BIO 322: Vertebrate Field Zoology
SYLLABUS 2006
Instructor: Dr. Mark Stanback
Office: Watson 282
Phone:
894-2325
email: mastanback@davidson.edu
office hours:
Wed
10:00-12:20, 1:30-2:30
or by
appointment
Lecture: Tues,
Thurs 10:00 – 11:15 in Dana 146
Lab
A (20716): Tues 1:00 - 4:00 in Watson 247
Lab
B (20983): Thr 1:00 - 4:00 in
Watson 247
DESCRIPTION:
Biology 322 focuses on the natural
history of the vertebrates: their evolution, classification, anatomy,
physiology, ecology, and behavior. We
will be covering ichthyology (fish), herpetology (amphibians and reptiles),
ornithology (birds), and mammalogy (mammals).
Throughout the semester, our focus will be on extant, rather than
extinct organisms. The laboratory
portion of the course will consist primarily of field trips and field
exercises. You are required to attend
one of two weekend field trips (a day zoo trip and an overnight trip to the
Charleston area).
Vertebrate Field Zoology works
equally well as a springboard or a capstone:
it will prepare you for courses not yet taken and put completed ones
into perspective. It would not be
inappropriate to think of VFZ as "Animal Appreciation". Just as a trip to the Louvre is enhanced by
having taken an Art History course, a trip around campus (or around the world)
is enhanced by prior knowledge of the vertebrate life you encounter. Believe it or not, natural history is the
wellspring of much progress in biology.
The development of hypotheses in biology is absolutely dependent on
knowledge of natural history. A favorite
quote (which I’ve posted outside my office): "Knowledge of organisms
reduces our arrogance in modeling the world.
Natural history information is my most important reality check,
foundation, and source of intellectual renewal and personal growth."
TEXTS:
Pough FH,
Janis CM, Heiser JB, 2005. Vertebrate life.
Seventh edition. Pearson Prentice Hall, New Jersey.
Peterson RT,
2002. A field guide to the birds of eastern and central North America. Fifth
edition. Houghton Mifflin, Boston.
LECTURE:
Lecture topics will be covered in
the order shown below. The
correspondence to phylogeny isn’t perfect (e.g. the lineage leading to mammals
is actually quite ancient), but this order is handy for pedagogical purposes.
Introduction
Ch
1, 2.1, 2.2
Extant
Jawless Fish 3.2
Gnathostoma,
jaws, fins 3.4
Elasmobranchs
5.1,
5.2, 5.5, 5.6
Life
in Water 4.1,
4.2, 4.5
The
Fish Radiations Ch
6
Transition
to Land 8.1,
8.2, 8.3, 8.4, 9.1
Extant
Amphibians 10
Amniota
9.3,
11
Chelonia
(turtles) 12
Lepidosauria
(tuatara, lizards, snakes) 13
Archosauria 16.2
Crocodylia (crocodilians) 16.3
Dinosauria
(birds) 16.8,
17
Synapsids Ch 18
Mammals Ch 20, 21
Assignment Point
Value Dates
Reviews (2 @ 100 pts each) 200 points 14-16 Feb, 4-6 Apr
Final Exam 200 points self-scheduled
Bird Identification Quizzes
Winter birds (slides,
calls) 50 points 24 Jan
Spring birds (slides,
calls) 50 points 11 Apr
Avian Structure/Function 40 points 21 Mar (pm)
Herp/Mammal/Specimen Quiz 50
points 2 May
Cumulative
Vertebrate List 10
points 3 May
TOTAL 600 points
Reviews will consist
of short discussion, short answer, matching, and multiple choice questions. Reviews are take home, closed book. Reviews will be distributed at the end of
class on the test date and will be due at the beginning of the next
class meeting. Each student should a
choose a single two-hour chunk of time during which to take the review
(alone and in a quiet place). Two hours
should be plenty of time for you to complete the test and write legibly
(I encourage you to type your answers).
Students will take the cumulative final exam during the self-scheduled
final exam period. All of your
work in this course is covered under the college honor code and must be
pledged. I will post reviews from 1996 -
2005 on Blackboard.
