MAMMALOGY   COURSE SYLLABUS  FALL 2002

Instructor: Luke Holbrook, Ph.D.
Office:  Bosshart 105F
Phone:  256-4500 x3585
E-mail:  holbrook@rowan.edu

Office hours: TBA

General course info: This one-semester laboratory course offered by the Department of Biological Sciences is for Biology majors.  Students taking this course are expected to have taken Introduction to Biology I and II.

Course objectives: This course explores the diversity and biology of mammals from an evolutionary perspective.  Much of the course will consist of a survey of extant mammals but will also include discussion of mammal origins, evolution, phylogeny, paleontology, physiology, behavior, and ecology.

Required Texts:

Vaughan, Ryan, and Czaplewski. 2000. Mammalogy, 4th Edition. Saunders, Philadelphia, PA.

Evaluation: There will be three (3) lecture exams, each counting for 20% of the final grade.
There will also be two (2) lab practicals, which will each count for 10% of the final grade. Participation and attendance will count for the remaining 20%.

Students are expected to actively participate in both labs and lectures.  Each student will be asked to contribute to the lectures by briefly presenting the requisite information on a particular group (family or order) of mammals.  This presentation will be factored into the effect of participation on your grade.

Attendance and class participation: Attendance is mandatory for all lectures and labs.  Besides the information that you miss when you miss classes, you also miss discussion and explanation that cannot necessarily be found in a textbook.  Absences also mean that you are not participating in class (see below).  Excused absences will only be allowed for extreme cases with appropriate documentation.  Your attendance grade will be determined by the percentage of classes you attend, minus one percentage point for each time you are late.

Class participation is expected in the form of answering questions and discussing topics in class, as well as sharing information and responsibilities with your classmates during labs (when you will often be asked to work in groups).  Your participation grade will also be determined by the presentations you are required to give.
 

A Very Tentative Course Outline:

Class  Date  Topic (Chapters to be read in Vaughan et al.)
Lab 1  9/4  Osteology
Lecture 1 9/5  Mammalian origins and characteristics (1, 2, 3)

Lecture 2 9/10  Teeth, jaws, and chewing (2)
Lab 2  9/11  Teeth
Lecture 3 9/12  Monotremes (5)

Lecture 4 9/17  Therian origins and marsupials (6)
Lab 3  9/18  Monotremes and marsupials; Xenarthra and Tubulidentata
Lecture 5 9/19  Eutherian origins, xenarthrans, pholidotans, and aardvarks (7, 9, 15)

Lecture 6 9/24  Zoogeography: metatherians vs. eutherians (25)
Lab 5  9/25  Lipotyphla
Lecture 7 9/26  Mammal physiology (21)

Lecture 8 10/1  "Insectivorans" (8)
Lab 6  10/2  Primates, Bats, and Dermoptera
Lecture 10 10/3  Primates I (11)

Lecture 8 10/8  Review
EXAM 10/9  FIRST HOUR EXAM
Lecture 11 10/10  Primates II

Lecture 12 10/15  Primates III
Lab 7  10/16  Review
Lecture 13 10/17  Bats (10)

Lecture 14 10/22  Flight and echolocation (22)
EXAM  10/23  MIDTERM LAB PRACTICAL
Lecture 15 10/24  Carnivorans (12)

Lecture 16 10/29  Mammal reproduction (20)
Lab 8  10/30  Carnivora
Lecture 17 10/31  Mammal behavior (23)

Lecture 18 11/5  Review
EXAM 11/6  SECOND HOUR EXAM
Lecture 19 11/7  Artiodactyls (17)

Lecture 20 11/12  Cetaceans (13)
Lab 9  11/13  Ungulates
Lecture 21 11/14  Perissodactyls, elephants, sea cows, and hyraxes (14, 16)

Lecture 22 11/19  Domestication
Lab 10  11/20  Rabbits and Rodents I
Lecture 23 11/21  Lagomorphs and Rodents I (19, 18)

Lecture 24 11/26  Rodents II
Lab 11  11/27  Rodents II

THANKSGIVING BREAK 11/28 TO 11/29

Lecture 25 12/3  Mammal ecology (24)
Lab 12  12/4  Review
Lecture 26 12/5  Mammal conservation (26)

Lecture 27 12/10  Mammal phylogeny
EXAM 12/11  FINAL LAB PRACTICAL
Lecture 28 12/12  Review

EXAM: THIRD HOUR EXAM: During Finals Week (12/16-12/20)