BIOLOGY 345 COMPARATIVE VERTEBRATE ANATOMY LABORATORY

LABORATORY DISSECTIONS OF VERTEBRATE SYSTEMS

TEXTBOOK:  Atlas and Dissection Guide for Comparative Anatomy by Susan Wischnitzer.

COURSE DESCRIPTION:  A vertebrate dissection course.  A comparative systems approach is used in the detailed dissection of the lamprey, dogfish shark, mudpuppy, and cat.  The course also includes the microscopic and gross examination of hemichordates and protochordates.

COURSE OBJECTIVES:  Students will gain understanding and appreciation of:

• Vertebrate morphology.
• The connections between form and function in vertebrate organs and systems.
• Vertebrate diversity.
• Early vertebrate development and morphogenesis.
• The generalized vertebrate pattern as a key to the variations seen from fishes to mammals.
• Vertebrate evolution - that the structure of modern vertebrates is the product of adaptive modification through natural selection.
• The common ancestry (phylogeny) of modern vertebrates.
• Comparative anatomy as an analytical technique.
• The major organ systems from fish to mammals.
• Techniques of comparative anatomy.

TOPICS COVERED:

• Prochordates and Agnatha
• Skeletal, Mudpuppy
• Skeletal, Shark
• Skeletal, Cat
• Muscles, Mudpuppy
• Muscles, Cat
• Internal systems, Shark
• Internal systems, Cat
• Internal Systems Mudpuppy