Evolution (Biology 444)

Fall 2007, MWF 10-10:50 p.m., Strain 324

“Nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution.” –Theodosius Dobzhansky

Welcome to Evolution! As the quotation above suggests, the topics we’ll explore this semester are the foundation of the life sciences. That’s because evolution seeks answers to fundamental how and why questions in biology—such as why do organisms or molecules have their current form and function, and how did those forms and functions arise? By the end of this course, I hope to convince you that the processes and results of evolution are not only amazing, but also critically important in addressing societal issues in fields ranging from medicine to agriculture to conservation.

This course will not always run as a typical lecture course. Instead, you will need to apply information and ideas regularly to problems in and outside of class. I’ve designed the course this way because I’m committed to creating a class that facilitates your learning and helps you practice skills you’ll use in your life and in your career as a biologist—whether that’s in health care, teaching, research, farming, public policy, or any other application of biology.

The scope of this course covers the two main branches of evolution: 1) microevolution, or the causes and mechanisms of evolution; and 2) macroevolution, or reconstructing the history of life on earth. Four ideas will recur throughout the term:

• Evolution is not something that happened only in the past, but continues today and can occur rapidly.
• Evolution is not always adaptive.
• Both chances of history and predictable processes affect evolutionary outcomes.
• Evolution has important applications to current questions and problems in society.

Course goals

By the end of this course, students will be able to:

• predict evolutionary dynamics expected in an unfamiliar biological problem currently facing society, and suggest strategies to manage those dynamics to help solve the problem;
• use evidence to reconstruct the evolutionary history of a taxonomic group or a trait;
• analyze an existing study, assess the methods and results, critique the conclusions, and use the new information to evaluate an existing hypothesis.

Follow this link to access journal article readings from e-reserves.

Follow this link to the website for the textbook, which includes case studies and answers to the end of chapter questions.