Bio 4952                                                                                                                                     Spring 2007

Herpetology

 

Professor:  Stephen Mullin                                                                      Internet:  <sjmullin@eiu.edu>

Office:  ls1114; tel:  217.581.6234                                  Mailbox in departmental office (ls2070)

Office Hours:  Mon. and Wedn. 1200-1330 h; or, by appointment.

 

Synopsis – This course is designed as a survey of the amphibian and reptilian classes, with emphasis on the extant herpetofauna of "Midwest" region of the North America.  Material presented in lecture will be supplemented with laboratory examinations of preserved specimens and field trips to regional sites for surveying available taxa.  Evolutionary relationships among the taxonomic groups within the major clades will be emphasized throughout the semester.

 

Prerequisites – Prior to taking this course, you should either (a) be a graduate student in the biological sciences program; or, (b) have successfully completed either Bio 3950 or 3800.  Concurrent enrollment in the laboratory section is required.

Note, that there is a course fee of $50¡¡ that will appear on your tuition bill (i.e., you do not pay me or the dept. directly).  This fee is assessed to all students to partially defray expenses associated with laboratory supplies and field trips.

Lecture outlines are available here.

 

Required Materials – lecture:

Pough, F.H., R.M. Andrews, J.E. Cadle, M.L. Crump, A.H. Savitzky, & K.D. Wells.  2004.  Herpetology, 3rd ed.  Prentice-Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ.

Course Reader (available from BSGSA during 1st week of classes).

– lab/field: ¥ your choice of a field guide to reptiles and amphibians of Eastern North America

                                         ¥ hiking gear (water bottle, flash-light, boots, etc.)

Optional Materials – lab/field:

á     Magnifying lens (4- to 10-x, hand-held)

á     Herpin' gear (tongs, hook, bags, etc.)

á     Phillips, C.A., R.A. Brandon, and E.O. Moll.  1999.  Field Guide to Amphibians and Reptiles of Illinois.  Illinois Natural History Survey, Champaign, IL.

 

Reserve Materials – Several resources are available to help you with information presented throughout the course – Booth Library has a fair amount of material, but I also plenty of resources that you can check out from me for periods throughout the semester.  These include textbooks, field guides, edited volumes, and plenty of peer-reviewed literature.

 

 

Attendance – Lecture

á        With the exception of school holidays, the class will meet from 1500-1550 h on Mon. & Wedn., and from 1400-1650 h on Tues.; please avoid the embarrassment of arriving late.

á        I would like to discourage distractions during our meeting times.  Therefore, any student will be penalized ten (10) points if their pager/cellular telephone/alarm emits any audible noise during any class meeting.

– Laboratory

á        Attendance is mandatory for the lab sections: more than two unexcused absences on Tuesdays during the term will result in your receiving a failing ("F") grade for the entire course.  If you expect to miss a particular class meeting, please see me in advance of that week to determine if alternate arrangements are possible.

á        Several of the lab periods will be used for field trips – please dress appropriately for field exercises (rain or shine).  On field trip days, you should not necessarily expect to be back on campus at the conclusion of the class period.  Also, an extended field trip to southern Illinois will occur during the 3rd week of April.  You should make arrangements NOW with the professors of your other courses (and your family) to deal with any material missed during that period.  Please see me ASAP if you feel that this field trip will not be worth your time.

 

Semester Project

  Students will each be required to give a presentation to the rest of the class that summarizes a piece of research reported in the primary literature.  Topics will be assigned on the basis of subject material that I will not have time to cover during the rest of the term.  Each presentation (60 points) will simulate the setting at a professional meeting where you are defending the research of the paper's authors.  At a different time, each of you will also evaluate the presentation given by someone else in the class – you will provide a written review (15 points) that suggests improvements for your peer's presentation content.  For both presentation sessions, your peers will ask you to justify your results (participation required; 10 points).

 

Grading – Spelling counts!  One point will be deducted from your exam total for every five spelling (&/or grammar/context/syntax/punctuation) errors on any of your written work for this course.

If you miss an exam, it is your responsibility to contact me before the next class meeting – failure to do so will result in a zero grade for that exam.  Written make-up exams are not necessarily an option – if you miss an exam with an excused absence, the make-up will be administered as soon as is mutually convenient and will be comprised of oral responses to my questions.

 

Exams – Lecture

 Unless otherwise noted, lecture exam format will generally consist of short answer and essay questions.  There will be 2 exams given over the course of the semester, plus a final exam.  Each midterm is worth 100 points and covers only the portions of the course immediately prior to their test date (i.e., they are not comprehensive).  The final exam is worth 160 points and is comprehensive, including questions concerning material presented throughout the semester and the term project presentations.

– Laboratory

  There will be 3 practical exams given over the course of the semester during lab period, each worth 60 points – none of these exams will be comprehensive (each covering only material directly preceding the exam date).  Laboratory practical exams will test your ability to correctly identify and classify different herpetofauna, and understand their natural history.  Practicals are timed exams, and there are NO make-up practicals for any reason.

Course component                                                                         Value

Lecture exams (2 @ 100 points each)                                        200 points

Laboratory practicals (3 @ 60 points each)                             180

Lecture final exam                                                                           160

Project presentation & review                                                      75

Participation & Miscellaneous                                                      35

TOTAL                                                                                               650 points

Thus, your awarded grade for the class will be determined on a 650-point scale.  I will follow the standard 10-%age point scale (90-100 % = 'A', 80-89 % = 'B', etc.).

