BIOEE 4501 - Mammalogy, Laboratory

Fall. Offered alternate years. 1-2 credits, variable. Letter grades only (S-U grades with permission of instructor).

Prerequisite or corequisite: BIOEE 4500. Course fee: $30. Enrollment limited to: 20 students. Travel to Cornell University Museum of Vertebrates (CUMV) at the Laboratory of Ornithology is necessary. Some laboratories involve studies of skeletons and museum specimens; dissection of both preserved and fresh material is possible. Techniques relating to the ecology of mammals in the field will be presented; an all-weekend field trip is intended. Normally 1 credit, but up to 5 students in the class may do an additional project for 1 further credit involving field- or museum-based mammalogy.

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.

Outcome 4: Students in the 2-credit option will be able to execute all stages of a research project, including experimental design, data collection, analysis, interpretation in the light of existing literature, and write-up.