Biology of the Vertebrates

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EEB 2214, Fall 2014
The evolution of form, function,
& diversity of the vertebrates


Meeting Time: Tuesdays and Thursdays, 12:30-1:45 in BPB130


Textbook: VERTEBRATE LIFE Pough F. H., C. M. Janis, and J. B. Heiser. 2012. 9th Edition.
Pearson/Benjamin Cummings (8th edition also acceptable.)


Instructors

Female with hatchlings.JPG

Dr. Elizabeth Jockusch
Email: elizabeth.jockusch@uconn.edu
Office: Biology/Pharmacy 305B
Phone: (860) 486-4452
Office hours: Thursdays 2-3 pm and by appointment
Jockusch Lab Website

Dr. Margaret Rubega
Email: margaret.rubega@uconn.edu
Office: Biology/Pharmacy 500
Phone: (860) 486-4502
Office hours: TBA and by appointment
Rubega Lab Website

Kevin Burgio (Teaching Assistant)
Email: kevin.burgio@uconn.edu
Office: Biology/Pharmacy 402
Office hours: Tuesdays 2-3 pm and by appointment
Monk Parakeet Research Website

Grading

Exam 1 (Thursday, Sept. 25) = 100 points
Exam 2 (Thursday, Oct. 30) = 100 points
Final Exam (Friday, Dec. 12, TENTATIVE) = 125 points
Research Reviews (Tuesdays) = 30 points
Weekly Quizzes = 50 points
Collections Tour = 5 points

There will be two one-hour, non-cumulative, exams scheduled during the lecture hour. The final exam will be cumulative, with an emphasis on material from the final third of the course.

Course Policies

Missed Exams:
Any student who does not attend an exam and fails to receive permission in advance will receive a 0 for the exam. Approval of any request to miss an exam requires, but is not guaranteed by, verifiable written documentation of the reason. A student who receives approval to miss an exam will have his or her grade for the missed exam prorated based on his or her performance on the remainder of the exams. We will not give make-up exams. Every student must take the final. Permission to reschedule the final can only be obtained by following procedures determined by the Dean of Students Office (dos.uconn.edu).

Other absences:
No make-ups will be given for research responses or quizzes. The lowest research review/quiz grade from each half of the semester will be dropped, resulting in the best 10 (of 12) grades counting.

Academic Integrity:
Plagiarism and cheating are violations of the student conduct code, and may be punished by failure in the course or, in severe cases, dismissal from the University. For more information, see Section IV of the Student Conduct Code available at the following web site: http://community.uconn.edu/the-student-code-part-iv/.

Disabilities:
If you have a disability for which you may be requesting an accommodation, you should contact a course instructor and the Center for Students with Disabilities (Wilbur Cross Building, Room 201, www.csd.uconn.edu) within the first two weeks of the semester.

Classroom Conduct:
We expect all students to behave in a way that is respectful of others. The classroom conduct form, which describes our expectations in more detail, must be signed and returned to the teaching assistant by the end of the 2nd week of class.

Help Resources

The secret of success to this course is to not let yourself fall behind. Be sure to fill gaps in your notes and navigate blocks in your understanding as soon as possible. Should you run into trouble with the material, below we have listed some steps for obtaining assistance. While we welcome any and all questions on the material, before you contact us, please first check the resources below to see if your question has already been answered. If/when you do contact us, please understand that we will respond as quickly as we can, but we do have other obligations that might prevent this from happening as urgently as you may need (like 3:00 am the day of an exam...).

Study Materials:
The textbook for this course is Pough F. H., C. M. Janis, and J. B. Heiser. 2012. Vertebrate Life, 9th Edition. Prentice Hall. We strongly encourage you to read the assigned sections before lecture.


Review Sessions:
A review session will be held before each exam. Dates and times will be posted once they are set.

Lecture Schedule & Materials

Date Topic Readings Materials
Part I: Aug 26 - Oct 9, Dr. Elizabeth Jockusch
Aug 26 Vertebrate diversity -- --
Aug 28 Chordates and vertebrate origins Chapter 1 & 2
Sept 2 Living jawless vertebrates Chapter 3
Sept 4 Early vertebrate fossils Chapter 3
Sept 9 Chondrichthyans Chapter 5
Sept 11 Osteichthyan Origin and Diversification Chapter 6
Sept 16 Actinopterygians Chapter 6
Sept 18 Sarcopterygii & Evolution of tetrapods pp. 125-128 & 196-211 (8th ed.)/153-156 & 189-201 (9th ed.)
Sept 23 Amphibian diversity and decline Chapter 10
Sept 25 EXAM 1
Oct 2 Amniote origins pp. 211-218 (8th ed.)/pp. 201-208 (9th ed.)
Oct 7 Amniote diversity / desert adaptations Chapter 13
Oct 9 Snakes pp. 339-349 (8th ed.)/pp. 317-327 (9th ed.)
Part 2: Oct 14 - Dec 12, Dr. Margaret Rubega
Oct 14 Turtles Chapter 12
Oct 16 Turtles cont'd & Archosaurs Chapter 16
Oct 21 Crocodilians & friends Chapter 16
Oct 23 Dinosaurs and other Mesozoic diapsids Chapter 16
Oct 28 Dinosaurs II Chapter 16
Oct 30 EXAM 2
Nov 4 Birds: Avian origins pp. 439-443 (8th ed.)/pp. 407-410 (9th ed.)
Nov 6 Birds: Feeding Chapter 17
Nov 11 Birds:Morphology and Reproduction Chapter 17
Nov 13 Mammals: Origins and radiations Chapter 18
Nov 18 Mammals: Primate evolution and human origins Chapter 24
Nov 20 Mammals: Diversity Chapter 20
Dec 2 Mammals: Morphology and Behavior Chapter 21
Dec 4 Vertebrate mass extinctions, past and present Chapter 25
Dec 12 Final Exam 10:30 - 12:30 (Tentative) Chapter 25