Vertebrate Natural History (Bio 165): Course Information

Fall 2007

Instructor:

Dr. Ron Coleman	Office:	119A Humboldt

Lab:	119 Humboldt

Tel:	916-278-3474 (w)

916-705-2606 (cell) until 10 pm

Email:	rcoleman@csus.edu

Websites:	http://cichlidresearch.com

& http://www.csus.edu/indiv/c/colemanr/index.html

Course Location & Times:

Lec:	#80427	Tues, Thurs 2:00 to 2:50pm	Room 124 HMB

Lab:	#80428	Tues, Thurs 3:00 to 5:50pm	Room 124 HMB

Enrollment is limited to 24 students. Each student must attend both the lecture and laboratory portions of the course.

Office hours:

Ron Coleman	Wed 2:00 - 5:00pm	Room 119 HMB

What this course is about:

This course is an introduction to the phylogeny, classification, reproductive and life history strategies and adaptations of fishes, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals. The laboratory emphasizes identification of California's vertebrate fauna.

Vertebrates, namely those animals with a backbone, constitute a large and intriguing group of organisms that fascinate people with their diversity in form and behavior. Vertebrates first appeared on Earth over half a billion years ago and have a long and complex history, some of which is obvious, and some of which is not so obvious (e.g, many of the massive four-legged dinosaurs had two-legged ancestors). To appreciate and understand this diversity, it is essential to learn something of the ancestral relationships of vertebrates and what evidence we have for these.

The study of ancestry (or phylogeny) helps us to understand the modern classification and naming (taxonomy) of vertebrates and why things are currently in such a mess and what might need to be done to sort things out.

Appreciating this ancestry also helps us to understand the common structure of vertebrates (e.g., why your heart is the way that it is) and also to appreciate those organisms that have deviated from the usual ways of doing things. For example, is parental care by a male fish "normal" or "unusual"?

Many students prefer to take Bio 165 to get a broad overview of the vertebrates and then choose to take one or more of the more specialized courses (e.g., Bio 162 -- Ichthyology; Bio 164 -- Herpetology; Bio 166 -- Ornithology; Bio 168 -- Mammalogy) to further their interests in particular groups of vertebrates.

Learning Objectives:

Conceptual

Appreciate the diversity of vertebrates

Develop a basic understanding of the phylogeny of vertebrates

Appreciate modern approaches to phylogeny (i.e., cladistics) and the difference between phylogeny and taxonomy

Develop an appreciation of the relationship between form and function

Practical

Research and compose a well thought-out term paper on a topic related to vertebrate natural history, making use of the primary literature

Be able to construct and analyze simple cladograms

Learn to use a scientific key efficiently and effectively

Build an appreciation for the use and construction of scientific nomenclature

Gain practical experience working with museum specimens

Understand the common skeletal structure of most vertebrates

Become proficient with the various field guides for identifying California vertebrates

Identify a core group of California vertebrates including fishes, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals

Attendance and Deadlines:

I expect you to attend every lecture and lab; you miss class at your own risk. Anything I say is fair game for exams, whether it is in the text or not. Some things I say will definitely not be in the text, and some may contradict the text. In the latter case, what I say is taken to be the correct answer. If there is a difference between what I say and what is in the text or what you have learned elsewhere, please ask about it in lecture or after class and we will discuss the differences.

My goal as a lecturer is to guide and assist you in learning about this material. I can't do that if you aren't in class or if you don't tell me what you don't understand.

If you miss a class, it is your responsibility to get the notes from another student, not from me. I DO NOT hand out lecture notes, nor do I post them to the web.

Deadlines are strictly adhered to. It is not fair to students that complete work on time for other students to have extra time to do the same work. Plan ahead and schedule your time. Most importantly, don't leave things to the last minute; you don't need that kind of stress!

Textbook:

Pough, F.H., Janis, C.M., Heiser, J.B. 2005. Vertebrate Life. Seventh Edition. Pearson-
Prentice Hall, New Jersey. REQUIRED.

Borror, D.J. 1988. Dictionary of Word Roots and Combining Forms. Mayfield, Mountain View, California. REQUIRED.

Exams:

There will be two midterms and a final for the lecture portion of the course. There will be a midterm and a final in the lab, both held during lab time. Midterms are held during the lecture period and will be a mixture of fill-in the blank, short-answer and essay questions. I do not believe in multiple choice questions and do not use them.

Exams will be comprehensive, i.e., anything in the whole course up to that point in time is fair game. My previous students comment on two aspects of my exams: I am a hard grader and I am a fair grader. You can expect long exams that test your knowledge, but they will be exams without tricks. My goal is to have you tell me what you know and understand. You will write a lot and you will have to work very quickly.

Labs:

The "Labs" constitute exercises that you must typically complete in the lab and then turn in for grading. When you get a lab back it will either have a checkmark in the upper right or not. If it does not, then you must correct anything indicated and turn the lab back in. You keep doing this until you get everything correct.

It is your responsibility to make sure that you have completed all of the labs.

