INTRODUCTION

This web site offers a cyberspace glimpse into the world of Dr. Robert Reisz's vertebrate palaeontology research group at the University of Toronto's Mississauga Campus. Robert and his associates study the fauna of the Late Palaeozoic, a fascinating interval of Earth's history that saw the first flowering of groups that were ultimately ancestral to modern mammals, reptiles and amphibians. This period of evolutionary experimentation appears to have been suddenly terminated at the end of the Palaeozoic, probably by a cataclysmic mass extinction that made way for the earliest dinosaurs and many other new forms. Within these pages you will find further details of this story, in addition to material on Robert's undergraduate courses and information about the members of our research group. Try the following links:

• Research - Information on the animals we study, the geological periods in which they lived, and the structure of our research program.

• Lab Personnel - Biographical notes on the members of our research group. (Recent alumni may be found here.)

• Courses - Details on Robert's undergraduate courses in vertebrate palaeontology (BIO 356) and vertebrate morphology (BIO 354).

• Latest News - Recent publications, international trips, new specimens, nervous breakdowns, exciting scientific ventures, salacious gossip... your guide to events in our little corner of the world. Updated monthly.

• Links - A growing collection. Of the innumerable good, bad and ugly palaeontological sites in existence, we've chosen a few (hopefully within the first category, for the most part) that seem particularly noteworthy or interesting.