Educational objectives To foster basic knowledge on: distribution of terrestrial and freshwater animal taxa, including their
historical causes and dynamic processes, chiefly those which shaped our present-day faunas;
concept of geographical range, endemism, insular biogeography, and PAE;
geographic delimitation, structure and main distinctive traits of the recognized Zoogeographic
Regions, Realms, and Transitional Zones; use of principles and methods of the modern
zoogeography in the fields of the applied zoology and of the Conservation Biology.
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Educational objectives General objectives
At the end of the course the student will have acquired a descriptive knowledge of patterns of marine biodiversity at the global and regional scale (with a focus on the Mediterranean). The student will also be able to describe the traditional and modern methods of study of the biodiversity. Furthermore, the student will define the theoretical and methodological principles of the modern biological systematics., being able to use and apply (especially after the lab practices) the methods of phylogenetic inference. Finally, the student will be able to provide examples of building modern biological classifications.
Specific objectives
Knowledge and understanding:
The student will acquire the knowledge of the quantitative and spatial patterns and of the dynamics of the marine biodiversity, as well as of the traditional and modern methods of study; will understand how and to what extent the knowledge on patterns and dynamics on biodiversity (especially marine) are relevant to EcoBiology, and how an evolutionary framework is the only possible one.
Ability to apply knowledge and understanding:
The student will acquire the skills to use methods to estimate and analyse biodiversity, to make phylogenetic inferences, and to use the critical tools for the selection of the best fit methods to different case-studies.
Critical and judgmental capacities:
During the laboratory practices, the student will develop critical and judgmental skills by coping with potentially different dataset (morphological, genetical, molecular, geographic, ecological), having to design experimental protocols appropriate to test hypotheses.
Communication skills:
Students, especially during the laboratory practices, are encouraged to interact with each other and with the teachers to implement practical activities (observation, identification, analysis and critical comments of the experimental datasets; hypotheses to test; methods and models to use).
Learning skills:
The student will acquire the language of modern Systematic Biology, in terms of both taxonomic nomenclature and descriptive nomenclature of the experimental methods in the study of Biodiversity and in phylogenetic inference. These skills will make the student able to face future ecobiological studies, including experimental activities where a high level of methodological integration is required to the modern biologist.
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Educational objectives General objectives
The course aims to develop knowledge and skills of the students on the main aspects of human biodiversity in an evolutionary framework, making them aware of the potential impact of such discipline for basic and biomedical research.
Specific objectives
To acquire a full "knowledge and understanding" of human biology and biodiversity, especially in the biomolecular aspects.
To develop the ability of "applying knowledge and understanding" with use of online resources and dedicated software that are currently used for genetic ad genomic analysis in human biodiversity studies.
To cultivate the capacity of "making judgements" through the discussion in the classroom of topics chosen during the lectures.
To promote “communication” skills through the presentation of a chosen topic at the end of the course.
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