Animal Diversity - Vertebrates

About this programme

Vertebrates – fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals make up over 65 000 living species distributed globally. This is a course for all biologists. With the evolutionary tree as a backbone, you will examine the evolution and characteristics of vertebrates from fishlike animals 500 million years ago to the present diversity. This is an advanced full-time course dedicated to the diversity and evolution of vertebrates, a.k.a. craniates. It can be taken as a standalone course or as part of the NABIS Master's programme. The course explores vertebrate phylogeny and evolution in depth. It begins with early chordates and incorporates insights from both fossils and living species. A central focus lies on character evolution along the phylogenetic tree. You will follow the diversification of vertebrates — from jawless fish to jawed fish to amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals. By the end of the course, you will feel confident navigating the phylogenetic tree and identifying major vertebrate groups. Animal Diversity — Vertebrates is an on-line only course based on the Canvas platform. E-techs are distributed as texts and PowerPoints covering specific moments. Teachers are present during the regular sessions and presentations by Zoom (lectures, teacher sessions). Students are assigned two compulsory home assignments during the course. Attendance to teacher presentations such as lectures and teacher sessions as well as to home assignment presentations is compulsorily. Examination for the course takes place through a written examination at the end of the course.