Biological principles and the science of biology, the origin and chemistry of life, classification and phylogeny of animals, review of bacteria, fungi and viruses, kingdom protista (classification 7 characteristics), kingdom animalia (a general review), kingdom plantae (review , life cycles and theories of their possible origin).

BIO1542: Cell Biology

Organic chemistry: the scope of biochemistry, organic compounds of importance to the living system, structure, functional groups, stereochemistry and characteristics of the carbohydrates, lipids, proteins and nucleic acids, chemical-physical principles of biochemical bonds, matrix of life: weak interactions in an aqueous solution,  energetics of life. Cytology: history of cell biology, cell theory, membrane biology, structure and features of eukaryotic cells, techniques used in cytology. prokaryotic cells. Genetics: DNA replication, transcription and translation, introductory principles of mitosis and meiosis, Chromosome variation, sex determination and the mechanism of sex related inheritance, Mendelian genetics, multiple factor inheritance

BIO 1643: Ecology, Adaptation and Evolution

Ecosystems, Energy flow and nutrient cycling, Analysis of communities, ecological hierarchy and sampling methodology, species and their  relationship, common and rare species, latitude gradients, interactive network and food webs, niches and competition, demography, dispersal, evolution and natural selection, microevolution, macroevolution,  origin of life.

BIO1644: Introductory Human Anatomy and Physiology

Introduction to human Physiology and Anatomy: chemical basis of life, introduction to cytology and cell physiology, histology: skin and integument, support and movement, integration and coordination, reproduction, processing and transportation.

BIO2541: Human Anatomy for BCur students

Basic study of the human body: introduction to anatomy, organization of the human body (structure, cytology & histology), and a detailed study of human morphology and anatomy (integumentary, support & movement, integration & coordination, cardiovascular, respiratory, digestive, respiratory, urinary and reproductive systems).

BIO2542:  Ecology

Population distribution and abundance, population dynamics, population growth, life histories, competition, predation, herbivory, parasitism, mutualism. energy flow and nutrient cycling in ecosystems; biomes and factors determining spatial distribution of life zones in the world and South Africa.  

ZOO 2544:  Cell Biology II

Laws of Mendelian inheritance – assortment and segregation, Analysing the inheritance of Mendelian traits through family pedigrees, Autosomal, sex-linked and sex-limited traits, Recombination and chromosomal cross-overs; Introduction to molecular structure of DNA and RNA and their physical properties, the structure of prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells, how DNA is packaged in cells (chromosome form, nucleus, cytoplasmic DNA), the genetic code and how this relates to the development of living organisms, the process of gene expression through transcription and translation, DNA replication and repair mechanisms, Genome sizes (number of nucleotide base pairs).

BIO2631:  Human Physiology for BCur students

An introduction to physiology, concept of homeostasis, cell physiology, food and energy, gaseous exchange, blood physiology, cardiovascular system, water and osmotic regulation, movement, information and integration, calcium metabolism and bone formation, body heat and temperature regulation and reproduction.

BIO 2646 : Conservation Biology I

The natural world; principles and concepts; human impacts; habitat destruction and disturbance; sustainability; history of conservation biology; selecting protected areas; in situ and ex situ conservation issues; the landscape mosaic; managing for biodiversity; ecological restoration.

ZOO2541: Animal Physiology

Introduction to cell structure and functions of cell organelles, specialized cell types, cell division, principles of cellular transport, Structure and function of tissues, organs and organ systems, Nutrition and feeding, Structure and function of the respiratory systems, including movement of respiratory gases in, out and around the body, Structure and function of the urinary system, and its role in regulating body fluids, Characteristics of body structure of a range of invertebrates and vertebrates in particular to type of skeletal systems, and movement, tructure and function of the nervous system including sense organs, initiation and transmission of nerve impulses and conduction across the synapse, co-ordination of the body in terms of sensory, integrative and motor functions of the nervous system

ZOO2648: Animal Phylogeny

Introduction to evolutionary biology, the tree of life: classification and phylogeny, patterns of evolution, evolution in the fossil record, history of life on earth, biogeography, evolution of biodiversity. Major animal body plans

BIO3648:  Water Resource Management

Basic concepts of water resource management, sustainable development of water resources, principles and application of water treatment schemes, aquaculture, re-use of water, water purification and water quality assessment, eutrophication, control of invasive plants and animals, river channel and bank  stabilization and rehabilitation, water based commercial projects.

