Difference between revisions of "Evolutionary Biology Fall 2012"

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'''Instructor:'''  Chris Simon, Professor EEB <br>
 
'''Instructor:'''  Chris Simon, Professor EEB <br>
'''     Office:''' Biopharm 305D, phone 6-4640 <br>
+
'''Office:''' Biopharm 305D, phone 6-4640 <br>
          '''Lab:''' Biopharm 323 & 325, phone 6-3947  <br>
+
'''Lab:''' Biopharm 323 & 325, phone 6-3947  <br>
      '''e-mail:''' chris.simon@uconn.edu [e-mail is the best place to leave messages.]<br>
+
'''e-mail:''' chris.simon@uconn.edu [e-mail is the best place to leave messages.]<br>
  
 
Office hours: Flexible except in the morning before our class.  See me after class or send me an e-mail to arrange a meeting.  I encourage quick questions by electronic mail.  With longer questions or many questions, please come to see me or your TA, Colin Carlso. Don’t wait until the day before an exam!
 
Office hours: Flexible except in the morning before our class.  See me after class or send me an e-mail to arrange a meeting.  I encourage quick questions by electronic mail.  With longer questions or many questions, please come to see me or your TA, Colin Carlso. Don’t wait until the day before an exam!

Revision as of 18:43, 25 August 2012

EEB 2245: Evolutionary Biology


Meeting Time: Tuesdays and Thursdays, 12:30-1:45 in BRAUN 124

Instructor: Chris Simon, Professor EEB
Office: Biopharm 305D, phone 6-4640
Lab: Biopharm 323 & 325, phone 6-3947
e-mail: chris.simon@uconn.edu [e-mail is the best place to leave messages.]

Office hours: Flexible except in the morning before our class. See me after class or send me an e-mail to arrange a meeting. I encourage quick questions by electronic mail. With longer questions or many questions, please come to see me or your TA, Colin Carlso. Don’t wait until the day before an exam!

Teaching Assistant: Colin Carlson e-mail: colin.carlson@uconn.edu

Class Website: http://hydrodictyon.eeb.uconn.edu/eebedia/index.php/Category:EEB_Courses

Grade: The goal of this class is to teach you the basic principles of evolution and to give you an appreciation for the science. It is important to me that you learn the material. I hate to assign grades but they are required. Therefore I am trying an experiment this semester to try to lessen the pressure on the midterm and enhance your learning experience. Each Friday I will post a Study Guide and ask you a few questions from that study guide as a quiz at the end of class on the following Thursday. Each Wednesday, TA Colin Carlson will run a study guide review session. We’ll grade the quizzes and return them to you by the following Thursday. Hopefully these quizzes will serve to prepare you for the first midterm and to ensure that your grade is not based on your performance on only the midterm and the final.

EEB 245: There will be a series of ten quizzes (as described above) and two one-hour exams covering each half of the course (listed on the syllabus) and a comprehensive one-hour synthetic final exam. The second one-hour exam will be given in the same two-hour time block as the synthetic final. The quizzes will count 15% of your total grade, the first exam 35% and the second hour exam plus the final will count 25% each.

EEB 245W: If you are registered for EEB 245W, 75% of the final course grade will be determined by your lecture exams (as above) and 25% by your term paper. As required by University regulations, an F in the W part of the course will result in an F for the entire course. At least two drafts of your writing assignment must be successfully completed to pass the course. A detailed set of instructions will be provided and W students will be assigned a W instructor during the first week of class.

Text: Futuyma, D. J. 2009. Evolution. Second Edition. Sinauer Publications, Sunderland, Mass. http://www.sinauer.com/detail.php?id=2238. The UCONN coop should have lots of used copies. Please read assigned chapters prior to the class for which they are scheduled. Additional supplementary readings may be assigned during the semester. See also new value options from Sinauer: http://www.sinauer.com/detail.php?id=2238#tions

The syllabus always evolves. I will periodically send updated versions which track our true progress and introduce late breaking topics.

Evolution in the News

Peppered moths vindicated! - 28 February 2012
Darwin's long-lost fossils - 17 January 2012

