BIO4240 – Evolution and Systematics of Organismal Groups: The Animal Kingdom
Course description
Course content
The animal kingdom provides by far the largest proportion to Earth's biodiversity and they have occupied all habitats on Earth including other organisms. In this subject we will present the recent knowledge across different animal groups concerning the evolution of their diversity and adaptive solutions to similar ecological challenges in different groups. The evolution of these traits will be set in relation to the recent understanding of the animal phylogeny, and taxonomy. In this subject special emphasis will be put on groups, which are requested by the participating students, as well as on collection-based work as it is conducted at a Natural History Museum. Hence, the subject will also comprise classes about career opportunities like as collection management or exhibition development.
Learning outcome
At the end of the subject:
- You will have gained knowledge about different animal groups and their body plans.
- You will have gotten insight into the evolution and classification of animals as well as modern research methods and important fields for research.
- You will have learned to how to identify a board diversity of animals and to work with collection material.
- You will know about both academic and non-academic career opportunities in this study area.
- You will have learnt how to present scientific knowledge, to write scientific papers like species descriptions and research papers.
- You will have developed competence in critical analyses and scientific thinking through the different forms of discussions, which are part of the teaching outline.
Admission
Students admitted at UiO must apply for courses in Studentweb. Students enrolled in other Master's Degree Programmes can, on application, be admitted to the course if this is cleared by their own study programme.
Nordic citizens and applicants residing in the Nordic countries may apply to take this course as a single course student.
If you are not already enrolled as a student at UiO, please see our information about admission requirements and procedures for international applicants.
Applicants are ranked by the following criteria:
1. Master students at the MN faculty who have the course as part of the approved curriculum.
2. Students with admission to single courses on master’s level and exchange students
3. Applicants are ranked by credits in each group; all applicants within 1st rank before applicants in 2nd etc. If admission is limited to a fixed number of participants, admission will be decided by drawing lots for students who are ranked equally