51³ÉÈËÁÔÆæ

Course Description

Summary

The blue whale in the Pacific, the tapeworm lodged in the gut of a fox, and the flour beetle in your cupboard all must eat and grow and reproduce yet they differ enormously in size, longevity, and environment. The particular ways in which each of these animals has solved these problems are different yet there are also underlying similarities in their solutions. Evolutionary theory makes the diversity understandable and physiology reveals the unity of function. In this course, evolutionary theory and physiology converge as we examine whole animal form and function. We will study the remarkable diversity of animals on this planet. We will examine the array of strategies (adaptations) which animals possess that permit them to survive and reproduce in an often unpredictable world.