Vertebrate Functional Morphology

Full course description

In this skill you will gain insight into the great diversity in form and function of your own biological lineage, the vertebrates. Since the origin of the vertebrate lineage in an aquatic environment in the earliest Paleozoic, the group has diversified and expanded into all major habitats on Earth. The evolution and development of the skeletal system has played a key role in the successful incursion of the aquatic, terrestrial and aerial realms.  In the laboratory, we will focus on musculoskeletal structure, function, and development to examine disparities, commonalities, and convergences in vertebrate morphology within an evolutionary context. You will gain a broader understanding of vertebrate morphology and function, biomechanics, physiology, development, phylogeny, paleontology, and evolution. You will learn how to examine, contextualize, and interpret vertebrate morphology and function to help assess evolutionary changes in vertebrate life. Using comparative anatomy, we will analyse and evaluate the structure and function of the skeleton in both extant and extinct taxa. With this newfound understanding of the form and function of the skull, teeth, axial skeleton and limbs in different taxa, we will explore how animals adapted their physiology to new ecological conditions.