Comparative Anatomy of Vertebrates

Catalog description

BIOL 421 / VBSC 421 Comparative Anatomy of Vertebrates Students will study vertebrate anatomy from an evolutionary and developmental perspective. They will become familiar with important structures, terminology and function; a basic requirement of the biomedical sciences. Comparisons between representative vertebrate groups (including fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals) will be used to illustrate structural adaptations of each organ system from an evolutionary perspective. Specific examples comparing ancestral and descendant species will demonstrate the relationships between the lifestyle of an organism and the morphology of homologous structures. A study of early embryonic development, differentiation of primary germ layers and organ formation will provide a basis for understanding organ structure and function. Laboratory activities will involve work with preserved specimens and will focus heavily on anatomic structure identification and function. Topics include anatomic directional terminology, vertebrate classification systems, early embryonic development and a detailed examination of the various organ systems. Specimens are selected to illustrate the anatomy of ancestral vertebrate species, the evolutionary changes observed in descendant species and the association of morphology with lifestyle. Although students will invest the majority of their time becoming familiar with the anatomy of a representative mammal (the cat), multiple species will be examined, and students will be expected to recognize selected anatomic structures in each species studied.