| Unit name | Evolutionary Ecology |
|---|---|
| Unit code | BIOL31136 |
| Credit points | 10 |
| Level of study | H/6 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 4 (weeks 1-24) |
| Unit director | Professor. Genner |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Pre-requisites |
None, but we recommend that students should have taken BIOL11000, BIOL12000 and BIOL20212 Evolutionary Biology. |
| Co-requisites |
None |
| School/department | School of Biological Sciences |
| Faculty | Faculty of Life Sciences |
The theory of natural selection is core to our understanding of how life evolves. This unit will focus on how natural selection has promoted evolution of biodiversity, using examples from a range of model adaptive radiations, including Darwin's finches, African cichlid fishes and Anolis lizards. The unit will explore how selection on functional genes has driven evolution of key morphological and ecological traits, how environmental regimes drive and alter this selection, and how natural and sexual selection combine to drive the evolution of species.
Aims:
This unit will focus on how natural selection has promoted evolution of biodiversity. Examples of key concepts will be drawn from a range of model systems, including adaptive radiations of Darwin’s finches, African cichlid fishes and Anolis lizards.
By the end of this unit you will have a solid understanding of how natural selection operates, and how recent research has advanced the field. Students will gain a better appreciation of why model systems are used in the study of adaptive evolution, how we are able to reconstruct the evolutionary history of these systems, and how new techniques are enabling us to gain novel insight into the mechanisms that have promoted remarkable diversification in short periods of evolutionary time.
Lectures, interactive seminars/workshops and independent study.
End of Session exam (100%).
Much of the lecture material for the specific topics considered in this Unit is taken from research papers.
Key reference material will be made available on Blackboard following each lecture.
Recommended texts include: Barton N. (2007) Evolution. Cold Spring Harbour Laboratory Press, New York. Grant P.R. & Grant BR (2008) How and why species multiply: The radiation of Darwin's finches. Princeton University Press. New Jersey.
