Lab Schedule: Labs will meet once a week at the assigned time in Wilson 112.

Fall 2019 Course Goals & Expectations:  A hands-on study of the anatomy and evolution of select vertebrates. The Shark, Necturus, and Cat will be the primary foci of this lab, representing 3 disparate grades of vertebrate evolution as well as being excellent examples of aquatic, transitional, and terrestrial forms. Other organisms will be examined to a lesser degree. This lab course requires BIOL 474 as a pre- or co-requisite.

Textbook: Required. Comparative Anatomy, Manual of Vertebrate Dissection, 3rd edition. By Fishbeck & Sebastiani. ISBN: 9781617310423 It is about $85 online, new.

Supplies: You will also need an old towel/rag for clean-up (saves paper towels) and a lab coat, scrubs top, or old shirt. Open toe shoes are discouraged.

By the end of this course, you should be able to... 1. Understand the big picture of morphological evolution in vertebrates by comparative examination of structures 2. Identify homologous anatomical structures across a wide variety of vertebrates  3. Appreciate the unique functional adaptations of representative vertebrates, and 4. Although we won’t study humans specifically, you will gain a better understanding of the complex origins of human anatomy

BIOL 474L Evolution of Vertebrate Life Laboratory

Lab Director: Corey S. Johnson, Ph.D. johnsonc@bio.unc.edu 210 Wilson Hall

Instructors: Patrick Kelly (401 & 402) patk@live.unc.edu Andrew Isdaner (403 & 403)

aisdaner@live.unc.edu

Sections: 401: Mon 2:30pm-05:20pm 402: Tue 12:30pm-03:30pm 403: Tue 3:30pm-06:20pm 404: Wed: 2:30pm-05:20pm

Grading policy and other information:

The course will be graded on the basis of...

1. 2 non-cumulative lab exams  (2 x 35%). Lab exams will cover practical (identification) and theoretical topics discussed in the lab or in your assigned readings. 

2. The remaining 30% of your grade will be the accumulation of weekly quizzes and/or assignments. Your TA will inform you of these graded activities a week in advance. 

Exams: Two exams will be given over the course of the semester. Each exam consists of  identification questions, where you must identify the labeled structures on a model, specimen, or illustration.  The remaining practical questions will assess your understanding of concepts related to these structures: homologous structures, functional adaptations, and anatomical relationships, for example.

Grades and grading: Your grade for this course will be determined according to your accumulation of points for exams, guided reading questions, and postlab quizzes. Your final score will be measured against the grade scale provided here. Students within rounding error (0.5%) will be rounded up. No curves or dropped scores… just math.

Pregnancy or other health concerns: If you know or suspect that you are pregnant, it is advisable that you take precaution to avoid all contact with wet laboratory specimens. Although the levels of formaldehyde are quite low in the specimens used in the laboratory, exposure to organic solvents in general is associated with higher incidence of birth defects. Please speak with the course director if you have any concerns about exposure during pregnancy or any other health-related concerns that may prevent you from fully participating. Communication with the lab director can be done over email if you are uncomfortable with an in-person discussion.

93-100 A 77-80 C+     90-92 A- 73-76 C 87-90 B+ 70-72 C- 83-86 B 67-70 D+80-82 B- 60-66 D

<60 F

Exam 235%

Exam 135%

Postlab quizzes15%

GRQs15%

Attendance Policy:  Attendance is mandatory; schedule accordingly. Apart from sudden illness or catastrophic circumstances, students will be expected to notify their TA of absence at least 24 hours (preferably several days) prior to the lab in question. You may be given the opportunity to reschedule, depending on the availability of other TAs and lab sections; however this cannot be guaranteed. Points awarded in class will not be made available to students who do not attend class.

The Department of Biology values the perspectives of individuals from all backgrounds reflecting the diversity of our students. We broadly define diversity to include race, gender identity, national origin, ethnicity, religion, social class, age, sexual orientation, political background, and physical and learning ability. We strive to make this classroom and this department an inclusive space for all students.

BIOL 474L Laboratory Schedule

Honor code: Students are expected to abide by the UNC honor code at all times. Course resources of any kind are not to be made publicly available. Make sure that anything you upload to websites (for example, Quizlet) is not publicly viewable. This policy it to protect copyright of images, and to limit the distribution of information that might provide another student unfair advantage. This policy applies to all files, screenshots, quizzes/exams, or summaries of the aforementioned items.

Dates  Lab Topic

Aug 26 - Aug 28 1. Organization of the vertebrate body: The Lamprey

Sep 2 - Sep 4 No lab: Labor day holiday

Sep 9 - Sep 11 2. Shark integument, musculoskeletal anatomy

Sep 16 - Sep 18 3. Tetrapod skeletal anatomy

Sep 23 - Sep 25 4. Necturus integument, musculoskeletal anatomy

Sep 30 - Oct 2 5. Comparative anatomy of tetrapod forelimbs

Oct 7 - Oct 9 Exam 1

Oct 14 - Oct 16 No lab: Fall break

Oct 21 - Oct 23 6. Cranial anatomy

Oct 28 - Oct 30 7. Shark digestive, respiratory, urogenital anatomy

Nov 4 - Nov 6 8. Necturus digestive, respiratory, urogenital anatomy

Nov 11 - Nov 13 9. Tetrapod digestive comparative anatomy

Nov 18 - Nov 20 No lab: Thanksgiving holiday

Nov 25 - Nov 27 10. Comparative circulatory anatomy

Dec 2 - Dec 4 Exam 2