Evolutionary Biology Spring 2017

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EEB 2245/2245W
Evolutionary Biology

Course Overview

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Meeting Time: Tuesdays and Thursdays, 9:30-10:45 am in TLS154
Textbook: Futuyma, D.J. 2013. Evolution. 3rd ed. Sinauer Associates, Inc. (ISBN 978-1-60535-115-5)
Objectives: The objectives of this course are to familiarize students with the mechanisms of evolutionary change (processes of evolution), major patterns of evolution, and the history of the diversity of life.


This website contains information for the lecture portion of the course only.
Please see HuskyCT for materials for the W portion of the course.

Announcements

Lecture Instructors

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Part I, 17 January - X March
Dr. Janine N. Caira
Office: TLS 483
Phone: 486-4060
Office hours: by arrangement

Part II, XX March - XX May
Dr. Chris Simon
Office: PBB 305D
Phone: 486-4640
Office hours: by arrangement

Note: All emails must contain "EEB2245" in the subject line to avoid being filtered out and deleted

Teaching Assistants

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James Bernot Veronica Bueno Geert Goemans
Office: TLS 478 Office: TLS 478 Office: PBB 323
Phone: 486-1882 Phone: 486-1882 Phone: 486-3947
Last names A-F Last names G-N Last names O-Z
Office hours: by appointment Office hours: by appointment Office hours: by appointment



Grading

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Lecture Grading:

Activities 30 points
Exam 1 50 points
Exam 2100 points
Exam 3 50 points
Exam 4100 points
Comprehensive Final Exam 70 points
Total Lecture Points 400 points


EEB 2245W Grading: Your grade in the lecture portion of the course will be calculated as above. This grade will constitute 75% of your final course grade. Your grade in the W part of the course, as determined by your W instructor, will constitute the remaining 25% of your final course grade, except that an F in the W part of the course will result in an F for the entire course. An F in the lecture part of the course will also result in an F for the entire course.

Course Policies

Lecture Expectations:

  • Arrive on time and stay until the end. If you must come late or leave early, sit by a door and leave as quietly as possible.
  • Turn cell phones OFF and store them out of sight.
  • Use laptops only for taking notes or other activity directly related to class.
  • Recording is prohibited without the written permission of instructors.
  • Course materials are the intellectual property of the course instructors. Students may not make these materials (including handouts, exams and activities) available electronically.


Activities: During the first half of the semester, there will be opportunities to earn points from a mixture of in-class and out-of-class activities. Each will be worth 3 points. A minimum of 13 opportunities will be available and the best 10 will count towards the final grade. Out-of-class activities must be submitted by the specified deadline for credit. No late assignments will be accepted. In-class activities must be submitted during the class period in which they take place. No make-ups will be given.

Missed exams: Any student who misses an exam without advance permission will receive a 0 for the exam. Permission to miss an exam requires, but is not guaranteed by, verifiable written documentation of the reason. A student who receives permission to miss an exam will have his or her grade for the missed work prorated based on his or her performance on the remainder of the exams. We will not give make-ups. Every student must take the final exam (and exam 4) during the scheduled final exam period unless permission to reschedule is obtained through the Dean of Students Office

Academic integrity: Plagiarism and cheating are violations of the student conduct code, and may be punished by failure in the course or, in severe cases, dismissal from the University. For more information, see Appendix A of the Student Conduct Code

Disabilities: If you have a disability for which you may be requesting an accommodation, you should contact a course instructor and the [www.csd.uconn.edu Center for Students with Disabilities] (Wilbur Cross Building, Room 201) within the first two weeks of the semester.

Lecture Schedule

Please read assigned chapters, as indicated below, prior to class
This schedule is subject to change. Check regularly for updates!


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

Pdficon small.gif Activity 1, Evolutionary vs. non-evolutionary change
Bird-of-paradise courtship

Jan 22 Variation and the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium pp 217-228 Study Questions
Pdficon small.gif Activity 2, testing for HWE
Jan 27 SNOW DAY - CLASS CANCELED
Jan 29 Mutation and non-random mating pp 189-208, 229-35, 247-8 Study Questions

More about kuru and prions
Pdficon small.gif The math behind the HWE
Pdficon small.gif Activity 3, assortative mating vs inbreeding
Pdficon small.gifActivity 4-due Mon. Feb. 2 by 11pm

Feb 3 Sampling effects and migration Ch 10 Study Questions

Pdficon small.gifProblem Set 1
Pdficon small.gif Activity 4 results
Pdficon small.gifActivity 5-due Thurs. Feb. 5 at 9:15 am
Pdficon small.gif Activity 5 answers

Feb 5 Conservation applications of population genetics -- Study Questions

Pdficon small.gifActivity 6

Feb 10 EXAM 1 (50 pts) & Natural selection Ch 11
Feb 12 Evidence for natural selection Ch 11 Study Questions

