Students will look at changes in tooth size and shape (morphology) in the fossil record of herbivorous mammals in North America using data from a recent paleontological study. Students will infer factors which caused the observed evolutionary adaptions and link biological adaptation with global climate change and localized habitat change.
Recommended level: High School: Ninth Grade through Twelfth Grade
1. Reading the Past: Fossil Teeth as Climate Records
2. Evolution, Ecosystems, and Earth's Changing Systems