About this class: This class will utilize a topics-oriented approach to explore animal biology. We will not attempt to systematically cover every aspect of every animal group. Rather, we will study particular topics in an attempt to understand general principles in animal biology.

Goals of the class:
Upon completion of this class, students should:

understand the diversity of form and function among animals

• we will study the form of many animal phyla
• where possible, we will correlate form with function and with temporal and spacial distribution of animals

understand the evolutionary history of animals and evaluate proposed phylogenetic trees

• we will study different classification methodologies and schemes
• we will examine the types of evidence used to construct phylogenetic trees

be able critically evaluate to critically evaluate scientific literature in the field of animal biology

• for the course project, each student will perform a semester-long in-depth analysis of a scientific paper in animal biology

Text and reading: Texts for the class are - INVERTEBRATES, R.C. Brusca and G.J. Brusca, and EVOLUTION OF VERTEBRATE DESIGN, Radinsky, L.B.
Chapters that you should be finished reading are in green.
Chapters that you should be in the progress of reading are in orange.

The Required reading is indicated below. Please read the assigned material before attending class.

Class attendance and participation:Class attendance is mandatory. Class participation will account for 10% of your grade. To participate intelligently in class, it is imperative that you read the assigned material before each class. Please feel free to ask questions, add insights, request clarifications, etc. at any time during class. Speaking in class will be a primary determinant of class participation, but I realize that there are many different styles and will consider other contributions.

Weekly assignments:Each week, a short (~1 page) assignment will be due. The purpose of these assignments is to stimulate thinking and discussion about animal biology. You may work together in groups to discuss these assignments; please write your assignment yourself and acknowledge your collaborators. The weekly assignments will be graded for effort, plausibility, and clarity. There will be 12 assignments during the semester; the lowest two will be dropped when calculating your grade for this portion of the class.

Project: One paper will be assigned. This paper will be a critical analysis of an original scientific paper or papers. It will be a maximum of 5 pages of double spaced text (not including references) with one additional page of figures or drawings. The purpose of this paper will be to summarize and critically assess a scientific paper in a clear and concise manner. See the project instruction sheet.

Exams: Exams will be composed of short answer and essay questions. You will be allowed to bring into the exam one sheet of 8.5" X 11" paper with notes in your own handwriting (not a computer-generated printout) on one side of the page only. You will hand in the note sheet with the exam.
Want to see what my exams are like? See these Comparative animal physiology exams:
1997-98 Midterm exam
1997-98 Final exam
Hints about studying for my exams are here.

Grade Distribution:
Weekly assignments - 20%
Written project - 20%
Oral project - 10%
Midterm exam - 20%
Final Exam - 20%
Attendance and participation - 10%

Academic honesty: This class will follow the official Kenyon College position on academic honesty. Please read my detailed policy on academic honesty.

Need help?: If at any time, you feel that you do not have the proper background to understand the material that is being presented, please let me know. If you have a disability and therefore may have need for some type of accommodation(s) in order to participate fully in this class, please feel free to discuss your concerns in private with me AND be sure to contact Dean Jane Martindell at PBX 5145 or via electronic mail at MARTINDELLJ.

Schedule:

This is an extremely tentative schedule. Please check this online syllabus regularly, because the syllabus will be updated as the class progresses.

Jan 18-22:

Topics: Overview of animal diversity, Evolutionary theory, Classification methodologies
Reading: Brusca and Brusca, Chapters 1 and 2
Outlines: Jan 18, Jan 20, Jan 22
WA1 - due Jan 22.
Reserve reading: Nijhout, H and Emlen, D. Competition among body parts in the development and evolution of insect morphology. PNAS 95: 3685-3689, 1998.

Topics: Animal architecture - Bauplans, Life cycles, Developmental biology, Physiological constraints on animals
Reading: Brusca and Brusca, Chapter 3 and 4
Outlines: Jan 25, Jan 27, Jan 29
WA2 - due Jan 29.
Discuss Nijhout and Emlen on Jan 27-29.

Topics: Protozoa and Sponges, What is an animal?, Origins of multicellularity, Cellular specialization
Reading: Brusca and Brusca, Chapter 5and 7
Outlines: Feb 1, Feb 3, Feb 5
Wed Feb 3: Minilab 1 - Molecular sequence comparisons.
WA3 - due Feb 5.

Topics: Cnidarians, Ctenophores
Reading: Brusca and Brusca, Chapter 8 (211-213, 217-240, 246-257) and 9 (263-277)
Outlines: Feb 8, Feb 10, Feb 12
Finish discussing Nijhout and Emlen on Feb 10.
WA4 - due Feb 12.
Project assignment 1 due Feb 8.

Topics: Platyhelminthes, Regeneration among animals, Parasitism
Reading: Brusca and Brusca, Chapter 10
Outlines: Feb 15, Feb 17, Feb 19
WA5 - due Feb. 19

Topics: Nemerteans, Pseudocoelomates,
Reading: Brusca and Brusca, 11 (315-322), 12 (rotifers and nematodes)
Outlines: Feb 22, Feb 24
Exam 1 - Feb 26.

Topics: Annelids, Locomotion
Reading: Brusca and Brusca, Chapter 13
Outlines: Mar 1, Mar 3, Mar 5
WA6 - due Mar 5.
Project assignment 2 due Mar 3.

Mar 22-26:

Topics: Arthropods, Organisms of the Burgess Shale, Disparity and diversity
Reading: Brusca and Brusca, Chapter 15, skim 16, skim 17, skim 18
Outlines: Mar 22, Mar 24, Mar 26
WA7 - due Mar 26.

Topics: Arthropods, Molluscs.
Reading: Brusca and Brusca, 19 (681-691), Chapter 20
Outlines: Mar 29, Mar 31, Apr 2
WA8 - due Apr 2.

Topics: Lophophorates, Echinoderms
Reading: Brusca and Brusca, Chapter 21 (skim), 22
Outlines: April 5, April 7, April 9
WA9 - due Apr 9.
Project assignment 3 due Apr 9 (extended from 5th).

Topics: Hemichordates, chordates, chaetognatha, Origin of the vertebrates, Vertebrate body plan
Outlines: April 12, April 14, April 16
Reading: Brusca and Brusca, 23; Radinsky, Chapters 1,2,3
WA10 - due Apr 16.

NO CLASS ON APRIL 19.
Topics: amphibians, biomechanics, transition to land
Outlines: April 21, April 23
Reading: Radinsky, Chapters 4-10
WA11 - due April 23

Topics: Vertebrates - reptiles, birds, origin of flight
Outlines: April 26, April 28, April 30
Reading: Radinsky, Chapters 11-15
Oral project presentations
WA12 - due Apr 30

Topics: Vertebrates - mammals
Reading: none
Exam 2 - May 3.
Oral project presentations
Project assignment 4 due May 7.

Tree of life
TreeBASE
Woods Hole Marine database
National Center for Biotechnology Information
Berkeley Drosophila Genome project
The Wandtafeln of Rudolph Leuckart
Zoology resource guide
Woods Hole Marine Invertebrate Keys
Burgess Shale site at the National Museum of Natural History
Systematics of the Metazoa - University of California