comparative anatomy of dental morphology 2) Introduction to amniotes: Origin、 evolution、 and survival strategies 3) Paleoecology and paleoenvironmental inferences in vertebrate paleontology I 4) Paleoecology and paleoenvironmental inferences in vertebrate paleontology II 5) Conservation paleobiology with the fossil record of mammals 6) Fossil record and museology | a) Explain how to identify fragmentary fossils based on their anatomical features. b) Explain the constraints and applicability of fossil-based biological studies. c) Explain various techniques to reconstruct paleoecology and paleoenvironment of extinct animals. |
Study advice (preparation and review)
Textbook(s)
None required.
Reference books, course materials, etc.
None required.
Evaluation methods and criteria
Attendance is taken in every class. Full attendance are compulsory. Report on relation between own study theme and chemical substances cycles and/or cutting-edge technologies introduced is assessed.
Related courses
- CAP.I681 ： Frontiers of Environmental Chemistry I
Prerequisites
No prerequisites