Preview of a four-lesson massive open online course (available February 29, 2016 through coursera.org) from the University of Alberta teaching a comprehensive overview of the evolutionary changes that occur when air-breathing terrestrial animals return to water. This course examines the diversity, adaptations, convergence, and phylogenetic relationships of extinct marine reptiles. Students will explore three major groups of marine reptiles: ichthyosaurs, plesiosaurs, and mosasaurs.
The University of Alberta boasts some of the world's best dinosaur researchers and also holds one of the most extensive fossil collections available for research. This, coupled with our proximity to some of the richest dinosaur bone beds on the planet and our modern laboratories, means we continue to attract top students and researchers to our dinosaur programs. Simply put, UAlberta is one of the best places in the world to study paleontology.