NOTE: You must retain in some orderly fashion all assignments and graded materials until after the end of the semester. You may be asked to produce these at the end of the semester. Failure to produce an assignment will result in a grade of 0 for that assignment.

Grading:

This course is worth 4 units.

The number of points/questions on a particular exam is irrelevant to the exam's worth -- it is merely a tool for grading. What matters are the following percentages.

Your lecture grade will be calculated according to the following scheme:

Midterm I	20

Midterm II	25

Final Exam	35

Term Paper	20

----

100%

Your lab grade will be calculated according to the following scheme:

Midterm	25

Final	25

Labs	50

----

100%

Your course grade will be a combination of your lecture and lab grades as follows:

Lecture	1/2	Lab	1/2

Your letter grade will be calculated according to the following table:

A = 93 to 100%	C+ = 77 to 79%

A- = 90 to 92%	C = 73 to 76%

B+ = 87 to 89%	C- = 70 to 72%

B = 84 to 86%	D+ = 67 to 69%

B- = 80 to 83%	D = 60 to 66%

F = 0 to 59%

I generally do not adjust or curve or scale grades; If you want an "A", work for it and make it happen!

I do not hesitate to correct any errors I make in grading (e.g., incorrect addition or if I missed grading an answer), but keep in mind that I am looking for clear, succinct answers, not answers that sort-of-show-you-possibly-might-know-what-you-mean. If you feel that your answer deserves a better grade, please return it to me promptly.

I do not use "extra credit" assigments.

Care of Specimens:

In this lab you will be observing and handling a large number of specimens from the vertebrate collections of CSUS. Please treat these specimens with the utmost care. Damage to specimens is cumulative, i.e. if you damage the fin of a fish, then that fin will remain damaged for all subsequent students this year and every year into the future. While some of the specimens are of common species and can be replaced, others are irreplaceable. Keep this in mind.

Health and Safety:

Read and sign the Safety sheets (you will get these in the lab).

Honor Code:

Don't cheat. Besides the fact that we will be forced to take strong measures if we catch you -- including recommending your dismissal from the class and from the university -- I will be profoundly disappointed in you.

Don't even think about doing any of the following:

a.	Giving or receiving information from another student during an examination

b.	Using unauthorized sources for answers during an exam such as writing answers on hats, clothing or limbs

c.	Illegally obtaining the questions before an exam

d.	Altering the answers on an already-graded exam

e.	Any and all forms of plagiarism

f.	Destruction and/or confiscation of school and/or personal property

Feedback:

I appreciate your feedback on this course. It is most useful to tell me things while the course is in progress, rather than waiting until the end of the course. If there is something that needs changing, LET ME KNOW and I will see what I can do about it. This course is a collaboration between you and me. I really enjoy teaching this class and I want you to have a great time as well.

Tentative list of lecture and lab topics. The list is subject to change.

Week	Tues	Thurs
1	Sept 4: Intro to course; Diversity of vertebrates

Lab: Scientific names, Intro to vertebrate collections	Sept 6: Generating biodiversity by natural selection; 5-
step argument

Lab: cladistics
2	Sept 11: Modern synthesis; group selection

Lab: Cladistics; How to key	Sept 13: Directions of selection

Lab: Key FW fishes
3	Sept 18: Sexual selection

Lab: CA FW fishes	Sept 20: Basal vertebrates

Lab: CA Marine fishes
4	Sept 25: Vertebrate structure

Lab: Vertebrate phylogeny	Sept 27: Vertebrate structure cont'd

Lab: Basal Vertebrates

***Term paper outline due
5	Oct 2: Lecture Midterm

Oct 4: Jaws, fins

Lab: Bones
6	Oct 9: jaw suspension

Lab: Fish Phylogeny I	Oct 11: Sensory systems, reproduction

Lab: Fishes Phylogeny II
7	Oct 16: Major radiations of fishes

Lab: Catchup and review	Oct 18: Heading to Land

Lab: Lab Midterm
8	Oct 23: Living on Land

Lab: CA Amphibians I	Oct 25: Amphibians

Lab: CA Amphibians II & Phylogeny
9	Oct 30:Reptiles

Lab: CA Lizards	Nov 1: Lecture Midterm

10	Nov 6: Reptiles

Lab: CA Snakes; Lepidosaur Phylogeny	Nov 8: Living in Air

Lab: Catchup
11	Nov 13: Birds

Lab: CA Turtles	Nov 15: Mammalian radiations

Lab: CA Birds I
12	Nov 20: ***Term papers due

Field Trip to Cosumnes Preserve for Bird Watching	Nov 22: Thanksgiving – no class
13	Nov 27: Mammals

Lab: Dinosaurs	Nov 29: Mammals

Labs: Birds II: structure
14	Dec 4: TBA

Lab: CA Mammals	Dec 6: TBA

Lab: CA Mammals
15	Dec 11: TBA

Lab:Review	Dec 13: Lab Final
16	Dec 18:3:00-5:00pm FINAL EXAM

– END