This assignment will give you experience in reading literature in evolutionary biology, practice at analyzing the literature, an opportunity for feedback on your writing before embarking on the term paper, and practice in using the library to locate scientific papers in the primary literature. Be sure to read these instructions through carefully before starting to work on the assignment. Then, remind yourself of these guidelines as you read the assigned papers and as you plan your paper.
Instructions. Alvarez et al. (1980) present evidence that the mass extinction at the end of the Cretaceous period was caused by the impact of a large extraterrestrial object, a comet or meteor. Archibald and Clemens (1982) vigorously dispute this claim. Your assignment consists of two parts:
A short paper evaluating the arguments presented in the two assigned papers. Use the evidence presented in these papers to argue for or against the the hypothesis that the impact of an extraterrestrial object, a comet or an asteroid, caused the extinction of dinosaurs at the end of the Cretaceous period. The body of the paper should be a logically constructed argument in which you present the evidence in favor of your position and address arguments that might be offered against it. Your paper should be about 2 pages long (not including the bibliography), double-spaced with one inch margins. Include references to both assigned papers in the text of your paper as appropriate, and include both in the bibliography. Refer to the accompanying guide to citations for the appropriate format.
A bibliographic reference to another paper from the primary literature that addresses one of the issues raised in the two assigned papers. Use the library resources described in the section called Library resources to find a scientific paper that you could use as a source of additional information. Cite this reference on the last page of your paper following the bibliography in a section titled "Additional References" using the format described in the accompanying guide to citations.
Do not hesitate to contact your instructor if you are having difficulty understanding the papers or the assignment.