BIO2016S - Invertebrate Diversity & Functional Biology

Course Outline:

The course exposes students to the diversity of invertebrates and their functional biologies. Topics will be presented within an evolutionary framework to emphasise past and contemporary selective pressures driving diversification. Students will be exposed to key topics in functional biology across the major invertebrate groups and will include cellular to organism level processes. The course begins with an introduction to the evolution of the invertebrates and the major phyla. This leads to an exploration of invertebrate functional biology, with an emphasis on key adaptations across the aquatic–terrestrial gradient. Lectures, practicals and field trips will expose students to contemporary philosophical, methodological and conceptual approaches used in the field of invertebrate functional biology and diversity.