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Animal Diversity

Module description

The vast majority of animal life on Earth gets by without a backbone. In first term during a series of lectures and practicals you will be introduced to the bewildering diversity of invertebrate life-forms. The second half of the module is focused on the origin of the vertebrates through to the evolution of Homo sapiens via a series of carefully constructed lectures and practical sessions. Visits to a range of habitats will allow you to study some of this diversity yourself, focusing on animal function and adaptations to different environments and provide you with the opportunity to further develop your understanding. You will gain a core understanding of the diversity of invertebrate and vertebrate life from a functional perspective that will provide you with an excellent knowledge platform for further modules and learn to define the key characteristics of the main phylogenetic groups to illustrate the range of diversity within and between animal groups, their defining characteristics and the functional perspective of adaptations.

Module aims - intentions of the module

The module will provide you with an understanding of the diversity of invertebrate and vertebrate life from a functional perspective. You will be exposed to a suite of lectures encompassing all the major invertebrate groups from protists to cephalopods that will range in content from classification and defining characteristics and will touch on interesting aspects of reproduction, physiology, behaviour and evolution. In practical classes you will be exposed to animal diversity concentrating on function and adaptation to environments and ecosystems. The module will provide you with a core knowledge of animal diversity and macro-evolutionary patterns that will form a platform for future modules. The module complements other biological modules in Stage 1, Ecology and Conservation, Evolution, Physiology and Marine Biology, and provides a foundation for Stage 2 modules at the Penryn campus.

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

ILO: Module-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 1. Outline the fundamentals of organismal biology and the key defining characteristics of all the major taxonomic vertebrate and invertebrate animal groups
• 2. Critically examine specimens for key adaptations to ecological niches
• 3. Evaluate different methods and techniques for generating biological information and data

ILO: Discipline-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 4. Describe essential facts and theory across a sub-discipline of biosciences
• 5. Identify critical questions from the literature and synthesise research-informed examples into written work
• 6. Identify and implement, with some guidance, appropriate methodologies and theories for addressing a specific research problem in biosciences
• 7. With guidance, deploy established techniques of analysis, practical investigation, and enquiry within biosciences
• 8. Describe and begin to evaluate approaches to our understanding of biosciences with reference to primary literature, reviews and research articles

ILO: Personal and key skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 9. Develop, with guidance, a logical and reasoned argument with sound conclusions
• 10. Communicate ideas, principles and theories using a variety of formats in a manner appropriate to the intended audience
• 11. Collect and interpret appropriate data and undertake straightforward research tasks with guidance
• 12. Evaluate own strengths and weaknesses in relation to professional and practical skills identified by others

Syllabus plan

Lectures begin with a background to the module and some of the underlying key concepts and theories that are central to zoology.

Whilst the precise content may vary from year to year, it is envisaged that the syllabus will cover all or some of the following topics:

• Phylogeny, systematics and evolution of major invertebrate taxa
• Introduction to animal diversity and body plans
• Sponges and cnidarians
• Platyhelminthes
• Rotifers and other pseudocoelomates
• Molluscs
• Annelids
• Arthropods
• Echinoderms
• Evolution of chordates
• Fish
• Amphibians
• Reptiles
• Birds
• Mammals
• Evolution of humans

Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)

Details of learning activities and teaching methods

Formative assessment

Summative assessment (% of credit)

Details of summative assessment

Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)

Re-assessment notes

Deferral – if you miss an assessment for certificated reasons judged acceptable by the Mitigation Committee, you will normally be either deferred in the assessment or an extension may be granted. The mark given for a re-assessment taken because of a deferral will not be capped and will be treated as it would be if it were your first attempt at the assessment.

Referral – if you have failed the module overall (i.e. a final overall mark of less than 40%) you will be required to sit a further examination that will count for 100% of the module mark and be capped at the pass mark.

If a module has one exam the deferral and 100% referral version can be the same but for modules with two exams, the 100% referral exam will be different and consist of questions from both.

Indicative learning resources - Basic reading

• Campbell NA, Reece JB (2008) Biology, 8th Ed. Pearson. ISBN 0-321-53616-7/0-321-53616-9
• Hickman, Roberts, Keen, Larson Eisenhour Animal Diversity 4^th Edn McGraw-Hill. ISBN 13: 978-0-07-110670-2 / 10: 0-07-11670-7
• Ruppert, EE,  Fox RS, Barnes RD  (2015) Invertebrate Zoology, a functional evolutionary approach 7^th Edition. ISBN 978-0030259821 /  0030259827
• Pough, F.H., Janis, C.M. and Heiser, J.B. 2005. Vertebrate Life 7^th, 8^th or 9^th Edition, Pearson. ISBN 0-13-127836-3

Key words search

Zoology, Biodiversity, Phylogeny, Evolutionary Biology, Systematics, Adaptations