BIO3646:  Conservation Biology II

Biodiversity, the creation of ecosystems; ethics of 21st century conservation, the central role of people; political issues; ecosystem services; climate change and biodiversity; invasive alien organisms; protected areas; species conservation; “green” economics; conserving the evolutionary process;  conservation in forest-, savanna-,  marine-, dryland-, freshwater-, agricultural- and urban systems; conservation efforts, agreements and treaties.

BIO 3542: Biological Assessment

Scales, planning and approaches to monitoring, integrated approaches, selection of organisms for use in biological assessment, approaches to biological assessment, hydrology, alluviation and erosion, and water quality, river geomorphology, modeling as a guide for setting monitoring objectives.

BIO3544:  Limnology

Pproperties of fresh water, factors, energy flow and nutrient cycling in fresh water ecosystems, fresh water lake and wetland types globally and regionally, water bodies in Southern Africa, river continuum concept, damming rivers, water pollution and eutrophication, Review of  Water Act, concept “reserve” freshwater primary and secondary production, cycling of nutrients. Biomonitoring in fresh waters.

ZOO3541:  Animal Ecophysiology

The physics of heat exchange, heat transfer, heat balance and control systems, animal responses to the thermal environment, physics of water movement, evaporative water loss and water turnover rates, nutritional requirements, energy, energy metabolism and the energy budgets, communication in the ecosystem.

ZOO3649:  Molecular Genetics

Principles of Electrophoresis; Allozymes; PCR method and process; Primer design for PCR and sequencing; Restriction enzymes and RFLP analysis; Multilocus DNA fingerprinting; Microsatellite DNA; Southern Blotting; DNA sequence alignment and divergence matrix (absolute & p-distance); Structure of genes in nuclear DNA (introns, exons, flanking regions); The genetic code; Characterising sequence change (substitutions [silent vs. expressed, synonymous vs. non-synonymous, transition vs. transversion] & indels [ insertion vs. deletion);  Special characteristics of mtDNA; Characters and character states (invariant, variable, uninformative/autapomorphic, parsimony informative, transversion and transition polymorphism); looking at phylogenetic trees (unrooted vs. rooted, diagonal vs. rectangular, cladograms vs. phylograms, branches, nodes, terminals, rooting, clades, monophyly); different approaches to phylogeny reconstruction using molecular data (Distance methods, Parsimony, Statistical modelling [Likelihood & Bayesian methods]), Evaluating support for Phylogenetic relationships (bootstraps & jackknife), models of sequence evolution.

ZOO5507: Population Genetics

Genetic structure of populations, processes of evolutionary change, natural selection, inbreeding, co-adaptation and  geographic differentiation, quantitative characters, speciation and macro-evolution.

ZOO5508: Applied Animal Ecology

Concepts (niche, life history, migration and dispersion, small populations, metapopulations, population interactions, succession, foodwebs, ecosystem functioning, biodiversity, island biogeography, sustainability) and the applications (alien invasives, restoration, conservation, minimum viable populations, habitat fragmentation, global climate change, economic thresholds, biological control, integrated pest management, euthrophication, agriculture, ecosystem health, conservation planning, economic implications.

BIO5510: Limnology

Rivers, lakes and wetlands in a global and regional perspective, river continuum concept, impacts of reservoirs and inter basin transfers,  pollution, eutrophication and cycling of nutrients, in stream flow requirements, biomonitoring, SA Water Act and its implications, rehabilitation.

BIO 5611: Conservation Entomology

Basic insect morphology; higher classification of the Class Insecta; threats to insects; response of insects to the landscape mosaic; surveying and monitoring, insect conservation planning and management.

ZOO5609 : Animal Ecophysiology

Costs of living: Cost of production and cost of maintenance, cost of reproduction, trade-offs and their measurements, Physiological energetic (feeding, metabolism and growth): the comparative physiology of animal digestive system, feeding and digestion, optimal foraging and optimal digestion, constraints imposed by food items, Growth in animals: central concept, growth curves, metabolism and growth, physiology and cellular aspects of growth, the regulation and integration of growth, hormonal influences, environmental factors and growth, environmental tolerance, environmental stressors, Niche overlap and diet analysis: measurement of niche breadth and niche overlap, dietary preferences and indices, Reproduction: endocrine control, species difference in reproductive mechanisms, ovulation rate, embryonic mortality, gestation length, patterns of reproduction, pregnancy and lactation, the costing of reproduction, types of costing, trade-offs and their causes, the environment and reproduction.