This chapter focuses on the long-term perspective of evolutionary theory (macroevolution) and the fossil record. The first part of the chapter covers speciation and other macroevolutionary patterns. The second part of the chapter deals with popular misconceptions about the evolutionary process. I find
it useful to deal with these early in the course because they are part of the baggage that students bring into the class, and often still hold onto even at the end of the semester unless specifically addressed. The third part of the chapter provides a brief review of methods of analyzing the fossil record, focusing on dating methods. The chapter concludes with a very brief review of the major changes in vertebrate and mammalian evolution prior to the origin of primates (covered in the next chapter).
