COMPARATIVE ANIMAL ANATOMY

The course will focus on the anatomy of selected organs in representative species among vertebrates.
One part of the course will review the principals of the comparative anatomy and the evolutionary relationships among vertebrates. In the remainder of the course, the structure of organs and their organization will be interpreted in terms of their embryological development, morphological adaptations (in big cats, elephants, giraffes, and cetaceans). The course presents the microscopic and gross anatomy of selected carnivores, herbivores, lagomorphs (rabbit), rodents (rat, mouse), fishes (zebrafish), birds, reptiles, utilizing laboratory applications as a basis for anatomical understanding. Other disciplines such as embryology and histology will also be included when they assist in comprehending anatomical structures.
Lectures and laboratories will be included as part of the course. The laboratory part will require the active participation of students in the dissection and examination of major organ systems and in the observation of histological slides with the light microscope. The laboratory is a required part of the course.

The course lectures cover:
- Development and organization of the animal body plan (4 hrs)
- Muscoloskeletal system of vertebrates and adaptation for terrestrial locomotion, swimming and flight (4 hrs)
- Nervous system and sense organ(4 hrs)
- Integumentary system (4 hrs)
- Digestive system (6 hrs)
- Respiratory system (4 hrs)
- Urinary system (4 hrs)
- Reproductive system (4 hrs)
- Circulatory system (4 hrs)
- Histology and microscopic anatomy of selected organs (6 hrs)
- Organs of the lymphatic system (4 hrs)

The laboratory part of the course includes:
- The dissection of bony and cartilaginous fishes, reptiles (Testudines and Squamata orders), birds (chicken, pigeon) and mammalian cadavers in necropsy room.
- The study of skeleton in the comparative osteology room.
- The study of the organ structure in the microscope room.