Module Information
Course Delivery
Delivery Type | Delivery length / details |
---|---|
Lecture | 30 x 1 Hour Lectures |
Practical | 5 x 4 Hour Practicals |
Assessment
Assessment Type | Assessment length / details | Proportion |
---|---|---|
Semester Assessment | Anatomical drawings portfolio (four labelled drawings) | 30% |
Semester Assessment | Experimental report (2000 words with data analysis) | 30% |
Semester Exam | 2 Hours Short answer theory paper | 40% |
Supplementary Exam | 2 Hours Students must take elements of assessment equivalent to those that lead to failure of the module | 40% |
Supplementary Assessment | Students must take elements of assessment equivalent to those that lead to failure of the module | 60% |
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this module students should be able to:
1. Dissect a vertebrate organism and identify the major organs.
2. Demonstrate an understanding of the functional anatomy of vertebrate organisms.
3. Demonstrate knowledge of the evolution of vertebrate organisms.
4. Demonstrate a theoretical and practical understanding of vertebrate phylogenetics.
Brief description
‘Vertebrate Organisms’ will provide a suitable grounding in the core subject matter of vertebrate zoology, for students with zoological or veterinary interests. The anatomical plans of the major groups of vertebrates will be scrutinized and interpreted in terms of their functioning. The taxonomic diversity and evolutionary ancestry of the living vertebrates will also be an integral theme of the module.
Content
There will be four practical dissection classes (on dogfish, frog, rat and chick) based on those in the precursor module BR23710 ‘Vertebrate Anatomy’. A new practical class called ‘Cladistics’ will utilize the extensive collection of vertebrate skeletons in the IBERS Museum. Students will score a character matrix for phylogenetic analysis of a diversity of skeletons, thereby testing the evolutionary relationships discussed in the lectures. There will be supporting lectures for both the dissection and cladistics practicals.
There will be 3 assessments: a theory paper; a portfolio of drawings from the dissection classes; and a report on the cladistics exercise.
Module Skills
Skills Type | Skills details |
---|---|
Application of Number | Quality evaluation of phylogenetic analysis for the Cladistics practical will require quantitative reasoning. |
Communication | Cladistics practical will be a research problem and require literature search and synthesis for the report. |
Improving own Learning and Performance | The series of four Anatomy practicals will provide the opportunity for critique and progressive improvement. |
Information Technology | Specialized software will need to be mastered for the Cladistics data analysis. |
Personal Development and Career planning | Career relevance of anatomical knowledge for animal care will be highlighted. |
Problem solving | Cladistics practical will involve solving phylogenetic relations using observations on biological specimens. |
Research skills | Cladistics practical will be a research problem and require literature search and synthesis for the report. |
Subject Specific Skills | Anatomical knowledge gained in the dissection and Cladistics classes is specific. |
Team work | Cladistics practical exercise will involve scoring of skeletal characters by a team. |
Notes
This module is at CQFW Level 5