Bird ID
Practicals will
test you on your ability to identify local species. The winter practical will cover species we
will be seeing during the early part of the semester. The later practical will cover summer
residents (some of which are also winter residents). For the second practical, you will also need
to know the Order of each species and be able to tell male from female (for
sexually dichromatic species). Practicals
will take place during lecture. You will
also be required to learn a much smaller subset of bird calls/songs for each
practical. Photos and calls/songs are
available at both of the following web sites
http://www.birds.cornell.edu/programs/AllAboutBirds/
http://www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/id/framlst/infocenter.html
Avian
Structure/Fucntion: One lab period will
be dedicated to avian structure and function (lecture and dissection). You will work in pairs on your
dissection. I will have some dissection
tools, but you may also want to borrow a kit from someone (there’s no need to
purchase a kit). The dissection will be
followed up with a practical/test on avian structure/function on the evening of
21 March.
Herp/Mammal/Specimen
Quiz (50 pts): Birds are the most
conspicuous vertebrates around Davidson, especially in the winter, but anyone
taking a Vertebrate Field Zoology course should have a working knowledge of the
common mammals and herps of the area (for the latter see www.herpsofnc.org). Consequently, we will have an ID quiz
(photos) on 2 May. At this time you will
also be quizzed on some of the major lecture specimens from the semester.
Vertebrate
List: Every student will turn in a cumulative list
of vertebrate species observed (in the wild) over the course of the
semester. Your list should be organized
by Order and Family.
Avian
Neophobia Experiment: During January and
February we will conduct an experiment to examine the reticence of different
bird species to forage near novel items.
We will produce a poster of our results.
Nest Predation
Experiment: During April each lab section will design and
carry out an experiment examining factors influencing rates of bird nest
predation by mammals and birds (e.g., field vs. edge vs. forest, ground vs.
shrub). Each group will produce a
poster showing results.
Frogs vs. Fish
Experiment: During the semester we will conduct an
experiment to determine the effect of mosquitofish on chorus frog reproduction
(using cattle tanks located at the greenhouse).
We will monitor male calling, egg production, and tadpole survival and
produce a poster of our results. Tanks
will be checked once per evening for adults and once per day for eggs and
tadpoles. Students will sign up for
adult and egg checking duty.
Great Backyard
Bird Count (17-20 Feb): As a class we
will participate in the GBBC. Each
student will perform a single one-hour watch sometime during the 4-day
event. This annual count will allow us
to compare our avifauna with that of other sites within the state and around
the country (via the web).
Bird Trapping: To give you experience handling birds and
observing them up close, we will be trapping and netting birds behind Preyer
during the early part of the semester.
In April we will have two early morning bird netting sessions on the
DCEP. You will be required to attend
one.
Videos: Despite their ubiquity, free-living
vertebrates are difficult organisms with which to work. Fish live under water, many reptiles and
amphibians do not emerge until the latter part of the semester and are
difficult to find even then, birds fly away when approached, and local mammals
are primarily nocturnal. Even in a
pristine tropical rainforest, vertebrates are surprisingly difficult to find
and study. Although you will be seeing
plenty of animal images in lecture, I believe there is great value in seeing
animals in action in natural habitats.
Over the course of the semester, we will watch videos on sharks, cichlids,
frogs, snakes, and several on mammals (David Attenborough’s Life of Mammals).
Lab Schedule: We will meet EVERY week for lab (even if we
end up shifting some of the activities below).
If it’s raining, we’ll catch up/get ahead with our videos.
