Course Overview

Students will learn the methodology to understand the diversity of multicellular animals from the viewpoint of evolutionary biology. In particular, learn in detail the origin of the metazoans, the evolution of the diploblasts, mollusks, echinoderms, and chordates, and learn how to reconstruct the evolutionary history by comparing modern animals.

Learning Achievement

Understand the concept of maximum parsimony to reconstruct evolutionary history
Understand the evolutionary origin of metazoans
Understand the evolution of mollusc bodyplan
Understand the evolution of echinoderm bodyplan
Understand the evolution of chordate bodyplan

Competence

Students will learn the methodology to understand the diversity of multicellular animals from the viewpoint of evolutionary biology. In particular, learn in detail the origin of the metazoans, the evolution of the diploblasts, mollusks, echinoderms, and chordates, and learn how to reconstruct the evolutionary history by comparing modern animals.

Course prerequisites

Grading Philosophy

Course schedule

Phylogeny and Classification
Reconstruction of Character evolution from parsimony principle
Reconstruction of Character evolution from parsimony principle. Practice
Limitation of parsimony principle from the example of Caprella
Evolutionary origin of metazoans
Evolution of molluscan bodyplan
Evolution of Echinoderms
Evolutionary origin of chordate bodypaln and hemichordates
Diversity of the chordates
Evolutionary origin of the vertebrates, and agnathans

Course type

Lectures

Online Course Requirement

Instructor

Other information

Site for Inquiry