An Introduction to the Study of Mammals

Spring 2008

This syllabus last revised on 29 January 2008.

This syllabus reflects the course as I tentatively plan to teach it in the spring of 2008. I take care in preparing my syllabi. If you discover problems with this one, or if you have comments and/or suggestions, please contact me. abercrombiecl@wofford.edu

Please note: PowerPoint presentations will be linked to many of the day-assignments listed below. As I write this (28 January 2008), some of the links remain inactive, but I’ll get ‘em all going as the semester progresses. I trust, also, that we can make the computer equipment in our room function properly.

What? This course is sheltered under the great umbrella of evolutionary biology. Its focus is the study of anatomical, physiological, behavioral, and demographic adaptations that make mammals important ecological actors in a variety of natural systems. Topics may include (a) evolutionary origins of living mammals, (b) an Order-by-Order review of the Class, with particular emphasis on taxonomic relationships among mammal types, (c) the historical and ecological biogeography of mammals, and (d) a review of contemporary problems of mammal conservation.

Why and how? Students will be expected to learn the basic constituents of the Mammalia and the principles of taxonomy under which the Class is organized. They will understand the meanings of clade and grade. They will be able to place approximately 20 Classical mammalian Orders in evolutionary and ecological context. The instructional format will be largely lecture-discussion and student-centered learning groups.

I am delighted that you are taking this course because I really wanted the chance to teach mammalogy again at Wofford—and because I know you can help me learn more about the subject. Throughout the semester my classroom strategy, from which I shall often deviate, will be to lecture at each class meeting about one Order of mammals. After a general introduction to the Order of the day, I shall talk about a selection of representative, living species. Because of logistical difficulties, our course will not have a formal laboratory, but on some days we may use a class period as if it were a lab.

READINGS: Mammalogy books are too expensive, so I have written my own. It is definitely not the best text available, but it has improved over the years. Furthermore, my text is unarguably the cheapest, and you should get your free copy of the CD during our first class meeting. All formal reading assignments are from this book. The CD was prepared in IBM format, and the book’s chapters are organized as separate files in Microsoft Word. Because I have included many pictures in the text, some chapters may be a bit slow to load. Just click and wait….

Whenever you have time and inclination, you should also read other works about mammals. Our library has quite a few good books. I have other books in my office, and I’ll be delighted to lend them out. I also have multi-year runs of The Journal of Mammalogy and The Journal of Mammalian Evolution. Four works particularly worthy of your examination are (1) Nowak’s 6^th edition of Walker’s Mammals of the World, (2) Mammalogy by Vaughan et al., and (3) Macdonald’s Encyclopedia of Mammals.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS AND EVALUATION:

1. We will have one test and a comprehensive final examination.

2. You will be required to complete an informal, off-campus exercise—and to give me a written report (preferably about one typed page) on this exercise not later than the day of our final examination. Here are some possibilities. On some afternoon a bunch of us could go together to the Riverbanks Zoo in Columbia. You could visit (alone or in groups) another zoo and bring me back a list of exhibited mammals. You could conduct a mark-recapture trapping study on Camp Croft. You could do a census of mammalian roadkills in some part of South Carolina (preparation for curry over rice is encouraged but optional). Many other options exist. You will not receive a letter-grade for this work. It is what we might call a do-it-and-check-it-off requirement.

3. You will select one article from The Journal of Mammalogy, prepare a one-page written summary (of why the article was worth your time), and deliver a 5-minute article synopsis at the end of a class. This is another check-off requirement.

4. You will be required to form a team of 2-3 students and rework one chapter in my textbook. (For this you will receive a letter grade. And, yes, I’ll give you written credit for your efforts in my next CD edition.) Here are some of the things I want you to do. (1) Print out a copy of my chapter; correct spelling, etc., if you find problems. (2) Delete my species-example that you found least appropriate, least interesting, or least well-done. (3) Replace this species-example with one that you like and do better. You should find, on the Web, non-copyrighted photographs of your example species. (Or e-mail the copyright holder and request permission for non-commercial use. Or you might beg for photographs from me or from other Wofford people.) Alternatively, you can visit a zoo and take a few digital shots—and also count this as your off-campus exercise. (4) Improve sketches and diagrams (if any), and present your improvements in machine-readable form. (5) Present a brief, annotated list of web sites relevant to the chapter topic. (6) Prepare a chapter appendix that gives English meanings for all (or as many as possible) scientific names occurring in the chapter. (7) Make an appointment, soon, for your team to discuss with me (before the end of March) the progress you are making on this project. I can help with all these things. Here’s the basic idea. Each team will rewrite one of my chapters. Your final report is due not later than the day of our final examination.

TENTATIVE CLASS SCHEDULE. Please keep checking back for updates.

Tuesday, 5 February. What is the course about? Before or shortly after this class you should scan my (rather personal) Preface to the CD-text.

Thursday, 7 February. What is the scientific system of naming mammals? This part of the lecture will be a boring but necessary vocabulary lesson. For most of you, it will also be review.

