SYLLABUS BIOL 4131 – HERPETOLOGY LAB FALL 2019

PROFESSOR: Marsha G. Williams, HPR 107, Office Phone – 903-566-6194, Email – mwilliams@uttyler.edu, Phone – 903-952-9449Office Hours: M/W 9:00-10:00 a.m., Friday 11:00-Noon, or by appointment.

CATALOG DESCRIPTION: Laboratory examination of the diversity of amphibians and reptiles. Study of the anatomy and physiology of amphibians and reptiles and ecological and behavioral experiments.

COURSE OBJECTIVES/STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES:

1. To learn the basic principles of conducting herpetological studies. Success will be measured by your grades on class participation, a midterm exam, a photographic reptile and amphibian collection on iNaturalist, an oral presentation, and a final exam.

2. To develop critical thinking skills in relation to setting up biological experiments. Progress will be reflected in your exam and presentation grades.

3. To improve communication skills in presenting information in an oral format. This will be evident in your oral presentation grade.

TOOLS FOR SUCCESS:

1. Plan for the activities we will be doing in lab that week (i.e., if we have a field trip planned dress for going out in the woods, if we plan to work in the lab wear closed toes shoes and long pants, etc.).

2. Listen to the introductory lecture and take notes. Be sure to purchase a notebook to keep with you for field notes throughout the semester.

3. Participate actively in labs, i.e. be on time, help collect data, actively participate in activities that happen outside of lab times (i.e., checking pitfall traps and coverboards, looking for herps to add to your iNaturalist project, etc.).

4. Take pride in your work! Do photography and iNaturalist records like they were for a professional job. Practice your oral presentation to make sure you are comfortable with the material.

REQUIRED TEXTS AND MATERIALS:

The only required book will be Amphibians and Reptiles of Texas, Third Edition, by James R. Dixon. I will provide any additional lab handouts or post them on Canvas prior to lab.

The following websites are useful for identifying reptiles and amphibians in Texas:

https://www.herpsoftexas.org/https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/herps-of-texas

Thick gloves, thick pants such as jeans, good tennis shoes or boots, a good camera (cell phones will work), a field guide, a notebook, and a headlamp and/or a good flashlight will all be very helpful in this class.

EVALUATION: Students will be evaluated based on the following work:

1. Participation 20% (100 pts.). This will include participating in checking cover boards, checking our drift fence/pitfall traps, and night time and overnight field trips. A missed lab is an automatic 5% deduction. Be on time for class, sometimes we will be outside and we can’t wait for you. Actively participate in data collection, data analysis, and classroom discussions. Learn how to use Canvas and plan to use the Collaboration tool for keeping everyone up to date on what we find in our traps.

2. Midterm 30% (150 pts.). One midterm lab exam will be given. It will cover taxonomy and identification of Texas amphibians and reptiles.

3. Presentation 20% (100 pts). You will present your iNaturalist photo collection of amphibians and reptiles you ‘collect’ throughout the semester to the class. These will be individual presentations that should not be longer than 10 minutes. Focus on the highlights of your herp collections!

4. Final Exam 30% (150 points). The final exam will be a combination of essay, short answer, and taxonomy/identification.

The class will be graded on a 10-point scale (500 points possible):90-100% = A 80-89% = B 70-79 = C 60-69% = D 0-59% = F

CHEATING AND PLAGIARISM: Obviously, this will not be tolerated. Do not turn in identical iNaturalist photo collections! If you plan to work with a friend or two on your collections, rotate who will document each herp you find so there aren’t too many duplicates. Cheating on exams will not be tolerated and will result in an automatic zero on the exam.

DEADLINES/MAKE UP EXAMS:1. Make-up assignments/exams will not be given except in the case of family emergency or

with an excuse from a medical doctor. In such cases, you must contact your instructor as soon as possible.

2. Any absences due to sanctioned university activities (e.g., intercollegiate meets) require an official and PRIOR arrangement with your instructor.

