BIOEE 4501 - [Mammalogy, Laboratory]

Fall. 1 credit. Letter grades; S-U grades by permission only.

Prerequisite or corequisite: BIOEE 4500. Course fee: $30. Offered alternate years. Next offered 2013-2014. Travel to Cornell University Museum of Vertebrates (CUMV) at the Laboratory of Ornithology is necessary. Limited to 16 students. An all-weekend field trip may be scheduled. Some laboratories involve studies of skeletons and museum specimens; dissection of both preserved and fresh material is possible. Investigation of the ecology and behavior of mammals will involve nondestructive studies of live animals in the field and laboratory.

J. Searle.

Laboratory topics include the methodology of mammalogy, and the characteristics and diversity of mammals. Focus is on terrestrial mammals of North America.

Outcome 1: Students will be able to use the basic techniques of mammalogy as applied in museums, in the field and to captive mammals.

Outcome 2: Students will be able to describe the functional anatomy of a mammal.

Outcome 3: Students will be able to look at different types of mammal, identify them to major groups and be able to make logical predictions about their ways of life and how they may have evolved.