BIOL 389 - Sensory Ecology

Semester Offered: Spring
1 unit(s)

There are many behaviors that are critical to the survival and reproduction of animals including finding food, avoiding predators, attracting mates, and raising offspring. The ability to successfully engage in these behaviors is dependent on the ability of organisms to acquire and respond to information in their environment. In this course we discuss the concept of information, the types of information available in the environment, the diversity of sensory systems animals have evolved to exploit that information, and how sensory information and processing influence behavior. Sensory ecology is a highly interdisciplinary field and we make use of mathematical, physical, chemical and biological principals. The class is divided among traditional lectures, student led discussions of the primary literature, and hands-on experiences with sensory ecology data collection and analysis. Ms. Gall.

Prerequisites: two 200-level courses, with at least one of the following: BIOL 226, BIOL 228, BIOL 241 or NEUR 201.

Two 75-minute periods.