Unit COMPARATIVE ANATOMY
- Course
- Biological sciences
- Study-unit Code
- 55002508
- Curriculum
- In all curricula
- Teacher
- Ines Di Rosa
- Teachers
-
- Ines Di Rosa
- Hours
- 56 ore - Ines Di Rosa
- CFU
- 8
- Course Regulation
- Coorte 2016
- Offered
- 2017/18
- Learning activities
- Caratterizzante
- Area
- Discipline botaniche, zoologiche, ecologiche
- Academic discipline
- BIO/06
- Type of study-unit
- Obbligatorio (Required)
- Type of learning activities
- Attività formativa monodisciplinare
- Language of instruction
- Italian
- Contents
- Embryogenesis, origin, phylogenesis and systematics of vertebrates. The comparative study of Vertebrate features respect to 1) the body protection and support: the integumentary and the skeletal systems; 2) the metabolism processes: the digestive system and the feeding, the respiratory system, the cardiovascular system, the escretory system; 3) the integration systems: the sensorial system and the nervous system.
- Reference texts
- STINGO V. - ANATOMIA COMPARATA - edi-ermes
- Educational objectives
- The course is aimed to provides the anatomical, functional and molecular groundings to understand the biology and evolution of vertebrates.
The main knowledge acquired will be:
- main phases of vertebrate embryology and protected environments where they occur;
- overview of vertebrate evolutionary history, describing the main anatomical characteristics of vertebrate taxa;
- similarities and differences in the body structures of different vertebrates.
The main competence will be:
- ability to understand how the embryogenesis lays the foundations of the body structure of adult organisms;
- ability to understand the role of morphofunctional variations in evolution of the vertebrate animals;
- ability to understand the relationship between form and function and between form and evolution of vertebrates. - Prerequisites
- In order to be able to understand the topics of the program, students must have acquired basic knowledge of Cytology, Histology and Zoology.
- Teaching methods
- The course is organized in lectures on the topics listed in the program.
- Learning verification modality
- The exam includes an oral test consisting of an interview of about 45 minutes long aiming to ascertain student knowledge level and acquired understanding capability about the topics discussed during the course. The oral exam is also intended to test the student synthesis capability and propriety of language.
- Extended program
- Basics of Comparative Anatomy: form, function, evolution. Characteristics of chordates. Origin, phylogenesis and systematics of vertebrates.
Comparative Embryology of vertebrates.
The integumentary system: general organization, embryological derivation, the epidermis-dermis interactions, the epidermis and its derivatives, the dermis and its derivatives, the receptor organs, the pigment cells.
The skeletal system: the skeletal tissues, direct and indirect ossification.
a) The axial skeleton. The skull ontogenesis and organization. The relationships and evolution of neurocranium, splanchnocranium and dermatocranium. The notochord. The vertebral column ontogenesis and evolution. The vertebral column regionalization of aquatic and terrestrial vertebrates. The sternum and the ribs.
b) The appendicular skeleton. The shoulder girdle and the pelvic girdle. The fish paired fins. The phylogenesis and structure of the tetrapod limb.
The respiratory system: ontogenesis of the organs and the airways. The structure and functional characteristics of the vertebrate gills and lungs. The phylogenetic relationships between the swimming bladder and the lungs.
The circulatory system: the single and the double circulations. The hemopoiesis: blood; the structure of the vertebrate lymphoid and mieloid organs. Morphogenesis, structure and evolution of the heart and the aortic arches. The lymphatic system.
The digestive system ontogenesis. The oral cavity and the mechanisms for feeding. The phylogenesis, microscopic anatomy and function of the digestive organs .
The escretory system: the phylogenesis and function of the renal corpuscle. The ontogenesis, structure and evolution of the pronephros, mesonephros and metanephros. The osmoregulation.
The nervous system: the ontogenesis and organization of the central nervous system and the peripheral nervous system. The structure, connections and function of the vertebrate central nervous system organs. The peripheral nervous system: the cranial and spinal nerve. The autonomic nervous system.
The sense organs: the olfactory organs, the taste buds, the acoustico-lateralis organs, the photoreceptor organs.