Writing assignment for week of October 29 (Livingstone):
 

I'd like you to choose some taxon or small assemblage of taxa that might be used to work out some aspect of population structure or dynamics through lengths of time too great to cover by direct observation.   Write a two-page essay about the paleo-population potential of the group, telling where you might find suitable fossils, how you would treat them, what you might do with the results, and whether the taxon is well or ill suited for this kind of work.  Draw on your general knowledge of ecology wherever you can.  Put a double-spaced print-out in my mailbox by November 15th.