New USC Dornsife Minor
Explore Deep Time.
Understand Life.
Shape the Future.
Understand Life.
Shape the Future.
From ancient microbes to humans, paleontology reveals how life has evolved, adapted and rebuilt after mass extinctions.
Extinctions & New Beginnings
Explore mass extinctions, climate change and the remarkable resilience and recovery of life.
Early Life on Earth
Trace life from ancient microbes and the first marine animals through hundreds of millions of years of evolution.
Amazing Fossils
Use fossils as windows into ancient worlds, vanished life and the changing environments of Earth’s past.
From Fossils to the Future
What You’ll Explore
Study the history of life while building scientific skills in observation, analysis and critical thinking.
Fossils & Deep TimeHow fossils form and what they reveal about Earth’s past.
Evolution in ActionFrom early life to dinosaurs, mammals, plants and humans.
Extinctions & RecoveryMass extinctions, environmental change and life’s resilience.
Science & DiscoveryDevelop skills in observation, analysis and critical thinking.
Community of LearnersJoin curious students who enjoy asking big questions about life and Earth.
Why Study Paleontology?
Paleontology is a rapidly growing science with broad public appeal, reflected in museum attendance and popular science documentaries. Students pursuing a wide range of careers can use this minor to understand how life evolved over deep geological time.
An Interdisciplinary Foundation
The curriculum combines biology and geology while emphasizing evolution, extinction and recovery. Its anatomical and biological dimensions also complement applied interests, including preparation for medical school.
Curriculum
Paleontology Minor Requirements
Complete 16 units of required courses and 16 units of electives.
16 Units
Required Courses
BISC 120General Biology
BISC 220General Biology
GEOL 126The History of Life on Earth: A View from the Museum
GEOL 433Paleontology and Evolution in Deep Time
Choose 4 of 6 · 16 Units
Elective Courses
GEOL 320Surficial Processes and Stratigraphic Systems
GEOL 414Survival in a Changing World: Climate, Environment & Human Experience
GEOL 435LPhylogenetic Systematics & Dinosaur Evolution
HBIO 314Fundamentals of Human Evolution
BISC 404Ecology and Biodiversity
BISC 483Geobiology and Astrobiology