BIOL 365 - Comparative Vertebrate Anatomy

Verebrates are among the first animals that come to mind when we consider the diversity of life on Earth. These backboned organism include more than 50.000 living species that range in size from a fish weighing less than an aspirin to a whale that is the largest animal ever to evolve. Vertebrates live in virtually every habitat on Earth and fly higher, swim deeper, and move faster than any other group of organisms. In this course, we will investigate the variety of vertebrate form and function through the lens of evolutionary history and dissection of representative vertebrates. Emphasis is placed on the origin and diversification of the basic vertebrate body plan and the morphological, functional, and evolutionary patterns that result. Three hours of lecture/discussion and three hours of laboratory dissection each week. Prerequisite(s): BIOL 270 or permission of instructor. Offered most years. (4 Credits)