This course is a survey of animal diversity, with an emphasis on understanding the major animal groups, how they are related to one another, how they differ in structure, and how each group achieves survival and reproduction in the diverse environments of the Earth. We will place particular emphasis on major evolutionary transitions that animals have made through their history, including the origins of multicellularity, the achievement of motion, invasion of terrestrial habitats, and the achievement of flight. We will also emphasize the science behind our contemporary understanding of animals, from multiple perspectives – behavioral, evolutionary, physiological, and ecological. Lab requires dissection, including mammals.
prereq: BIOL 1001/1001H, or BIOL 1009/1009H, or BIOL 1951/1951H