Courses

424/524. Comparative Animal Physiology                       

Lecture 3 hours; laboratory 4 hours; 5 credits.

Prerequisites: BIOL 115N, 116N.

An introduction to the basic mechanisms by which different animals function. How organisms acquire and use energy, regulate their internal environment, circulate and exchange gases and wastes, receive and conduct information about their environment, and move and use muscles will be some of the topics covered. Emphasis will be place on how organisms make changes in these basic mechanisms to deal with differing environmental conditions.

428/528. Physiological Ecology of Animals.

Lecture 3 hours; 3 credits.

Prerequisite: BIOL 115N and 116N.

An integrative approach to understanding how animals function in and respond to their natural environment. Adaptations by a variety of invertebrate and vertebrates to marine, coastal/estuarine, freshwater, terrestrial, and parasitic environments will be covered. responses of intertidal organisms to periodic aerial and aquatic exposure, osmotic stress on crustaceans in brackish waters, sensory adaptations in freshwater fish, thermal regulation by reptiles in desert climates, and respiratory adaptation by parasites

are among the topics that will be discussed.

446/546. Comparative Biomechanics.

Lecture 3 hours; 3 credits.

Prerequisites: BIOL 115N, 116N.

Recommended courses: PHYS 111N, 112N.

The principles of fluid and solid mechanics will be applied to a variety of plant and animal systems to understand how organisms deal with the immediate physical world and its accompanying constraints. A diverse range of topics will be covered, including aerial flight in insects, wind resistance in trees, jet propulsion in squid, flow within blood vessels, forces on intertidal organisms, viscoelasticity in biological materials, and energy storage during terrestrial movement.