This course is a phylogenetic survey of vertebrate diversity, form, and function.
Tuesday, Thursday 12:30-1:45 PM in BSP 131
Pough, F.H., C.M. Janis, and J.B. Heiser. 2004. Vertebrate Life, 7th edition. Prentice Hall
The publisher has created a website for the 6th edition of this textbook. The website is mostly useful for the linked resources it contains. The links are organized by chapters in the 6th edition, which do not necessarily correspond to the chapter titles in the 7th edition. To visit this website, click here. (Link Disabled)
Dr. John Cooley
Office: Biology/Pharmacy 500A
Phone: 486-6650
E-mail: ----
Office hours: TBA
| Exam | Points |
| Exam I | 100 |
| Exam II | 100 |
| Exam III | 100 |
| Exam IV | 75 |
| Final Exam | 125 |
| Total | 500 |
There are three one-hour, non-cumulative exams scheduled during the lecture hour. During the final exam period, two exams will be distributed—a non-cumulative exam covering the final portion of the course, and a cumulative final exam covering the entire course. Exam questions will include essay and short answer formats. The course will involve 500 points total, and you can roughly estimate that about 20 points will be allocated to each lecture. Grades will be assigned according to the following scale:
| Letter Grade | Lower bound % | Upper bound % |
| F | 0 | 59 |
| D- | 60 | 62 |
| D | 63 | 66 |
| D+ | 67 | 69 |
| C- | 70 | 72 |
| C | 73 | 76 |
| C+ | 77 | 79 |
| B- | 80 | 82 |
| B | 83 | 86 |
| B+ | 87 | 89 |
| A- | 90 | 92 |
| A | 93 |
Make-up exams will be given only in exceptional circumstances. The instructor must be notified in advance and presented with a valid written excuse to consider any request for a make-up. Any student who does not attend an exam and fails to receive permission in advance to take a make-up exam will receive no credit for the exam.
Plagiarism and cheating are violations of the student conduct code, and may be punished by failure in the course or, in severe cases, even dismissal from the University. For more information, see Section VI of the Student Conduct Code available under judicial affairs at the Dean of Students website: http://www.dosa.uconn.edu/.