Fossils are recorded in rocks much like your footprints are recorded on a beach. As you walk along the beach, if the sand is fine enough and soft enough, you will make footprints. If the wind and waves do not destroy your footprints, they may record your existance well past your passing.

Fossils are "footprints". Against the odds, these records of past life are preserved. In the History of Life, we examine the processes of geology and biology that allow the recording and preservation of these "footprints".

Discussions include:

• The Fossil Record
• Geology & Time
• Evolution & Diversity

Once we understand the nature and limitations of the "footprints", we will track the history of life as record by them.

Topics include:

• Origins of the Earth and Life
• Precambrian Life
• Paleozoic Life
• Mesozoic Life
• "Cenozoic life"

University Links:

• Department of Geosciences home page
• San Francisco State University home page