Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology Courses

Predator-Prey Interactions Between Crabs and Gastropods

Using gastropod repair scars, this lecture shows how fossil and modern evidence can reveal changes in crab predation and prey defenses over time.

• YouTube
• 41 minutes
• Self-Paced
• Free Video

Archaeopteryx: The World’s Most Famous Bird

Explore Archaeopteryx fossils, Late Jurassic ecology, comparative anatomy, preservation, and evidence for how this dinosaur-bird may have flown.

• YouTube
• 52 minutes
• Self-Paced
• Free Video

Before Ankylosaurs, There Were Aetosaurs

Explore how Triassic aetosaurs, heavily armoured crocodile-line reptiles, are reconstructed through fossils, phylogeny, anatomy, and evidence about their biology.

• YouTube
• 45 minutes
• Self-Paced
• Free Video

Fossil Fish from the Late Cretaceous of Alberta

Using micro-CT scans and isolated bones, this lecture reconstructs the diversity and evolutionary history of Late Cretaceous freshwater fish in Alberta.

• YouTube
• 52 minutes
• Self-Paced
• Free Video

The Great Plains Short-Horned Lizard in Canada

Explore the unique adaptations and conservation needs of Canada's Great Plains Short-horned Lizard, focusing on its cold-weather survival and habitat requirements in Alberta and Saskatchewan.

• YouTube
• 1 hour
• Self-Paced
• Free Video

Ya Ha Tinda and Mass Extinction in the Early Jurassic

A fossil-rich Early Jurassic deposit reveals how marine communities collapsed during the Toarcian Oceanic Anoxic Event.

• YouTube
• 55 minutes
• Self-Paced
• Free Video

Insights from China on the Dinosaurian Origin of Birds

Chinese fossils illuminate the dinosaurian origins of birds, the evolution of feathers, and competing pathways to flight.

• YouTube
• 48 minutes
• Self-Paced
• Free Video

Eocene Vertebrate Fauna and Flora in Canada's High Arctic

Explore how Eocene fossils from Canada's High Arctic reveal lush rain forests, diverse mammals, and a warm greenhouse climate unlike the modern Arctic.

• YouTube
• 1 hour
• Self-Paced
• Free Video

The Tail of a Mosasaur - A Window on the Tempo and Mode of Evolution in Aquatic Tetrapods

A fossil mosasaur tail reveals how similar fish-shaped bodies evolved independently in aquatic tetrapods.

• YouTube
• 57 minutes
• Self-Paced
• Free Video

Evolution of Flight and Echolocation in Bats

Explore how fossil evidence, bone morphology, and phylogenetic analysis illuminate the evolution of flight and echolocation in bats.

• YouTube
• 45 minutes
• Self-Paced
• Free Video

When X-Rays and Dinosaurs Collide: X-Ray Imaging in Vertebrate Palaeontology

An overview of how planar X-rays, CT scans, and 3D reconstructions reveal fossil anatomy and support vertebrate paleontology.

• YouTube
• 59 minutes
• Self-Paced
• Free Video

Air Giants- Launch, Flight, and Ecology of Cretaceous Pterosaurs

Biomechanical evidence for how giant Cretaceous pterosaurs launched, flew, and occupied the Mesozoic skies.

• YouTube
• 1 hour 3 minutes
• Self-Paced
• Free Video

Clear As Mud - Exploring Ancient Mangroves and Their Inhabitants

Explore ancient mangrove ecosystems and their diverse inhabitants through geological evidence. Discover the fascinating world of prehistoric coastal environments and the creatures that called them home.

• YouTube
• 44 minutes
• Self-Paced
• Free Video

Late Ice Age Mammals on Vancouver Island

Explore how Ice Age megafauna colonized Vancouver Island and the San Juan Islands, and what fossil evidence reveals about their disappearance.

• YouTube
• 1 hour 4 minutes
• Self-Paced
• Free Video

Permian-Triassic Mayhem: Earth's Largest Mass Extinction

Using Arctic Canada’s geological record, this lecture traces the Permian–Triassic extinction from environmental stress and Siberian volcanism to interrupted recovery.

• YouTube
• 57 minutes
• Self-Paced
• Free Video