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Courses Taught

Text: Moyes & Schulte, Principles of Animal Physiology, Pearson/Benjamin Cummings 2006

Prerequisites: Introductory biology and one year of college physics and chemistry (genetics is recommended)

Credits: 5 credits, every spring semester

Course Content and Objectives:

This course is intended for Junior/Senior level students in Zoology and for those seriously considering a career in medicine, health, or veterinary sciences. College physics is a prerequisite; background in organic chemistry or biochemistry is recommended. Objectives of the course are to understand, in physical and chemical terms, the mechanisms of maintenance, integration and response in living animals (in other words, how animals "work"). All levels of organization will be considered, from molecular to population, but emphasis is placed on the whole animal and its dynamic organ systems. The course is comparative. It emphasizes adaptation and provides some insight and understanding of how functional attributes of animals evolved. Principles will be illustrated by examples taken from a wide range of animals, expressing both differences and similarities in the context of adaptation. Topics include gas exchange; blood circulation; energetics and metabolism; digestion; temperature adaptation; water, ion and osmotic regulation; acid-base regulation; muscle and movement; sensory mechanisms; chemical signaling; information processing; and integration.

Evaluation of students emphasizes the ability to analyze principles and to synthesize, apply and interrelate concepts. There are three exams in lecture including the final. Grades are based on both formal examinations and performance in laboratory. Laboratories provide experience with a range of investigative approaches to physiology. The various laboratory sessions include use of physical and computerized models, animals, and human subjects

Reptilian Functional Morphology, PCB 5726

Text: Assigned readings from literature

Prerequisite: Vertebrate anatomy and physiology, or consent of instructor

Credits: 3 credits, usually offered every other fall semester

Course Content and Objectives:

The objectives of this course are to improve understanding of how reptiles "work" and to provide insights concerning the evolutionary successes (and failures) of this important group of vertebrates. The lectures and readings will, in large part, reflect the disciplines of functional morphology, physiology and behavior as they relate to reptilian taxa. Although reptiles are the focus of discussion, consideration of other vertebrates will sometimes be appropriate to explanation of principles or to comparative evaluation of the significance and evolution of features. The course will consist of a mixture of lecture and seminar discussions, with student participation and occasional laboratory demonstrations. Exemplary topics are listed below:

The reptilian body plan. How is it different from other vertebrates, and what attributes represent "successful" and important adaptations?
Energetics: aerobic and anaerobic energy metabolism; locomotory energetics; foraging energetics; costs of reproduction.
Mechanics of locomotion: swimming, crawling, burrowing.
Integumentary structure and permeability.
Gaseous exchange and evolution of lung structure. Problems of pulmonary and cutaneous gas exchange.
Feeding mechanisms and digestive adaptations.
Body size: scaling of structure and metabolic support.
Blood circulation and cardiovascular structure. Evolution of the divided circulation. Mechanisms and uses of cardiovascular shunts.
Reproduction and embryonic adaptations.
Color and heat exchange: mimicry, background matching, morphology of pigments.
Adaptations to diving, high altitude and subterranean burrows.
Sensory capabilities: anatomy and physiology.

In addition to providing a solid background of morphology and physiology, the materials used in this course also will illustrate modern investigative techniques and methodology, experimental design, and reptiles as models for investigations of experimental biology.

Contemporary Issues and Advances in Herpetology, ZOO 6927

Text: None. Course is based in primary literature.

Prerequisites: Solid background in vertebrate biology, especially ecology, evolution,

behavior and physiology; consent of one or both instructors.

Credits: 2 credits, usually offered every fall semester

Course Content and Objectives:

This course is a graduate-level seminar. After the group decides on a semester’s theme or subject, which usually is interdisciplinary, individuals select topics to be discussed following a colloquial but structured presentation of information. Topics are subject to approval of the instructors. In this manner the group will critically evaluate contemporary issues and advances in biological investigation of amphibians and (or) reptiles, as represented in current primary scientific literature. Following presentations, the group functions as a workshop with respect to certain selected topics and writing assignments, which are due at the close of the semester. We all learn a lot and have fun doing it!

Fall 1999: The current semester’s theme is "Field Methods and Instrumentation in Current Herpetological Studies"