Course summary

This course explores the fascinating world of invertebrate animals, aquatic and terrestrial, living and extinct, familiar and obscure. Invertebrates display a staggering diversity of body shapes, reproductive strategies, developmental abilities, physiological adaptations, behaviors and ecological roles. The vast majority of animals are invertebrates and they make excellent subjects for investigating most biological principles. Students in this course develop a detailed familiarity with the invertebrate phyla and their biology. Throughout, we focus on key concepts in evolution, ecology, behavior, physiology, and development using information gleaned from both traditional and modern approaches to the field.


Textbook

Barnes, R. S. K., W. Calow, P. J. W. Olive, D. W. Golding, and J. I. Spicer (2001). The invertebrates: a synthesis (3rd edition). Blackwell Science: Malden, MA. (ISBN 0-632-04761-5)

Useful References (on reserve at McKeldin library)

Brusca, R. C. and G. J. Brusca (2003). Invertebrates (2nd edition). Sinauer Associates: Sunderland, MA.

Ruppert, E. E., R. S. Fox, and R. D. Barnes (2003). Invertebrate zoology: a functional evolutionary approach (7th edition). Brooks/Cole – Thomson Learning: Belmont, CA.


Tentative List of Lectures

Introduction to invertebrate biology
How to read a phylogenetic tree; Tree of life overview
“Tree Thinking” and phylogenetics; Natural selection overview
Protists; Multicellularity
Metazoan origin & diversification: the fossil record
Invertebrate diversity through time; Overview of invertebrate relationships
Basal metazoa: Porifera; Placozoa, Rhombozoa, Orthonectida
Basal metazoa: Cnidaria
Basal metazoa: Ctenophora, Acoela
Deuterostomia: Hemichordata, Echinodermata, non-vertebrate Chordata
Ecdysozoa: Nematoda, Nematomorpha, Tardigrada, Onychophora
Ecdysozoa: Arthropoda
Ecdysozoa: Priapulida, Gastrotricha, Kinorhyncha, Loricifera, Chaetognatha
Lophotrochozoa: Platyhelminthes, Nemertea
Lophotrochozoa: Mollusca
Lophotrochozoa: Annelida, Sipuncula, Echiura
Lophotrochozoa: Cycliophora, Entoprocta, Rotifera, Gnathostomulida
Lophotrochozoa: Phoronida, Ectoprocta, Brachiopoda
Early development: patterns of cleavage, determinism, & gastrulation
Origin and development of body axes; Hox genes
Homology or convergence? Evolution of segmentation and coeloms
Invertebrate larvae
Evolution of larvae & metamorphosis
Post-embryonic development: growth, regeneration, & agametic reproduction
One genome, many forms: phenotypic plasticity & related topics
Feeding mechanisms: from filter feeding to cannibalism
Making sense of the world: light perception and chemical communication
Life at the edge: adaptations to extreme environments
Group behaviors: aggregation, schooling, eusociality
Invertebrates with smarts: learning in invertebrates
Invertebrate conservation
Invertebrate art and fun

In addition to regular lectures, we also have class discussions of current journal articles and student presentations of special topics during the semester.

Student Assessment

Grades are based on exams (usually 3 midterms plus a cumulative final), in-class discussions of current journal articles, a writing assignment (e.g., a 3-4 page research review paper or grant proposal), and an oral presentation of the writing assignment.

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