Extra Credit

Chordate Extra Credit Assignment

Worth up to 10 extra credit points towards your lab grade

Due Date: Uploaded to Webcourses by start of lab during the week of March 5-9.

1. Include one properly cited scientific journal article (citation instructions provided below). (0.5 point)

2. List the scientific classification of your chordate: (0.5 point)

· Domain

· Kingdom

· Phylum

· Class

· Order

· Family

· Genus

· Species

3. The life history of the organism.

A. Approximate length of life (0.5 point)

B. Age at reproduction (0.5 point)

C. How often does this animal reproduce? (0.5 point)

D. Is this animal an herbivore, carnivore, or omnivore? (0.5 point)

4. Reproduction

A. Do they lay eggs or give birth to live young? (0.5 point)

B. How many young are typically born at once? (0.5 point)

C. How long do the young receive parental care? (0.5 point)

D. Do both parents care for the young? (0.5 point)

E. Do the young emigrate from or remain with their natal group? (0.5 point)

5. Typical habitat

A. Distribution- in which country(ies) is it found? (0.5 point)

B. Is it terrestrial or aquatic? (0.5 point)

C. In what type of habitat does it live? (0.5 point)

6. Two interesting facts about this organism.

A. Fact 1: (0.5 point)

B. Fact 2: (0.5 point)

7. Conservation status of this species

A. What is the approximate world-wide population size? (0.5 point)

B. Is the species endangered, threatened or common? (0.5 point)

C. Explain why it is endangered or threatened. If it is common, why? (0.5 point)

D. If it is endangered, what is being done to help conserve this species? If it is common, what threats does it face? (0.5 point)

Literature Cited

Publications should be listed in your literature cited alphabetically by first author. Use a hanging indentation as illustrated below. Hanging indent can be found in ParagraphIndentationsSpecialHanging. Use the following citation format:

Journal article:

Author(s). Year. Article title. Journal name. Volume (Issue): pages.

Example (two authors):

Meave, J., and M. Kellman. 1994. Maintenance of rain forest diversity in riparian forests of tropical savannas: implications for species conservation during Pleistocene drought. Journal of Biogeography. 21:121-135.

Example (three authors):

Forest, I., H. Polley, and B. Wilsey. 2009. Species interaction mechanisms maintain grassland plant species diversity. Ecology. 90 (7): 1821-1830.