BIOEE 3750 - The Vertebrates: Advanced Topics in Morphology, Development, and Evolution

Spring. 2 credits. Letter grades only.

Prerequisite or corequisite: BIOEE 2740 or equivalent. Course fee: $25.

W. Bemis, B. McGuire.

This course offers students opportunities to work first hand with a variety of comparative morphological and embryological specimens; to learn techniques for preparation, photography and illustration; and to explore methods for phylogenetic analyses of morphological characters. The course begins with detailed study and illustration of the morphology of adult and developing sharks, followed by embryological studies of chick and pig embryos to understand the evolutionary morphology of the cranial skeleton, brain, and cranial nerves. Students will learn techniques of dissection, photography, line-art illustration, reconstruction of serial sections, and virtual reconstruction of CT-scanned specimens using Osirix. Evaluation is based on two project reports, including labeled photographs and illustrations of specimens examined. Dissection, 3-D reconstruction of anatomy, anatomical photography and illustration.

Outcome 1: 1.1 Students will be able to dissect for specific structures, present and explain their dissections to other students. 1.2 Students will be able to prepare specimens for various specific studies (e.g., skeletal anatomy, circulatory anatomy, neuroanatomy), present and explain specimens and preparations to other students.

Outcome 2: 2.1 Students will be able to prepare, label, print and present labeled anatomical photographs to other students. 2.2 Students will be able to prepare, label, print and present simple labeled anatomical drawings to other students.

Outcome 3: 3.1 Students will understand fundamentals of 3-d reconstruction using serially section specimens and specimens studied using CT (computed tomography).

Outcome 4: 4.1 Students will understand fundamentals of defining and coding of anatomical characters for phylogenetic characters and methods for constructing phylogenetic trees using parsimony analysis.