Biology 320: Comparative
Morphology and Evolution of the Vertebrates
Instructor: Dr. Christopher Rose
Office hours: TTh 8:30-11; look for me in my office and lab; email
me for an appointment outside of office hours.
Office: Burruss 213 Lab:
Burruss 339
Phone: 568-6666 email:
rosecs@jmu.edu
Webpage:
http://csm.jmu.edu/biology/rosecs/BIO320.html
Please BE AWARE of
the Class
announcements page since this is where you should look for instructions
regarding class cancellations, unplanned changes in course schedule and any
other "breaking news" that I cannot communicate to you directly.
General description: This course explores vertebrate morphology with the goals of
understanding major events in the history of vertebrate evolution and
appreciating the integration of morphology with ecology, behavior and
physiology in different phenomena in vertebrate biology. The course starts with
an introduction to the comparative method, including evolutionary concepts such
as homology and homoplasy, and an overview of
vertebrate phylogeny. The next set of lectures provides general descriptions of
vertebrate form, function, and development. Subsequent lectures are overviews
of major organ systems (bones, muscles, respiratory, digestive, urogenital, circulatory and sensory systems), interspersed
with discussions of particular vertebrate phenomenon that highlight the
development, function and/or evolution of these organ systems. These include
the water-to-land transition, tetrapod locomotion
including flight, feeding, and reproduction including mating and viviparity. Labs will complement lectures with detailed
dissections of four representative species (lamprey, shark, salamander, and
cat), and surveys of specializations in other forms including birds, turtles,
alligators, frogs, bony fish and ungulates.
Prerequisites: BIO 124 or Bio 290 and Junior
standing.
Course time and place: Lectures are scheduled at MW 10:10-11 in Miller Hall G004
and labs at MW 12:25-2:15 in Burruss 057.
Registration: Students are
responsible for registering for classes and verifying their class schedules on
e-campus. Late course additions will not be permitted. The deadline for adding
and dropping a spring semester class on e-campus, i.e., without instructor and academic unit head signatures, is
Tuesday, Jan. 20. Between Tuesday, Jan. 20 and Thursday, Jan. 29, instructor
and academic head unit signatures will be required to add a class for spring
semester. No student will be allowed to register for a spring semester class
after Thursday, Jan. 29. Tuesday, Jan. 20 is the last day to drop a course
without getting a W grade. The deadline for dropping a fall class with a W grade is Friday, March 20. WP and WF grades will not be given out in this class, meaning that students who ask to withdraw after March 20 will be told to remain in the class and receive the grade earned at the end of the semester
Disabilities: Students with disabilities who require reasonable
accommodations to fully participate in course activities and/or meet course
requirements must register with the Office of Disability Services (ODS) and
contact me to discuss access issues. ODS will provide you with an Access Plan
Letter that will verify your need for services and make recommendations for
accommodations to be used in my classroom. ODS is located in the Wilson
Learning Center, Room 107; Phone: 568-6705
Required texts and materials: The required reference text
is "Vertebrates: Comparative Anatomy,
Function, Evolution", 5th edition, by Kenneth V. Kardong,
and the required lab manual is "Comparative Anatomy Manual of Vertebrate
Dissection", 2nd edition, by Dale W. Fishbeck
and Aurora Sebastiani. A selection of colored
pens/pencils is recommended for taking notes in lecture and lab.
Grading: Grades will be based on the scores of three lecture exams, three lab exams, a research paper, and lab
performance. The grade breakdown is:
|
|
Lecture exam I |
15 % |
|
|
Lecture exam II |
15 % |
|
|
Lecture exam III (cumulative) |
20 % |
|
|
Laboratory exam I |
10 % |
|
|
Laboratory exam II |
10 % |
|
|
Laboratory exam
III |
10 % |
|
|
Research
presentation |
10 % |
|
|
Surprise lab
quizzes and lab performance |
10 % |
Final letter grades
will be assigned using the standard numerical scale (e.g., > 90 = A, 80-89 =
B, etc.). Grades of WP and WF will not be given out in
this class.
