FALL SEMESTER 2001 CRS # M 90734 T 90731; W 90732, Th 90733

GRADING: This laboratory section is worth 30% of your grade in Biol 4434

EXTRA CREDIT SIGN-UP DEADLINE: week of November 5

2 Practical Exams @ 37.5% each = 75%

Field Journal and Summary of field data = 25%

TOTAL = 100%

For Practical Exams, know:

• scientific name of skin to species
• scientific name of skull to genus
• distribution, habitat, diet, and habits of all specimens examined in the lab

Laboratory Rules and Guidelines:

1. All deadlines in schedule will be adhered to. 10% late penalty per day.

2. **Specimen care in Lab: Handle everything gently, always by the body, never by tail or limb. 5% reduction in Lab Practical Grade for handling violation.

3. Please report any damages so they may be repaired. Specimens are not to leave lab.

4. All behavior, honor code and general points in the lecture syllabus apply to lab as well.

Field note format will be outlined before field week ends.

MATERIALS: a lab fee of $5 will be expected in the first lab session (cash or check) If payment by check make it out to the VA Tech Biology Dept

1) Lab: notebook, field guide.

2) Field week ends: notebook, field guide and appropriate field dress (rain gear, long pants and boots) and equipment.

3) Lab fee is used to replace lost items and repair damaged items and is not refundable.

FIELD TRIPS:

Field trip travel will be in the departmental vans and POV's if authorized.
Field trips will be at the UVA Mt Lake Biological Station. We are guests there please be respectful of other groups and activities occurring when we are on the station property

FIELD TRIP TIMES AND DEPARTURE POINTS:

Fridays we will leave the campus at 3pm and return after 6 pm. On the Saturday and Sunday trips we will depart at 07:30am and return by 1pm typically. All trips will depart from the building entrance on the west end of Derring Hall.

HELPFUL HINTS

You will be responsible for identifying mammals based on their skull and/or skin in lab practical examinations. In general, you are expected to be able to recognize a mammal at any taxonomic level, from Kingdom to genus or species, based on either the skull alone or the skin alone.
As you go through the lab material you will find that the skulls of mammals from different orders look very different from each other. After a short while in lab, I doubt that you will have much trouble, for example, telling the skull of an insectivore from that of a carnivore. The skulls of mammals in different orders are very distinctive but learning traits to identify mammals at the familial or generic level gets somewhat more complicated. When you are using the keys, keep in mind that generally you may only need to use one trait in each step of the key. The keys usually provide several distinctive traits at each step. Take some time and organize the information for yourself. Decide which of the traits is easiest for you to remember and to see on the skull. I think that the tooth formula is one of the easiest ways to identify mammals at the generic level. In a lot of cases, the tooth formula is a distinguishing trait by itself. Tooth formulas are expressed as: I 2/1, C 1/1, PM 3/4, M 3/3. This means that the mammal with this tooth formula has:

• 2 incisors in each half of the upper jaw/ 1 incisor in each half of the lower jaw
• 1 canine in each half of the upper jaw and in 1 each half of the lower jaw (i.e. one canine/quadrant)
• 3 premolars in each half of the upper jaw/ 4 premolars in each half of the lower jaw
• 3 molars in each quadrant of the jaw (3 in each upper half, 3 in each lower half)

Back to Biology 4434 Syllabus

Forward to Mammology Course Material

Laboratory Exercise 1

Laboratory Exercise 2

Laboratory Exercise 3

Laboratory Exercise 4

Laboratory Exercise 5

Laboratory Exercise 6