Pdficon small.gifActivity 7

Feb 17 Genetics of natural selection Ch 12 Study Questions

Pdficon small.gifActivity 8-due Tues. Feb. 17 at 9:15 am

Feb 19 Modes of natural selection Ch 12 & 13 Study Questions

Pdficon small.gifActivity 9-Mean fitness table at end of Activity 8 due in class today

Feb 24 Sexual selection and female choice Ch 15 Study Questions

Pdficon small.gifActivity 10-Selection on dominant vs. recessive alleles : online portion due before class; bring your graphs to class

Feb 26 Genetic conflict and levels of selection Ch 16 Study Questions
Mar 3 Geographic variation and speciation pp 483-491 Study Questions

Review Session tonight 7-9pm BPP 130

Mar 5 EXAM 2 (100 pts, midterm covering all lectures)
Part II: Mar 10 - May 7, Dr. Chris Simon
Mar 10 Mechanisms of Speciation: Reproductive Isolation. (taught by Dr. Jockusch) Ch 17 & 18 Study Questions
Mar 12 Species Concepts; Hybridization (taught by Dr. Wade) Ch 17 & 18 Discussion Questions
Pdficon small.gif Lecture 14
Mar 17 SPRING BREAK
Mar 19 SPRING BREAK
Mar 24 Speciation Mechanisms. Spatial, temporal, chromosomal with and without hybridization Ch 17, 18 & 531-533pp (ch 19) Discussion Questions
Pdficon small.gif Lecture 15
Mar 26 Systematics, the study of biodiversity and its origins.
Problems in constructing relationships: polymorphisms and homoplasy.
Tree thinking.
Ch 2 & 3 Discussion Questions
Pdficon small.gif Lecture 16 part I
Pdficon small.gif Lecture 16 part II
Mar 26 Discussion Session 7-8pm BPB 131 Discussion questions
Lectures 14, 15 & 16
Mar 30 Discussion Session 8-9pm BPB 131 Discussion questions
Lectures 14, 15 & 16
Mar 31 Homoplasy (continued): convergence, parallelisms, and reversals in evolution. Ch 2 & 3 Discussion Questions
Pdficon small.gif Lecture 17
Apr 2 Reconstructing evolutionary trees from morphological and molecular data. Ch 2 & 3 Discussion Questions
Pdficon small.gif Lecture 18 corrected
Apr 2 Discussion Session 7-9pm BPB 131 Discussion questions
Lectures 17 & 18 + Exam review
Apr 7 Discussion Session 7-9pm BPB 131 Discussion questions
Lectures 17, 18 & 19 + Exam review
Apr 7 Reconstructing evolutionary trees from morphological and molecular data.
How molecules evolve. Is there a molecular clock?
Ch 2 & 3 Discussion Questions
Pdficon small.gif Lecture 19 revised
Apr 9 Molecular Clock (continued)
EXAM 3 (50 pts)
Discussion Questions
Pdficon small.gif Lecture 20
Apr 9 Discussion Session CANCELLED
Apr 13 Discussion Session 8-9pm BPB 131 Discussion questions
Lectures 19 & 20
Apr 14 An overview of life This is mostly review from intro-biology Discussion Questions
Pdficon small.gif Lecture 21
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 Discussion Questions
Pdficon small.gif Lecture 22
Apr 16 Discussion Session 7-8pm BPB 131 Discussion questions
Lectures 21 & 22
Apr 20 Discussion Session 8-9pm BPB 130 Discussion questions
Lectures 21 & 22
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 Discussion Questions
Pdficon small.gif Lecture 23 Paleozoic
Pdficon small.gif Lecture 23 Mesozoic
Your Inner Fish PBS 3-episode show on the evolution of tetrapods. Very cool animations! First episode is all about Tiktaalik.
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 Discussion Questions
Pdficon small.gif Lecture 24 Mesozoic continued
Pdficon small.gif Lecture 24 and 25 Cenozoic

Evolution: Great Transformations
What Darwin Never Knew

Apr 23 Discussion Session 7-8pm BPB 131 Lectures 23 & 24
Apr 27 Discussion Session 8-9pm BPB 130 Lectures 23 & 24
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 Discussion Questions
Pdficon small.gif Lecture 25 Cenozoic part 2
Pdficon small.gif Lecture 26a Primate & Human Evolution
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 Discussion Questions
Pdficon small.gif Lecture 26b Human Evolution continued
Pdficon small.gif Lecture 26c Biogeography and Biodiversity
Apr 30 Discussion Session 7-8pm BPB 130 Lectures 25 & 26 + Final review Pdficon small.gif Short videos about evolution. This can help you study for the exam.
May 4 Office hours BPB 130 2-4 pm TA available for questions Come ask any questions you may have on the material before the final. This is NOT a review session. Come prepared with questions
May 7 EXAM 4 (100 pts) & COMPREHENSIVE FINAL EXAM (70 pts) 8 - 10am TLS 154