Comparative Vertebrate Anatomy Lab

Lab Overview:

In the same way that a dead body can provide forensic detectives with the clues to solve a murder case, the bodies of animals can tell us a lot about their ecology and evolution. In this lab we will study the internal anatomy of the five classes of the vertebrates (fish, amphibian, reptile, bird, and mammal) through hands-on examination of dissected whole specimens as well as prepared skeletons and skins. We will ask students to formulate hypotheses about the ecology of each dissected species based on their observations of the similarities and differences between each specimen. Students will also learn how to use their morphological observations to construct a phylogenetic hypothesis of the evolutionary history of each vertebrate class.