Mollusks - Fall 2007

ZOOLOGY SERIES
Invertebrate Diversity with an Emphasis on Mollusks
Professor Daniel L. Graf

This course is co-sponsored by The Academy of Natural Sciences, located at 19th Street and the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Philadelphia. Entrance for the course is on 19th Street.

LECTURES BEGIN AT 6:30 PM

Tuesday, September 25, 2007 - Intro: Vertebrate Bias and Other Animal Problems
The Tree of Life and How to be an Animal: Raw materials, energy, waste, reproduction, getting around, and environment.
Tuesday, October 2, 2007 -Soft-Bodies: Sponges, Jellies, and Other Household Goods
"Primitive" animals like Porifera (sponges), Cnidaria (jellyfish, corals), Platyhelminthes (flatworms), Nematoda (round worms), Annelida (segmented worms), and their allies.
Tuesday, October 9, 2007 -Hard-Bodies: Crabs, Sea Monkeys, and Their Buddies
The Ediacaran fauna, Cambrian Explosion, Echinodermata (starfish, sea urchins, etc.), and Arthropoda (crustaceans, triolobites, and related terrestrial forms)
Tuesday, October 23, 2007 - What it Means to be a Mollusk
Characteristics of the most interesting, most important group of animals to ever inhabit the earth. The Mollusk branch of the Tree of Life and Hypothetical Archetypical Mollusk.
Tuesday, October 30, 2007 - Snails: Yummy, Dangerous, and Interesting
Characteristics, diversity, and practical significance of the major groups of the Gastropoda (snails, slugs, etc).
Tuesday, November 6, 2007 - Bivalves: Life on the Half-Shell
Characteristics, diversity, and practical significance of the major groups of the Bivalvia (clams, mussels, oysters, etc.).
Tuesday, November 13, 2007-Minor Mollusk Groups: Last, Least, and Things that Think
Cephalopods (octopods, squid, cuttlefish, etc.), and the smaller molluscan classes (Aplacophora, Monoplacophora, Polyplacophora, Scaphopoda).

*NOTE: NO CLASS - Tuesday, October 16, 2007

This course requires preregistration and is limited to 15 students.

Preregistration will begin on Tuesday, September 4, 2007.

To preregister, call (215) 763-6529, ext. 23.

This series of lectures will emphasize the biology of mollusks (snails, clams, squid, etc.) by examining them in the context of other invertebrate groups. All animals face the same problems: acquiring food, getting rid of waste, and providing offspring for the next generation. From our own experience as vertebrates, we understand how we do those things. But, what about the other 95% of the Animal Kingdom? The Mollusca and other invertebrates provide an excellent survey of animal diversity and a context for understanding our own biology.