FIELD TRIPS AND OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES: Field trips and outdoor activities make up a large portion of this class therefore, attendance and active participation for field activities is required. We will make every attempt to return to campus by the end of lab but driving time (and unforeseen circumstances) may necessitate a later return – students should make appropriate arrangements ahead of time in case we run late. Appropriate field clothing (shoes and clothes that can get dirty) should be worn on all field trips. There are inherent risks one assumes when one goes outside, which cannot be controlled by the instructor or the University. Students should

be aware that vehicular traffic, poison ivy, ticks, mosquitoes, or biting and stinging insects (bees, wasps, etc.) among others, are all PERSONAL safety issues. Please contact me privately at the START of the course to discuss your specific needs if you believe you need course accommodations based on the impact of a disability or medical condition, or if you have emergency medical information to share.

Planned Field Activities:1) Mr. Alan Lizarraga is a graduate student in our department and is currently working on a

project looking at fungal disease in snakes. This is fortuitous for us as we can use his coverboards to find herps for our iNaturalist collections. Alan has created a sign-up sheet for you to sign up for a minimum of 3 evening trips to help check his coverboards from August-November. I would recommend signing up a minimum of one time per month. You may sign up as many times as you like, but you must go at least 3 times to get participation points. His sites are local so you should not be gone too long. Alan’s contact info is: alizarraga@uttyler.edu.

2) We will be setting up an on-campus, semester long, experiment that you all will be responsible for checking regularly for herps that become trapped in our pitfalls. This experiment will be located in the woods behind the Liberty Landing apartments. Alan has made a signup sheet for us to fill in with days we can go check the traps. This should be a group effort, and everyone should participate equally to get full points. We will use the Collaboration tool on Canvas to report what was found in the traps every day to keep everyone up to date and therefore it will become obvious if only a few are participating. Ideally, we would like everyone to go in groups of 2-3 to check the traps. If you find something in the traps you can’t handle, please call myself or Alan.

3) There will be one night time field trip in lieu of one of our afternoon labs (October 2nd). We will meet on campus at 7:30 p.m. and head to a local pond to listen to night time frog calls and do some night time herp collecting. Students should plan to bring water, bug spray, flashlights or headlamps, camera, etc.

4) We plan to do one overnight camping field trip to SE Oklahoma/SW Arkansas during the semester to look for salamanders in the Ouachita mountains (October 25-26th). You will be expected to plan accordingly and ask off for work. We will leave Friday afternoon and return on Saturday night. More details will be provided as soon as possible.

You are encouraged to work in small groups on your field activities and your iNaturalist photo collection projects (presentation grade) but each student is responsible for completing and turning in their individual iNaturalist collections (none should be identical). Collaboration in science can be fun but it also can be exhausting; organize your group well and establish responsibilities among your team members. Groups of 2-3 are best, more than that and organization for field and lab projects becomes extremely difficult.

IMPORTANT DATES:September 9: Census Date October 16: Midterm ExamNovember 4: Withdrawal DateNovember 25-29: Thanksgiving BreakDecember 11: Final Exam

TENTATIVE CLASS SCHEDULE

Week Lab8/26 Intro to Herpetology9/4 Local field trip – on campus experiment and Texas Parks and Wildlife

Nature Center9/11 Amphibians and Reptiles of Texas—identification and taxonomy9/25 Amphibians and Reptiles of Texas—identification and taxonomy10/2 Open Lab (Local night time field trip - meet at 7:30 p.m. at the lab)10/9 Review for Midterm exam and open lab to study10/16 Midterm Exam10/23 No Lab (Overnight field trip October 25th (leave at 3 p.m.) and 26th (get

home by 8 p.m.)10/30 iNaturalist Collections and other collection techniques11/6 Behavioral Ecology Experiment11/13 Physiology Experiment11/20 Presentations of iNaturalist Collections11/27 Thanksgiving Break12/4 Presentations of iNaturalist Collections12/11 Final Exam