Microsoft Word - Zoology Lab Manual Update.docx
Biology 3454
General Zoology Laboratory Manual
Thomas J Firneno Jr. and Corey E. Roelke
Adapted from BIOL 3454 Manual by Dr. Matthew K. Nelson
i
Table of Contents
Laboratory 1: Microscopy, Systematics, and Cladistics ............................................. XXXXXXXXXX1
Laboratory 2: Basal Animal Lineages – Phyla Porifera and Cnidaria ....................... XXXXXXXXXX13
Laboratory 3: Phyla Annelida and Mollusca .............................................................. XXXXXXXXXX27
Laboratory 4: Phyla Rotifera, Platyhelminthes, and Nemata ..................................... XXXXXXXXXX45
Laboratory 5: Panarthropoda – Phyla Onychophora, Tardigrada, and Arthropoda ... XXXXXXXXXX63
Laboratory 6: Deuterostomia – Phyla Echinodermata, Hemichordata, and Basal Chordates XXXXXXXXXX
Laboratory 7: Fish and Amphibians ........................................................................... XXXXXXXXXX99
Laboratory 8: Amniotes – Reptiles, Birds, and Mammals ....................................... XXXXXXXXXX111
Appendix A: Taxonomy ........................................................................................... XXXXXXXXXX125
Appendix B: Dissection Guides ............................................................................... XXXXXXXXXX132
ii
An Introduction to
BIOL 3457: General Zoology
Laboratory Manual
Course Structure
BIOL 3457: General Zoology lab is designed to develop your independence within the lab and
your abilities to synthesize
oad concepts between lecture and lab. This lab is meant to be
primarily self-guided. The information that you need to be successful in this lab has been
provided to you within your syllabus and lab manual. Your lab instructor will guide and assist
you with the mastery of this material. However, you are responsible for learning and
synthesizing the information. Come to class prepared by carefully reading the lab material, as
well as the lab exercises. When approaching the questions in the lab exercises, think about them
critically, search for the answer either within your lab manual, photographic atlas, textbook, or
online resources, and, only once you have exhausted these possibilities, ask your lab instructor.
The material presented in this course builds off of the concepts that you are learning/will learn
within lecture. Typically, you will be given more specific information in lab that you should be
able to synthesize with
oader concepts presented within the lecture. Like lecture, the material
presented in this lab is presented in a phylogenetic context. A good guide to how this lab is
structured is offered as a comprehensive cladogram (Appendix A) of the
oad groups that we
will explore throughout this lab.
Assignments
Much of your success will be based off of the exercises and assignments that you will ca
y out
in each lab. There is quite a bit of material that we cover in this lab. Through the exercises,
drawings, and questions offered at the end of each lab, the expectations of what should be known
for assessments (e.g. practicals and quizzes) are laid out respectively. It is suggested that students
work on and try to answer a bulk of these questions as they read through the material prior to
coming to lab.
1
LABORATORY 1: MICROSCOPY, SYSTEMATICS, AND CLADISTICS
Part I: Microscopy
I. Light/Compound Microscopes
The Basics
A light or compound microscope is used for viewing small organisms that will fit on a glass slide. They
may be live or preserved specimens, but they must be small enough or thin enough for light to penetrate
through them. The basic principle used in a light microscope is that a light positioned on one side of a slide
shines through the slide and the specimen into a system of lenses that magnifies the image and passes the
light into your eyes.
The lens closest to the specimen is called the objective lens, and the lens that you look through is called the
ocular lens. This type of microscope is also called a “compound microscope,” because of the compound
effect of viewing the image through multiple lenses. For example, the high-power objective has a
magnification of 40X, but since the ocular lens has a magnification of 10X, the total magnification of the
specimen is 40 x 10 = 400X. The highest total magnification of a compound microscope is usually 1000X,
using an oil-immersion lens. The 100X objective requires that the specimen be viewed through a drop of
mineral oil that actually makes contact with the lens itself. The oil-immersion objective is useful when
viewing very small subjects like bacteria. We will not be using the 100X objective.
When viewing a subject with a compound microscope, one would normally begin with the lowest power
objective and move to increasingly higher power objectives in succession. We will use the 4X, 10X and 40X
objectives. Later in this section, we will discuss the steps to take when viewing a slide with the compound
microscope.
Parts of the Compound
Microscope
When retrieving a
microscope from the
storage area, one should be
sure to place one hand
under the base of the
microscope and hold the
arm of the microscope
with the other hand. Please
keep mind that these
microscopes are very
expensive instruments.
Microscopes should be
eturned to storage after
usage.
There are two adjustments
for the light source on the
microscope, an intensity
2
adjustment (located on the base) and the diaphragm. The diaphragm adjusts the aperture through which the
light is transmitted.
Objectives can be selected by rotating the nosepiece until it clicks into place. If the objective is not fully in
place, the view through the ocular will be obstructed. When changing objectives, the nosepiece should
always be visualized from the side to make sure that the objective is not going to make contact with the slide.
If it does, it can damage the slide, the specimen, or the objective.
The focus can be changed by using the fine or coarse adjustment knobs located near the base of the scope.
Use of the Compound Microscope
Often, if you hold the slide up to the light you will be able to see the specimen. You will want to position the
slide so that the specimen is directly under the middle of the objective. Initially, you should begin with the
scanning (4X objective) or the low power objective (10X). Never begin with the high-power objective
(40X). This is not because we do not trust you. This is not because we do not think you know what you are
doing. As magnification increases, the field of view decreases and it