Course Description
An advanced treatment of evolutionary biology from the level of genes to populations to species.
Additional Requirements for Graduate Students:
Graduate students will be required to produce an integrated,
synthetic, and critical review of primary research that is
extended and applied towards a topic in evolutionary biology.
Athena Title
Advanced Evolutionary Biology
Prerequisite
GENE 3000-3000D or GENE 3000H or GENE 3080H
Semester Course Offered
Offered spring
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Course Objectives
Students will understand the conceptual underpinnings of modern evolutionary biology. The successful student will be able to read and assimilate both classic and current primary literature in evolutionary biology. Through lectures, the reading of primary literature and problem sets, the successful student will appreciate the fundamental and outstanding questions in evolutionary biology, and will understand how theoretical, experimental, and comparative approaches can be used to answer these questions. Successful students will have developed a strong foundation for more advanced courses in population genetics and evolutionary biology and for research in evolutionary biology at the graduate level, including the ability to plan and execute research projects in evolutionary biology.
Topical Outline
A. Microevolution 1. Basic Concepts 2. Measuring Genetic Diversity 3. Hardy-Weinberg: Evolutionary Factors 4. Mutation and Natural Selection Theory 5. Fitness and Natural Selection 6. Group and Kin Selection, Sexual Selection 7. Adaptation 8. Inbreeding 9. Genetic Drift 10. Gene Flow 11. Genetic Structure 12. Patterns of Variation B. Macroevolution 13. Species Concepts 14. Speciation 15. Phylogenetics 16. Fossil Record and Extinctions 17. Biogeography and Phylogeography 18. Evolution of Interactions, Coevolution 19. Molecular Evolution
Syllabus