Biol 337: Biology of Invertebrates

College of Charleston

Spring 2008

 

 

"No one with an unbiased mind can study any living creature, however humble, without being

struck with enthusiasm at its marvelous structure and properties" -- Charles Darwin

 

 

COURSE OVERVIEW

How many different ways can you build an animal?  Evolution has produced more than 30 distinctive kinds of body designs, which we recognize as distinct phyla. This course gives an introduction to the larger phyla and several smaller ones. The so-called “invertebrates” (distributed among all animal phyla) include a much greater range of diversity in design than the "vertebrates" (which are just a part of one phylum). We will use invertebrate taxa to illustrate the radically different ways that animals have come to use different structures and processes to solve similar kinds of biological problems over the last 600+ million years of evolution.

 

As an active participant in this course you will come to be able to:

• describe how different designs solve (or create!) biological problems related to challenges in the animals' natural environments

• contrast major animal groups with regard to functional traits: movement, growth, nutrition, respiration, water balance, excretion, & defense

• explain how “shared, derived traits” are used to deduce patterns of evolutionary relationships

• identify the major characteristics used to deduce these relationships among major animal taxa

• describe large-scale patterns in the history of animal diversity and identify mechanisms that can lead to variation in animal body design

• explain why most animals are best represented as a series of life cycle stages that experience different environments and selection pressures

• put animals into the context of their communities, ecological interactions, and conservation problems

• explain and use terms and concepts that reflect your understanding of diversity in animal design

 

Aside from introducing you to the diversity and evolution of animal body plans, my goal is to encourage critical thinking through interactive lectures, readings from texts and primary literature, short writing assignments, laboratory exercises, and concept-centered exams.  I encourage you always to ask questions, to seek out information on your own, to take intellectual risks, and to make your best effort!   I hope you will interact, cooperate, and learn from one another, especially when studying course material and completing laboratory exercises.  Please visit me during office hours to clarify your understanding of material well before the exams.
 

Syllabus information

• Instructor contact
• How to succeed in this course!
• Important policies

• Grade distribution and summary of deadlines

• Lecture schedule
• Laboratory schedule
• Reading assignment schedule
• Writing assignments

• Exams

Downloadable files (username: biol337, pwd needed)

• Lecture guides and illustrations (must be printed for lecture)
• Lecture slides (study aid)

• Supplementary readings (part of reading assignments)

• Phylogenetic trees (study aid)
• Course questionnaire (for extra credit)

Score distributions on assignments/exams (Spring '08) (Spring '07) (Fall '06) (Spring '06) (Fall '05)

Class photos (Spring '07) (Spring '06)

 

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