Mammalogy

Mammalogy is, as it sounds, the study of mammals. In this class, we will study mammalian behavior, ecology, evolutionary history, taxonomy, distribution, morphology, and other topics. Our focus will be mammals of North America, though we will also cover some mammals from other regions of the world. By the end of the semester, you will be familiar with and will have learned to identify most of the mammals that occur in the northeastern United States. You will have live-trapped and handled a variety of wild mammals and will have learned a suite of skills associated with studying mammals in the field. In addition, you will explore modern methods for determining the evolutionary relationships among mammals. Because some mammals are marine (whales, dolphins, seals, etc.) we will also make a trip to Cape Cod early in the semester to study marine Mammalogy. By the end of this course, you will have had a solid introduction to the taxonomic group we know as Class Mammalia. Pre-requisites: Biology 101 and Biology 102. You must also register for the lab section. Mammalogy counts as an organismal diversity course (animal) for the Conservation Biology major.