What do scientists mean by the term evolution? Since most of you are biology majors, this too should be mostly review. Please read the chapter on Classification and Evolution.

Tuesday, 12 February. What are some salient biological and ecological characteristics of mammals? Although you should definitely read my chapter on Thermoregulation and Class Characteristics, my plan for class is to approach the subject from a very different point of view.

Thursday, 14 February. What were early mammals like? How did they fit into the Mesozoic world? Read the chapter on Ancient Mammals. Note: I would like for you to tell me at this meeting what article you will review from The Journal of Mammalogy.

(At this point we begin our Order-by-Order review of mammals.)

Tuesday, 19 February. Chapter 03, Monotremes and Marsupials. What are these mammals like? How do biologists explain their geographical distribution? Oh, I hope this will be a working link to the Monotremes & Marsupials .

Thursday, 21 February. Chapter 04, The Insectivora. These are some of the less-known placental mammals, and perhaps they are among the most primitive. Recently this group has been split into several Orders. What general biological lessons can we learn from the study of this group? Maybe this is a link to an under-revision version of the Insectivore PowerPoint. Give it a click and hope for the best.

Tuesday, 26 February. Chapter 05, The Xenarthra. These are sloths, armadillos, and anteaters, the particularly weird mammals of South America. (I also include an aside on pangolins, which are Old World mammals.) Think in general terms about how mammals can meet their energetic needs by eating weird/difficult foods. I’ll try to add a link to Xenarthrans here.

Thursday, 28 February. Chapter 06, Elephants. This Order has few living representatives, but its fossil history is fascinating, and the extant species offer difficult challenges to conservation biologists. What things are very special about large mammals? How can a study of elephant-human interactions help us learn to deal with broader conservation issues? Here is, I think, a prelim. draft of the Elephants PowerPoint.

Tuesday, 4 March. Chapter 07, The Artiodactyla. These are the hoofed animals with an even number of weight-supporting toes on each foot. Included are pigs, hippos, peccaries, camels, mouse deer, musk deer, regular old deer, pronghorns, and bovids (sheep, goats, cows, antelopes…). This is one of my favorite mammalian Orders—in part because I like to think about co-evolution of organisms. By this time I’d like to learn what your off-campus project might be. Now, here’s the link to the unrevised PowerPoint on the Artiodactyla. (Incidentally, if you believe that I’ll have artiodactyls completed much before class on Tuesday, you have more confidence in me than I do!)

Thursday, 6 March. Chapter 07, The Artiodactyla (again).

Tuesday, 11 March. Catch-up day.

Thursday, 13 March. All-Period Test.

Tuesday, 18 March. Chapter 08, The Perissodactyla. This group includes horses (plus asses and zebras), tapirs, and rhinos. Most mammalogists make mental comparisons between artiodactyls and perissodactyls.

Thursday, 20 March. Chapter 09, The Carnivora. This Order includes seals, etc. (the Pinnipedia) as well as lions, and tigers, and bears…. Here’s a carnivore-related question for you: These animals find it very easy to learn to kill—so how do some species also learn to live together in groups? (The African hunting dog provides the most extreme example of one answer.)

Tuesday, 25 March. Chapter 09, The Carnivora, again. I also think that I’ll be sticking with the carnivores through Thursday.

Thursday, 27 March. Perhaps we can consider the Carnivora one more time.

Spring holidays begin on Friday, 28 March, and continue until Monday morning, 7 April.

Tuesday, 8 April. Chapter 10, This day I’ll begin discussing the Primates, and at some point I’ll link a new PPT draft to that Order’s name.

Thursday 10 April. I’m sure I’ll still be talking about the Primates on this Thursday. (Remember, Friday, 11 April, is the last day for dropping classes with a grade of WP.)

Tuesday, 15 April. I planned to talk about Chapter 12, The Rodents. However, at least for this class I’ll be considering the bats. (Remember, Friday, 11 April, is the last day for dropping classes with a grade of WP.) Anyhow, I’m still working. I’ll try my best to prepare something on rodents by Thursday, but for today, why don’t we

Thursday, 17 April. Today I’ll make the attempt to deal with bats, which are linked (I hope) to the blue word.

Tuesday, 22 April. Chapter 13. Others. I haven’t finalized my focus for today, but anyhow, here’s a link to the miscellaneous-Orders PowerPoint.

(Note: In previous years I have planned to begin discussing general topics in conservation biology at this point. However, I’ve always gotten behind and been forced to continue a review of mammalian Orders. Perhaps this semester will be different. At any rate, I shall list some tentative topics below.)

Thursday, 24 April. Wildlife demography. I don’t much like this chapter in my CD, but I feel under some obligation to discuss a few principles of population biology.

Tuesday, 29 April and Thursday, 1 May. I’ll try to reserve these classes for discussion of chapter-rewrite projects.

Tuesday, 6 May. Chapter 19, Wildlife modeling.

Thursday, 8 May. I’ll hold this class open for topics of opportunity.