Unit name | Sensory Ecology |
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Unit code | BIOL31132 |
Credit points | 10 |
Level of study | H/6 |
Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 4 (weeks 1-24) |
Unit director | Professor. Roberts |
Open unit status | Not open |
Pre-requisites |
None, but we recommend that students should have taken BIOL11000 or BIOL12000 or equivalent. Some interest in biophysics is of advantage. |
Co-requisites |
None |
School/department | School of Biological Sciences |
Faculty | Faculty of Life Sciences |
Aims: This unit will provide instruction on the physiology, neurophysiology, biophysics, ecology and evolution of sensory systems in animals.
Description: Emphasis will be given to: 1) developing a solid appreciation of the concepts of physical and sensory ecologies; 2) understanding the information available to animals via different sensory modalities; 3) understanding physiological, biomechanical and biomolecular mechanisms underpinning sensory mechanisms; and 4) the evolutionary adaptation of sense organs to particular ecological niches and behavioral strategies. The course will consider both vertebrates and invertebrates, in both terrestrial and aquatic habitats. Topics will cover the sensory modalities of vision, and audition primarily, but will also explore infrared reception, thermoreception, olfaction, mechanoreception, magnetoreception.
Lectures, directed reading, research and/or problem-solving activities; and independent study.
Summative written assessment, with one essay question to be selected from a choice of two.
Most of the lecture material for the specific subjects considered in the Unit is taken from research papers and is not covered in any one text book. For each lecture, you will receive a recently updated reading list, and instructions on how to use this literature. Most lectures are supported by lecture notes and formative self-assessment documents. These, and PowerPoint slides from lectures, are made available via BlackBoard after lectures.
As background to this Unit, you will find a range of general textbooks in the library. Amongst these, you will find a good coverage of basic information in sensory ecology, sensory systems and behaviour.
Key textbooks are Bradbury and Vehrencamp: Principles of animal communication, and Dusenbery: Sensory ecology.