Georgia MSP at Wesleyan College

Classification

Taxonomy - identifying, naming, and classifying organisms

   identification

      pictorial guides

         rapid, casual, field identification

      dichotomous keys

         forced choice paired questions

            nested key - practice during plant diversity

            serial "Go To" key - EXAMPLE: INSECT ORDERS          

   classification

      purpose of classification - ANIMAL LIST EXAMPLE

         organization

         universal names - Latin (Linnean) binomials

         concept of "relatedness" - ANIMAL LIST EXAMPLE

      traditional taxonomy

         nested groups

         DKPCOFGS

         strengths

Systematics

   accurate mapping of relatedness of organisms

   bases:

      morphology

      physiology and behavior

      development - especially early stages

      biochemical/cell physiology

      genomics and proteomics

          molecular sequencing and "clocks"

          assumptions and caveats

   weaknesses of traditional taxonomy

   cladistic taxonomy - strenghths and weaknesses

Phylogeny - the evolutionary history of a species or group

Why a "species" is not a "type"

Why "specie" is not a real word (except in economics)

Survey of Animal Taxonomy

Survey of Phyla and Classes - (death by PowerPoint)

   Inverts I - parazoa, radiata, acoelomates, pseuodocoelomates

   Inverts II - protostomic coelomates

   Inverts III - deuterostomic coelomates

   Verts - vertebrates

REVIEW I - THE MINI-SET

REVIEW II - THE WEE QUIZ

Animal

Collections

Collecting animals

   finding

   buying

Identifying animals

   keys and guides

   using the web

      professional sites

      Wikipedia and why you can trust it (for now)

Preparing and maintaining specimens

   preserving and storing invertebrates

      hard-bodied - drying

      soft-bodied - preservation in alcohol

      mounting insects

   vertebrate specimens

      skeletal preparation and mounting

      study skins

      preserved specimens

Teaching About Animals

Development

   embryological

   example 1 - insect metamorphosis - complete vs. incomplete

   example 2 - amphibian metamorphosis

   neotony/paedomorphosis

Diversity

   of groups

   genotypic and phenotypic

   ecotypes

   WRITING YOUR OWN KEY

Commonality

   molecular biology and genomics

   fundamental histology - cell and tissue types

   "deep" structure

      defining features of taxa at al levels

      example - tetrapod limbs

   homologies vs. analogies - divergent and convergent evolution

Ecological roles

   trophic levels and pyramid - "Rule of Ten"

   food chains

   introduced species - the other "Rule of Ten"

Reproduction

   asexual

   sexual

      monoescious

      dioescious

      hermaphroditic

Life histories

   free-living

   parasitic

   commensal

Mimicry

   camouflage

    aposematism

      Batesian mimicry

      Mullerian mimicry

Comparative Anatomy and Physiology

   physiological "tasks"

   diversity of solutions

   biophysics

     example 1 - skeletal load bearing and mechanical advantage

     example 2 - feather types and insulation

Behavior

   instinctual/innate

   acquired/learned

   social

   animal architecture