66955 - Zoology (M-Z)

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course the student will acquire a good knowledge of the main body plans and the biology of the organisms of the Animal kingdom. In particular the student will be able to identify the phylum and the class of an animal and will relate the body plan to adaptive and evolutionary features

Course contents

Animal origin and evolution. Classification, systematics and phylogeny. Animal bauplan and metabolic functions (body symmetry, cellularity, germ layers, body cavities; locomotion and support; feeding mechanisms, excretion and osmoregulation, circulation and gas exchange; nervous systems and sense organs; hormones and pheromones; reproduction). Animal development and life histories.

Some general aspects of heterotrophic Protista.

The Animal Kingdom: Placozoa, Porifera (Exactinellida, Calcarea, Demospongiae), Cnidaria (Hydrozoa, Scyphozoa, Anthozoa), Ctenophora, Platyhelminthes (Turbellaria, Trematoda, Cestoda), Nemertea, Mollusca (Caudofoveata, Solenogastres, Polyplacophora, Gastropoda, Bivalvia, Scaphopoda, Cephalopoda); Annellida (Polychaeta, Clitellata); Rotifera, Acanthocephala, Gastrotricha, Nematoda, Nematomorpha, Kinorhyncha, Priapula, Loricifera, Onycophora, Tardigrada, Arthropoda (Chelicerata, Myriapoda, Crustacea, Hexapoda); Lophophorata (Phoronida, Brachiopoda, Bryozoa), Echinodermata (Crinoidea, Asteroidea, Ophiuroidea, Echinoidea, Holothuroidea), Hemichordata, Chordata (Tunicata, Cephalochordata, Vertebrata).

Readings/Bibliography

De Bernardi et al. (Idelson-gnocchi) Zoologia, Parte Sistematica/Parte generale

Hickman et al. (Mc Graw Hill) Zoologia (18° edizione)

Pough & Janis (Oxford University Press) Vertebrate Life (10° edizione)

Argano et al. (Monduzzi) Zoologia. Evoluzione e adattamento

Teaching methods

in-person lectures; in-person laboratories

Assessment methods

The oral exam aims at verifying achievement of the following didactic objectives:

- in-depth knowledge of organizational plans and of the structure and function of the apparatuses and systems in the main phyla of the Animalia Kingdom

- in-depth knowledge of the correlation between animal organization and adaptive and evolutionary aspects

- ability to morphologically identify an animal organism at the phylum and class level

The exam on the topics related to the objectives of the course includes:

- the motivated recognition of macro / microscopic preparations of invertebrate animals

- the answer to some general questions in oral form.

The final evaluation, expressed out of thirty, is made up of the arithmetic average of the evaluations obtained in the exam (two parts).

Teaching tools

lecture presentations .pdf; laboratory with illustration of micro- and macroscopic specimen

Office hours

See the website of Marco Musiani