Animal Diversity - Vertebrates

Vertebrates – fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals make up over 60 000 living species distributed globally. This is a course for all biologists. With the evolutionary tree as a backbone, you will examine the evolution and characteristics of vertebrates from fishlike animals 300 million years ago to the present diversity.

This is an advanced full-time course dedicated to the diversity and evolution of vertebrates, a.k.a. craniates. It can be taken as a standalone course or as part of the NABIS Master's programme.

The course explores vertebrate phylogeny and evolution in depth. It begins with early chordates and incorporates insights from both fossils and living species. A central focus lies on character evolution along the phylogenetic tree. You will follow the diversification of vertebrates — from jawless fish to reptiles, amphibians, birds, mammals, and everything in between.

By the end of the course, you will feel confident navigating the phylogenetic tree and identifying major vertebrate groups.



Teaching Format

Animal Diversity — Vertebrates is an on-line only course based on the Athena platform. E-techs are distributed as texts and PowerPoints covering specific moments. Teachers are present during regular sessions and presentations by Zoom or chats in Athena. Students are assigned two compulsory home assignments during the course. Attendance to teacher presentations is compulsory.


Assessment

Examination for the course takes place through a written examination at the end of the course.

Examiner

Daniela C. Kalthoff

E-mail:  Daniela.Kalthoff@nrm.se

The schedule will be available no later than one month before the start of the course. We do not recommend print-outs as changes can occur. At the start of the course, your department will advise where you can find your schedule during the course.


Note that the course literature can be changed up to two months before the start of the course.

No mandatory course book.

Course reports are displayed for the three most recent course instances.








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