NEW Visiting Evolutionary Biologists and Friends

Our guests this semester

Lecture Syllabus

Please read assigned chapters, as indicated below, prior to class


Day Date Topic Text Readings
Part I Jan 17 - Mar 1 Patterns of Evolution Dr. Janine Caira
1 T Jan 17 Introduction to the Geological Time Scale; the Fossil Record Ch. 4 (pgs 73-77)
2 Th Jan 19 Life in the Precambrian; Evolution of the Metazoa Ch. 5 (pgs 101-108)
3 T Jan 24 Cambrian explosion & Life in the Paleozoic Ch. 5 (pgs 108-115)
4 Th Jan 26 Life in the Mesozoic Ch. 5 (pgs 115-121)
5 T Jan 31 Life in the Cenozoic Ch. 5 (pgs 121-131)
6 Th Feb 2 Evolution of primates Ch. 4 (pgs 88-91) &
Ch. 6 (pgs 147-150)
M Feb 6 Review Session for Exam 1
6-8 PM
BioPhysics Building Rm 131
7 T Feb 7 Evolution of biodiversity & extinction Ch. 7
T Feb 7 Review Session for Exam 1
6-8 PM
BioPhysics Building Rm 131
8 Th Feb 9 EXAM #1
Pdficon small.gif Example of Exam 1 (from 2010)

Pdficon small.gif Final Study Guide for Exam 1
Covers Lectures 1-6
9 T Feb 14 Characters, homology & homoplasy Ch. 3
10 Th Feb 16 Systematics & reconstructing evolutionary history Ch. 2
11 T Feb 21 Systematics & reconstructing evolutionary history (cont'd) Ch. 2
12 Th Feb 23 Biogeography & major patterns of distribution Ch. 6
M Feb 27 Review Session for Exam 2
6-8 PM
BioPhysics Building Rm 131
13 T Feb 28 Continental drift & historical biogeography Ch. 6
T Feb 28 Review Session for Exam 2
6-8 PM
BioPhysics Building Rm 131
Part II Mar 6 - Apr 26 Processes of Evolution Dr. Charles Henry
14 Th Mar 1 EXAM #2
Pdficon small.gif Example of Exam 2 (from 2010)
Pdficon small.gifFINAL Study Guide for Exam 2

Pdficon small.gif Tree Exercises for Exam 2 (with answers)
Covers Lectures 7 & 9-13
15 T Mar 6 Populations, variation, & the Hardy-Weinberg principle
Pdficon small.gif Populations, Variation, and H-W Lecture
Ch. 1 (pp 7-11) & Ch. 9
16 Th Mar 8 Microevolution and the origin of variation: mutation & gene flow
Pdficon small.gif Mutation and Gene Flow (Migration) Lecture
Ch. 8
T Mar 13 SPRING BREAK - no class
Th Mar 15 SPRING BREAK - no class
17 T Mar 20 Agents of evolutionary change: migration and genetic drift
Pdficon small.gif Migration (concl.) & Genetic Drift Lecture
Ch. 9 & 10
18 Th Mar 22 Charles Darwin and natural selection
Pdficon small.gif Darwin & Natural Selection Lecture, Part 1
Ch. 1 & 11
19 T Mar 27 Natural selection and phenotypic evolution
Pdficon small.gif Natural Selection Lecture, Part 2
Ch. 12 & 13
20 Th Mar 29 Adaptation; introduction to life-history evolution
Pdficon small.gif Adaptation & Life History Lecture, Part 1
Ch. 11, 14, & 22
M Apr 2 Review Session for Exam 3
6-8 PM
BioPhysics Building Rm 131
21 T Apr 3 Life history evolution
Pdficon small.gif Life History Evolution, Part 2
Ch. 14
T Apr 3 Review Session for Exam 3
6-8 PM
BioPhysics Building Rm 131
22 Th Apr 5 EXAM #3
You may bring a calculator (NO iphone/smartphone)
Pdficon small.gif FINAL Study Guide for Exam 3 (first 7 lectures)
Covers Lectures 15-21
23 T Apr 10 Sexual selection
Pdficon small.gif Sexual Selection Lecture
Ch. 15
24 Th Apr 12 Levels of selection; cooperation & altruism
Pdficon small.gif Multi-level Selection Lecture
Ch. 11 & 16
25 T Apr 17 Macroevolution: species and species concepts
Pdficon small.gif Species and Species Concepts Lecture
Ch. 17 & 18
26 Th Apr 19 Ecotypes, clines, and allopatric speciation
Pdficon small.gif Lecture on Speciation, Part 1
Ch. 17 & 18
27 T Apr 24 Allopatric & non-allopatric speciation
Pdficon small.gif Lecture on Speciation, Part 2
Ch. 18
28 Th Apr 26 The mystery of sexual reproduction; coevolution
Pdficon small.gif Sexual Reproduction and Coevolution Lecture
Ch. 15 & 19
M Apr 30 Review Session for Final Exam
6-8 PM
BioPhysics Building Rm 131
T May 1 Review Session for Final Exam
6-8 PM
BioPhysics Building Rm 131
29 Th May 3, 8 AM - 10AM
FINAL EXAM
NO calculators, NO iphone/smartphone
:Pdficon small.gif FINAL Study Guide for Exam 4 (last 6 lectures)
Covers Lectures 23-28