Welcome
to Biology 2112: Marine Biology. We hope that this course will give you a
feel for the amazing variety of marine animals. We want you to gain two
things from this module: an understanding of the evolution, ecology and
functioning of marine species; and a sense of wonder at the incredible
array of solutions that these animals have found to the ubiquitous
challenges of survival. The sea is teeming with weird and wonderful
creatures - eyeless shrimp, squid with eyes the size of volleyballs, worms
that never eat, parasites that eat their prey from the inside out, fish
that fly and whales so big that their testes weigh 1000kg. You will be
introduced to early sea creatures so weird you'll think a joke; animals
that live on the dark and eerie deep sea floor; hydrothermal vent animals
that thrive on poisons; coral reefs and their amazing array of symbioses;
and intertidal animals that have the worst of both worlds.
Website
If you are reading this, you have obviously found the website already. Please check the website 'Noticeboard' section regularly. Any changes, messages and important information will be posted there. Test and assignment marks will be also be posted on this noticeboard. In the 'Course Notes' section, the buttons saying "Printable Version" will allow you to print the text without the background and graphics.
Textbooks
There is no prescribed textbook for this course. There are many interesting books on marine biology and spending some time browsing in the library will be worth your while. You may want to search the web for additional information (but remember that this is not always a reliable source: check the credentials of the author before relying on the information).
There is a suggested reading list on the Noticeboard of this website. We strongly recommend these books.
Students with Disabilities
The Disability Advisory Group within the University seeks to assist students who have a disability which may adversely affect their studies. If there are any students with disabilities in this class who wish to discuss problems which may affect their progress in this course, please contact the course co-ordinator, Dr. Patricia Backwell.
Division policy
See the
section on "Divisional Policy on Written Assessment" in the booklet "First
Year Biology at ANU". It is also on the net at:
http://www.anu.edu.au/BoZo/undergrad/policy.html.
