Biol 440 Comparative Anatomy

Vertebrates represent the animals that are more familiar to us: mammals, birds, fish, etc. They are bound by a common underlying design, yet numerous modifications of this basic design have allowed for an amazing variety of forms and lifestyles - making the evolutionary history of this group quite intriguing. This lecture and the accompanying lab course are both designed to give you an understanding of the wide variety of life forms represented by Vertebrata.

Required Text: Liem, Bemis, Walker and Grande. 2001 Functional Anatomy of the Vertebrates: An Evolutionary Perspective. 3rd edition. Harcourt College Publishers.

The schedule below is subject to change. Changes will be announced in class.

Clicking on the lecture under the topic column leads to a slideshow of the powerpoint slides for that lecture. This is best for reviewing images from lecture. Clicking on "handout" gives you either a color or black and white handout depending on which column you choose. If you don't have a color printer, or want to save on ink, choose the black and white handout. Handouts are helpful when taking notes in class, but are not a replacement for lecture. Information written on slides is only an outline and important information is presented verbally.