Evolutionary Biology
Dr. Plowes exploring some the most diverse flowering plants, orchids, in Zimbabwe c. 1982
This course is a survey of the mechanisms of evolution, biogeography, and the history of the major groups of living organisms.
How do new species arise? Why are there so many species of orchids? Are humans still evolving?
Possible Textbooks:
Evolution (Futuyuma)
Topics
DNA: inheritance, gene expression, gene regulation
Population genetics - Hardy Weinberg
Mechanisms of Microevolution: mutation, natural selection, genetic drift, gene flow
Species and speciation processes
Sexual selection and kin selection
Interactions within and between species (coevolution)
Macroevolution:
history of life
principles of biogeography
evolution of humans
Excellent resources to explore different components of evolutionary biology:
Phyloseminar: live and recorded seminars featuring international researchers who specialize in phylogenetics, the field of inquiry that uses data to construct phylogenies (the evolutionary relationships between living organisms).
Trends in Ecology and Evolution journal
Evolution journal