Lecture
exams will be comprised of objective, short answer questions (definitions,
identifications, fill-in blanks, etc.) and short essay questions that may require
the use of diagrams (so bring your colored pens/pencils). Lecture exams will
include material from assigned readings. Lecture exam III will focus on the
final third of the lecture material, but approximately 1/4 of the questions
will address concepts/themes covered throughout the course. TO DO WELL on lecture exams, students
are recommended to do THREE THINGS.
First, you attend class, pay attention, and be active note takers, which means that you do not limit this task
to just copying what the teacher writes on the blackboard. Second, after each
class, you review your lecture notes
and do the assigned readings, and if
you still don't understand the material, you seek clarification in office hours
at that time. Third, you prepare and use study
notes before each lecture exam.
Lab
exams will involve the identification of developmental anatomy from
dissections, and where appropriate, microscope slides, whole-mounts, and
models. Some questions will pertain to functional, developmental, and
evolutionary relationships, and will draw from lecture material. There will
also be 2-3 surprise lab quizzes (2% each), given on Tuesdays on the previous
week's lab exercises. The additional 4-6% is at the instructor's discretion and
will be based on lab attendance and performance.
The
research presentation will be a 20-25 minute talk on a research topic in
vertebrate anatomy and evolution. A list of topics
is provided, although you may select your own pending my approval. Students are
required to select a research topic by March 23 and submit an outline of their
paper by April 13. You will be requested to attend a brief meeting with the
instructor during the week of April 13-17 to discuss your research outline and
finalize the content of your presentation. You will be required to research
your topic through library searches of primary literature and books. Although
you are encouraged to use the Internet, all presentations must have a minimum of five references to books
and/or primary literature. Presentations must be given in your own words and you must reference all sources used.
Presentations
will be graded on the basis of their content, organization, effectiveness of
communication, and originality. Content
includes whether the talk addresses the relevant information, concepts and
mechanisms needed to explain the phenomenon in question, plus the depth,
clarity and completeness of the explanation. Organization refers to the overall structure of the talk, i.e., is
there a clearly defined introduction, body and conclusion, are ideas presented
in a logical sequence and clearly introduced. Effectiveness of communication refers to conciseness, coherence of
ideas, ability to engage the audience, and efforts to answer questions and
stimulate discussion of the topic. Remember, an interesting talk is generally a
good talk, and an enthusiastic speaker is generally an interesting speaker.
Also, some form of visual aid is essential to any presentation in biology. You
are strongly encouraged to use a Powerpoint
presentation package for computer projection, and the instructor will provide
scanning and powerpoint workshops as necessary;
blackboard and overhead illustrations/outlines are also acceptable. Originality refers to whether there is
any attempt by the author to define the problem in his/her own terms and to
present his/her own synthesis of the information available.
Missed exams: If you have a valid excuse (official school business,
sickness with doctor’s note, death in family) for missing an exam, contact me
by phone or email before the time of
the exam and you will either be given a make-up exam or have your grade
calculated on the basis of the remaining evaluations. If you do not have a valid excuse or fail to contact me before the
missed exam, your grade will be zero.
Laboratory policy: Most laboratory exercises will involve some amount of
dissection of embalmed material. All dissections will be done in pairs and both
partners are expected to contribute equally to the endeavor. Gloves and
dissection kits will be provided. Assuming that a moderate amount of care is
taken, lab coats are deemed not necessary. Postfixation
animals have been saturated with a nontoxic fluid in order to prevent dehydration.
While their dissection does not pose a health risk, it does pose a risk of
stains and odors to clothing. Hence, students are warned not to wear clothing
that is likely to absorb odors or clothing that one is not prepared to get a
little dirty. All students are requested to treat all laboratory exercises and
animals with the respect and maturity befitting serious scientific inquiry, and
to not remove any dissected materials from the lab room.
Honor Code: All students are expected to be familiar with and abide by
the JMU
Honor Code. Work submitted for this course must be your
own and written for this course. Direct quotations (which are rarely used in
scientific writing) and paraphrased materials must be properly cited in the
text and referenced in the bibliography (see above). Forms of academic
dishonesty include lending your work to another person to submit it as his or
her own, deliberately creating false information on a works cited or reference
page; and plagiarism, presenting
another person’s writing, ideas or results as your own, whether intentional or
not.
Consult the following
websites for information on educational
rights and privacies:
The Family Educational Rights
and Privacy Act (FERPA) of 1974