Biodiversity and Ecology of Vertebrates

6 ECTS credits
155 h study time

Offer 1 with catalog number 1010846BNR for all students in the 2nd semester at a (B) Bachelor - advanced level.

Semester

2nd semester

Enrollment based on exam contract

Impossible

Grading method

Grading (scale from 0 to 20)

Can retake in second session

Yes

Enrollment Requirements

'Biodiversity and Ecology of Vertebrates’ means that you simultaneously follow 'Biology' and 'General Zoology' or have successfully passed 'Biology’ and/or 'General Zoology'. The enrolment requirement is only valid for students in the bachelor biology.

Taught in

Dutch

Faculty

Faculty of Sciences and Bioengineering Sciences

Department

Biology

Educational team

Franky Bossuyt (course titular)

Activities and contact hours

26 contact hours Lecture
26 contact hours Seminar, Exercises or Practicals
26 contact hours Independent or External Form of Study

Course Content

This course reviews the evolutionary origin and relationships of the main vertebrate groups, and gives an overview of their diversity in form, function and behavior. During the classes, we will discuss classification, morphology, phylogenetic relationships and their biogeographical explanation, reproduction, communication (auditory, chemical and visual), enemies and defenses, navigation, adaptive radiations and convergent evolution.

The practical part aims at turning the theoretical knowledge in practical competences. The student will learn field techniques, such as identification of birds, etc.

Course material

Digital course material (Recommended) : Biodiversiteit en ecologie van vertebraten, Prints van Powerpoint presentaties van hoorcollege.

Additional info

not applicable

Learning Outcomes

General competencies

After finishing the course ‘Biodiversiteit en ecologie van vertebraten’, the student is able to recognize and identify the major vertebrate groups. The student has a thorough knowledge of the diversity in form, function and behaviour of vertebrates and understands this in an evolutionary context. During the course and the excursion, the students have acquired insight in the place of species and populations in ecosystems. The examples handled in the course help the students to understand how scientific research plays an important role in the community. After this course, they master the techniques that are necessary to identify animals in nature using a field guide. The students make a (written) scientific report on the excursion and they give a presentation on a vertebrate group, two tasks showing that they can independently look up scientific information, master the concepts taught in the class, can process information in a critical way and communicate in a clear way.

Grading

The final grade is composed based on the following categories:
Oral Exam determines 80% of the final mark.
Practical Exam determines 20% of the final mark.

Within the Oral Exam category, the following assignments need to be completed:

Examen mondeling with a relative weight of 6 which comprises 80% of the final mark.

Note: Mondeling examen met schriftelijke voorbereiding

Within the Practical Exam category, the following assignments need to be completed:

Examen praktijk with a relative weight of 1 which comprises 20% of the final mark.

Note: WPO verslagen en bevragingen

Additional info regarding evaluation

The mode of assessment will be based on two parts:

1) An oral exam with written preparation (80%), testing both theoretical and practical knowledge.
2) A practical exam (20%), consisting of an oral presentation (10%), and a score for the excursion (10%, for active collaboration, the quality of the 'expert exercise' and the scientific report of the excursion).

The student needs to pass both parts.

Allowed unsatisfactory mark

The supplementary Teaching and Examination Regulations of your faculty stipulate whether an allowed unsatisfactory mark for this programme unit is permitted.

Academic context