|
Week# |
Week of |
Lab Activity |
|
1 |
9 Jan |
Intro to local birds, campus bird walk, intro to
fish vs. frog experiment |
|
2 |
16 Jan |
Shark video, Design neophobia experiment, bird
trapping |
|
3 |
23 Jan |
Cichlid
video, Raptor video (bird trapping, neophobia) |
|
4 |
30 Jan |
Frog video (bird
trapping, neophobia) |
|
5 |
6 Feb |
Carolina
Raptor Center |
|
6 |
13 Feb |
Snake video, Neophobia poster |
|
7 |
20 Feb |
Marsupial video, Enter GBBC data, (bird trapping) |
|
|
27 Feb |
No lab (Spring Break) |
|
8 |
6 Mar |
Arboreal mammal video, Aquatic Mammal video, GBBC data
analysis |
|
9 |
13 Mar |
Pigeon
dissection and avian structure/function lecture, snake dissection |
|
10 |
20 Mar |
Herbivory/Insectivory
Mammal video, Avian structure/function quiz |
|
11 |
27 Mar |
No Tuesday lab; Thursday lab = DCEP drift fence |
|
12 |
3 Apr |
Turtle trapping |
|
13 |
10 Apr |
Nest pred exp I |
|
14 |
17 Apr |
Nest pred exp
II (early morning bird netting on DCEP) |
|
15 |
24 Apr |
Nest
predation posters, fish/frog poster (early morning bird netting on DCEP) |
|
16 |
2 May |
Herp/mammal/specimen
practical |
Weekend Field
Trips
The purpose of field trips is to
expose you to a maximal variety of vertebrates.
This is not always possible to do in three hours. Hence our weekend trips. As I mentioned above, there will be a
Saturday trip to the Riverbanks Zoo in Columbia SC and an overnight trip to the
Charleston area. You must attend one of
these.
Riverbanks Zoo, Columbia,
SC (18
March?) Unlike its NC rival, this zoo features animals from all over the
world (including Australia, South America, and Asia). It also boasts an excellent aquarium /herp
house. I’m also trying to arrange a
behind-the-scenes tour with a friend who works there. Bring money for lunch. We will depart at 7:00 am and return by 6:00
pm.
Charleston, SC (22-23 April) We’ll be taking a ferry
out to Bull Island (part of the Cape Romain National Wildlife Refuge) for all
of Saturday afternoon, then visiting a local plantation for birding/herping in
both marsh and swamp habitats on Sunday morning. We’ve logged over 70 bird species in the past
(along with lots of herps!). Depart 7:00
am Saturday, return by 5:00 pm Sunday.
Motel accommodation. Bring money
for all meals.
Equipment:
You will be issued a pair of
binoculars to use for the entire semester.
You are responsible for bringing it on ALL field activities. You are also responsible for taking good care
of your binoculars--each pair costs $130 dollars and even minor damage will
necessitate purchase of a new pair (compliments of you!). Although we will never purposefully go on a
field trip in the pouring rain, this does not mean that we might not get rained
on once we are out. Everyone needs to
have a weatherproof coat and boots or shoes that can get wet and muddy (but
keep your feet dry). They call it spring
term, but the fact is it's winter--be prepared!
Release Forms:
All students must sign and return a
departmental release form during the first week.
Letter
grades will be assigned using the following guidelines:
A
=
93.3 - 100% of total possible points
A-
=
89.9 - 93.29 C
=
73.3 - 76.59
B+
=
86.6 - 89.89 C-
=
69.9 - 73.29
B
=
83.3 - 86.59 D+
=
66.6 - 69.89
B-
=
79.9 - 83.29 D
=
59.9 - 66.59
C+
=
76.6 - 79.89 F
=
<59.9
Attendance
will be taken in lecture and lab.
Absences from lab will not be tolerated and will lower your final
grade. Any student missing more than 1/4
of classes will receive a grade of F.
If you are a
student with a learning disability documented by Davidson College who might
need accommodations, please identify yourself to me within the first week or
two of class, so that I can learn from you as early as possible how to best
work with your learning style. Students with other disabilities are also
encouraged to self-identify if there is any way in which I can make
accommodations that will enhance your learning experience. All such
discussions will be fully confidential unless you otherwise stipulate.
Extra Credit: As an incentive to reduce paper wastage and
printer/copier usage, I will give 5 points of extra credit to students who do
NOT print out (or Xerox) the lectures. I
will also give 5 points to students who do NOT print out/copy the spots and lab
handouts.
Web Sites of
Interest:
There are literally hundreds of web
sites that are pertinent to VFZ, but here are two that really provide the big
picture
http://tolweb.org/tree/phylogeny.html the tree of life: enough said
www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/exhibit/phylogeny.html
good intro to cladistics, another tree