 

 

Academic Integrity – I expect that you will never passively or actively cheat on any of my exams, or those administered by your other professors.  Any documented incidence of cheating or plagiarism will result in notifications to Judicial Affairs and the Dean's Office, and an "F" grade in the entire course.  Please feel free to speak with me, or consult your Student Handbook, if you have any questions concerning this matter.

 

Further Assistance with course material -- If you suddenly find yourself with a question that is burning a hole in your brain, and cannot reach me, there are several ways of obtaining the answer.

In addition to the materials on reserve, here are some examples:

1.     The authors of your text have thoughtfully provided a variety of resources for you to follow up on presented material.  The citations are listed at the end of the text.

2.     I'd like to encourage you to listen in lecture, not just show up and scribble furiously – so, check out my lecture outlines posted on the course web-site: <http://www.ux1.eiu.edu/~sjmullin/>

3.     Help each other – get to know your fellow students!  Active learning through testing each other on the material is one of the most effective ways of learning where your weaknesses lie with the subject matter.

4.     Seek help at the Learning Assistance Center (x6696) or the Counseling Center (x3413) to obtain help with studying for this class.  Also, as a service to EIU students, the Academic Success Center provides a list of individual tutors via the web page <www.eiu.edu/~success>

5.     There are a plethora of sites on the world wide web related to herpetology; a good place to start might be the following website: <http://herpetology.com/>

 

 

Disabled Students should contact the Office of Disability Services (9th St.Hall 2002; x6583) for any arrangements that need to be made in order to ensure that you get the most out of this course.  Within reason, I am willing to make whatever accommodations are necessary to facilitate your learning of this material.  Please note, however, that this is a field-oriented course that can be physically-demanding at times.

 

 

 

Handling Vertebrate Animals:  The Institutional Animal Care & Use Committee mandates that all individuals who work with vertebrates in the process of completing research or their coursework be appropriately trained.  During this course, you will receive instruction concerning the safe and ethical use of animals.  You will be asked to review federal guidelines describing animal care and complete a release stating that you understand these guidelines.  Furthermore, you will be asked to complete a disclaimer stating that you will not participate in any activity that disrupts this class because of its use of vertebrate animals.

 

 

 

Assignment #1 (5 participation points; due 12 Jan. by 1630 h)

Send me an internet message containing the following items (un-numbered), each on a new line of text:

á        your name as you wish to be addressed

á        your SSN#

á        a version of the following statement:

"Yes/No you may/may not post my grade by special code."

[If "yes," then provide 6-digit code on a new line of text -- you may use any sequence of numbers or letters.].

á        your phone #

á        a version of the following statement:

"Yes/No you may/may not release my phone number to the rest of the class."

á        your class standing, and

á        your major

Bio 4952 – Mullin                                                                                                                  Spring 2007

Herpetology

                                                                      Lecture Schedule       

Week             Topic                                                                                                                         Readings

     1                  Introduction; History of herpetology as a science                                                 Ch. 1

                         Geological history of amphibians                                                                                Ch.2

 

     2                  Amphibian functional morphology & physiology                                              Ch. 10

 

     3                  Amphibian physiology and energetics                                                              Ch. 6 & 7

 

     4                  Extant amphibian taxonomy & life history characteristics                      Ch. 3 & 12

 

     5                  Amphibian taxonomy & life history, cont'd.                                            Ch. 11 & 13

 

     6                  Amphibian behavior & reproductive strategies                                           Ch. 8 & 14

 

     7                  Amphibian biogeography & population ecology                                        Ch. 5 & 15

                         1st midterm exam                                                                                                                   

 

     8                  Geological history of reptiles                                                                                      Ch. 2

                         Reptilian functional morphology & physiology                                                  Ch. 10

 

     9                  Reptilian physiology and energetics                                                                  Ch. 6 & 7

 

SPRING BREAK

   10                 Extant reptilian taxonomy & life history characteristics                          Ch. 4 & 12

 

   11                 Reptilian taxonomy & life history, cont'd.                                                Ch. 11 & 13

 

   12                 Reptilian behavior & reproductive strategies                                               Ch. 9 & 14

 

   13                 Reptilian biogeography & population ecology                                            Ch. 5 & 15

 

   14                 2nd midterm exam

                         Extended field trip to Southern Illinois

 

15                          Conservation biology of herpetofauna                                                                    Ch. 17

                      Course review

 

Final Exam is on Thursday, 3 May, at 1445 h.

                                                                                                                                                                               

 

Bio 4952 – Mullin                                                                                                                  Spring 2007

Herpetology

                                                           Field/Laboratory Schedule        

Date(s)                 Subject matter

9 Jan.                   Introduction; discussion of term projects & extended field trip/herpin' gear

16 Jan.                 Urodela

23 Jan.                 Anura & Gymnophiona

30 Jan.                 Lab practical #1

6 Feb.                  Testudines

13 Feb.                Lacertilia

20 Feb.                Lab practical #2

27 Feb.                Student paper presentations – grad. students and super-seniors

6 Mar.                  Student paper presentations – other students

 

13 Mar.               SPRING BREAK

20 Mar.               Serpentes

27 Mar.               Crocodylia, Rhynchocephalia, & Amphisbaenia

3 Apr.                  Lab practical #3

10 Apr.                Field trip

17 Apr.                Field trip plus(!) Extended field trip to southern Illinois

24 Apr.                Field trip

 

                                                                                                                                                         

 

Lab practicals will start at 1500 h on days when they are scheduled.

Feel free to contact me at your convenience (217.581.6234 or <sjmullin@eiu.edu>).

Enjoy the course!