Animal Diversity and Evolution

Knowledge:

The student will gain:

• knowledge of the diversity, anatomy, and evolution of the Kingdom of Animals.
• the ability to compare and contrast the anatomy of focal animal groups.
• the ability to discuss anatomical features relevant to the ecology of focal animal groups.
• understanding of convergent evolution and homology.

Skills:

By the end of the course, the student should be able to:

• list and compare features that characterise focal animal groups.
• identify presented organisms to phylum-level or further, based on their knowledge, and argue where they should be placed in the animal tree of life.
• account for aspects of the morphological, fossil, and molecular background for current hypotheses concerning animal evolution and classification.
• explain convergent evolution and homology and hypothesise on the possible role of each in the generation of various functionally or anatomically similar structures.
• operate specialised equipment used in modern zoology and understand and analyse data or images from this equipment.
• dissect various organisms from across the Animalia, and identify their external as well as internal organs, and discuss their functional role and analogues/homologues in other taxa.

Competences:

The student will gain:

• a broad perspective on the diversity and evolution of the Animal Kingdom, both modern and extinct; useful as support for studies in biology and palaeontology.
• understanding of the context of modern diversity.
• an overview of the latest research on a broad diversity of animals.
• the ability to impress friends and strangers alike with an enormous array of random animal facts.