BIO513 Functional Morphology 3cr
Lecture: Wednesday 9-11:45, B110.
Professor: Dr. Cheryl Wilga, BISC B115, cwilga@uri.edu, 874-9020.
Office Hours: M 4-5, T 1-3 or by appointment.
Prerequisites: BIO304 or BIO366 Recommended; 513 Graduate Standing or by approval.
|
Week |
Lecture Topic |
Discussion |
Guest Speaker |
|
Sept 5 |
Introduction and Structure |
none |
------- |
|
12 |
Support and Body Size |
none |
Dr. Brad Seibel. Scaling Metabolism |
|
19 |
Echolocation + Electricity |
Scaling |
Title + summary due. See Webb. |
|
26 |
Ventilation |
Echo+elect |
|
|
Oct 3 |
Aquatic Feeding + Wilga, Feeding in Elasmobranchs |
ventilation |
Outline due. Dr. Jacqueline Webb. Mon. Oct 1st 3pm Weaver. Sensory |
|
10 |
No class – Monday schedule on Wednesday |
------- |
|
|
17 |
Terrestrial Feeding |
Aq. feeding |
|
|
24 |
Swimming 1 |
Terr. feeding |
|
|
31 |
Swimming 2 and Diving |
swimming |
|
|
Nov 7 |
Crawling, Digging and Climbing |
diving |
|
|
14 |
Walking and Running |
No Mon. CDC |
|
|
21 |
Jumping and Leaping |
No Thurs + Fri Walk/run |
Draft due |
|
28 |
Gliding and Flying 1 |
Jump/leap |
Dr. Thomas Roberts, Mon. Nov. 26th 3pm Weaver. Muscle Function. |
|
Dec 5 |
Flying 2 |
flight |
Paper due. Dr. Sharon Swartz, Mon. Dec. 10th 3pm Weaver. Bat Flight. |
|
Finals Week |
Lecture Exam |
|
|
In this course we will explore the biological role of organismal design using the concepts of functional morphology. The first 50 minutes of class will consist of a lecture, followed by a 10 minute break. We will examine major functional systems of a diversity of animals to examine how they have evolved solutions to similar design problems. In the next 50 minutes of class time, everyone will participate in discussing a current literature paper associated with previous lecture topic, provided the previous week, followed by a 10 minute break. Students will take turns leading the discussion but all students will be involved in the discussion. In the last 45 minutes, a guest speaker will come in to talk about his/her research/work in functional morphology. In the event that we do not have a guest speaker, the lecture and discussion can split the remaining time. One lecture exam will be given during the final exam period. The exam will consist of a combination of short answer and essay questions.
Choice of a Research Proposal or Project. The title and summary of your research topic is due by the 3rd week and must be approved by me. Please see me if you need help. A two page outline of the research is due by the 5th week. A rough draft of the paper is due by the 12th week. Your complete research proposal or project paper is due by the last week of classes.
Research Proposal: The research proposal paper is designed to provide a student with experience assessing the literature and preparing a research proposal on a topic in functional morphology. The length of the proposal must follow NSF guidelines (not to exceed 15 pages, including tables and figures but not references). See the following website for the grant proposal guide: See the NSF website for the grant proposal guide. http://www.nsf.gov/publications.
Research Project: The research project is designed to provide a student with experience conducting a short experimental research project on a topic in functional morphology. The manuscript must follow the format of the Journal of Experiment Biology: http://jeb.biologists.org.