MORPHOMETRICS COURSE FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF MANCHESTER

Analysis of Organismal Form

An introduction to morphometrics, delivered as a Web-based course

10 November – 19 December 2008

The course is part of the final year of undergraduate degree programmes in biological sciences. The course is delivered via the Web to make it accessible to students from outside of Manchester.

The course will be equivalent to 18 lectures, and some exercises, reading, and discussion among participants via the course bulletin board.

For more detailed information on the course content, click here.

The course is open for general participation. For participants from outside the University of Manchester, a fee of GBP 175.00 will be charged.

The deadline for registation for this year's course has passed. We regret that we cannot accept late registrations. It is anticipated that the course will be offered in a similar format in 2009.

Further details will be announced over the Morphmet E-mail list.

Course content: -- Data acquisition: the kinds of data and the equipment used to collect them. -- Statistics of variation, scatterplots, basic multivariate statistics -- Definitions of size and shape (distance measures) -- Geometric methods to measure shape from a configuration of landmark points (Procrustes superimposition) -- Measurement error and outliers -- Shape transformations and 'warping' -- the thin plate spline -- Analysis of outline shapes -- Distinguishing between groups (taxonomy, clinical diagnosis, etc.) -- Allometry and size correction -- Influence of external factors on shape (ecomorphology, dose-response studies) -- Symmetric forms and measurement of asymmetry. -- Morphometric inferences on developmental processes, morphological integration, modularity -- Genetics of shape: analyses of resemblance between relatives, QTL analyses. -- Phylogeny: reconstructing the evolution of shape

Practice examples: As far as possible, practical exercises are provided to accompany the course content. These practice exercises consist of data sets and explanations on how to run the respective analyses using the MorphoJ software (http://www.flywings.org.uk/MorphoJ_page.htm). Participants who already have their own data are encouraged to use those and to discuss them as part of the course. I hope there will be a bit of a 'workshop' feel to the course unit.

For further details, see the course web page: http://www.flywings.org.uk/MorphoCourse