Syllabus
Vertebrate ethology and ecology 1. Vetrebrate body and its environmental adaptation 1.1.
Volume and shape correlation 1.2. Surface and volume correlation, Bergman rule and Dehnel effect 1.3.
Allometry, heterochrony and neotheny 1.4. Biomechanics of the movements,physical effects on surface and rules of gravitation 2. Water adaptation 2.1.
Adaptation for low temperature of water , winter season;ice; energy expenditures 2.2. Adaptation for high temperature of water in Cetaceans 2.3.
Adaptation for survival in saline water;excretory adaptation and metabolism of salt. 3. Terrestrial adaptation for high temperatures 3.1.
Thermoregulation in dogs, antelops,camels and small mammals 3.2. Low tepmerature adaptation in mammals and birds in winter season ; hibernation 3.3.
Water regime and water expenditure in mammals living in dry biotops 4. Light adaptation 5. Burrowing adaptation in mammals (birds) 6. Arboreal adaptation; body design adaptation 7. Control of bird migration;hypotheses and theories of bird migration mechanism 8. Adaptation for bird flight; flying mammals; extinct vertebrates
Annotation
The Ethology and Ethology is a scientific study of animal behaviour. The course curriculum is focused on the history of the methods in ethology and on the assessment from the evolutional point of view on its fixed and learned behaviour patterns.
Further the ethology deals with principles and ways of the learning and mating, reproductive and parental care behaviour and intraspecific and interspecific communications. The teaching aids: specialized literature, internet links, power-point, video programs: Evaluation, examination,seminar work, colloquial assessssment; 100% attendance required