Evolutionary Biology Spring 2015
EEB 2245
Evolutionary Biology
Meeting Time: Tuesdays and Thursdays, 9:30-10:45 in TLS154
Textbook: Futuyma, D.J. 2013. Evolution. 3rd ed. Sinauer Associates, Inc. (ISBN 978-1-60535-115-5)
This website contains information for the lecture portion of the course only. For the W portion of the course, click here
Instructors
First half of the course, 20 January - 5 March
Dr. Elizabeth Jockusch
Office: BPP 305B
Phone: 486-4452
Office hours: 11-12 Tuesdays or by appointment
Second half of the course, 10 March - 7 May
Dr. Chris Simon
Office: BPP 305D
Phone: 486-4640
Office hours: Anytime by appointment
Teaching Assistants
TAs | James Bernot | Veronica Bueno | Geert Goemans | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Office/phone | TLS 478 / 486-1882 | TLS 478 / 486-1882 | BPP 323 / 486-3947 | |
Students | last names A-F | last names G-N | last names O-Z |
Date | Topic | Readings | Study Questions / Problem Sets | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Part I: Jan 20 - Mar 6, Dr. Elizabeth Jockusch | ||||
Jan 20 | Class organization; Introduction to the study of evolutionary biology | Ch 1 | study questions | |
Jan 22 | Variation and the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium | pp 217-228 | study questions | |
Jan 27 | Mutation and sampling effects | Ch 8, pp 257-267 | study questions | |
Jan 29 | Migration and non-random mating | pp 229-233; 245-249 | study questions | |
Feb 3 | Conservation applications of population genetics | -- | problem set 1 | |
Feb 5 | EXAM 1 (50 pts) & Natural selection | Ch 11 | study questions | |
Feb 10 | Evidence for natural selection | Ch 11 | study questions | |
Feb 12 | Genetics of natural selection | Ch 12 | study questions | |
Feb 17 | Modes of natural selection | Ch 12 & 13 | study questions | |
Feb 19 | Sexual selection and female choice | Ch 15 | study questions | |
Feb 24 | Genetic conflict and levels of selection | Ch 16 | study questions | |
Feb 26 | Geographic variation and speciation | pp 483-491 | study questions | |
Mar 3 | Mechanisms of speciation | pp 483- 491 | problem set 2 | |
Mar 5 | EXAM 2 (100 pts) | |||
Part II: Mar 10 - May 7, Dr. Chris Simon | ||||
Mar 10 | Speciation mechanisms (continued) | Ch 17 & 18 | study questions | |
Mar 12 | Hybridization, reproductive character displacement, and speciation | Ch 17 & 18 | study questions | |
Mar 17 | SPRING BREAK | |||
Mar 19 | SPRING BREAK | |||
Mar 24 | Systematics, the study of biodiversity and its origins. Problems in constructing relationships: polymorphisms and homoplasy. Tree thinking. |
Ch 2 & 3 | study questions | |
Mar 26 | Homoplasy (continued): convergence, parallelisms, and reversals in evolution. | Ch 2 & 3 | study questions | |
Mar 31 | Reconstructing evolutionary trees from morphological and molecular data. How molecules evolve. |
Ch 2 & 3 | study questions | |
Apr 2 | The tempo of molecular evolution; is there a molecular clock? | Ch 2 & 3 | problem set 3 | |
Apr 7 | A review of the tree of life and the major innovations in animal evolution. EXAM 3 (50 pts) |
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Apr 9 | Overview of life continued. The origin of evolutionary novelties: Body plans, constraints; pre-adaptation, modification of existing traits: gene duplication, gene regulation. |
Ch 21 & 22 | study questions | |
Apr 14 | Evolutionary novelties (continued) Homeobox genes, Master control genes. Flies with eyes on their wings. Ontogeny and phylogeny, Allometry. | Ch 21 & 22 | study questions | |
Apr 16 | Introduction and overview of the fossil record. The origin of life. The RNA world. Prokaryote world. The origin of animals; the Ediacaran Fauna. Mass extinctions. |
Ch 4 & 5, pp 168-171, Box 7A | study questions | |
Apr 21 | The Paleozoic: Cambrian explosion (or was it?). The origin of vertebrates and the invasion of land. Ordovician (the age of jawless vertebrates), Silurian (first life on land), Devonian (the age of fishes). Carboniferous (Dragonflies w/ 2 ft. wing span, clubmoss forests); Permian. The origin of mammals. The Permo-Triassic boundary mass extinction. | Ch 4 & 5, 168-171, box 7A | study questions | |
Apr 23 | The Mesozoic: The age of reptiles. Pangea breaks up followed by Laurasia and Gondwanaland. The evolution of birds from dinosaurs, insects and angiosperms radiate. The K-T Boundary. The extinction of the dinosaurs. Birds and mammals cross the boundary. | Ch 4, 5 & 6 | study questions | |
Apr 28 | The Cenozoic: Greenhouse to Icehouse. Continental drift, land bridges, mountain building. Modern biogeographic distributions take shape. The great American interchange. Primate evolution. | Ch 4, 5 & 6 | study questions | |
Apr 30 | Human evolution; Mitochondrial Eve and her relatives. Africa, our most diverse continent. Humans invade Asia and the Pacific and later North America. Biogeography and Biodiversity. | Ch 4, 5 & 6 | problem set 4 | |
May 7 | EXAM 4 (100 pts) & COMPREHENSIVE FINAL EXAM (70 pts) |