SYLLABUS

Biology 70503 [47382], Evolution, 3 credits (Graduate course)

Fall 2004

 

Time: Wednesdays, 2:00–5:00 p.m.

Location: CUNY Graduate Center, Room 4422 (365 Fifth Avenue, at 34th Street)

 

Instructor: Dr. Robert P. Anderson, Assistant Professor, City College of CUNY

Office: J-817 Marshak Science Building; Telephone: 212-650-8504

Office hours: Mondays, 10:30–12:00 and 1:00–2:30 or by appointment

E-mail: anderson@sci.ccny.cuny.edu (for scheduling issues)

Webpage: http://web.sci.ccny.cuny.edu/~anderson/

 

Textbook, required: Futuyma, D. J. 1998. Evolutionary Biology, 3rd edition. Sinauer. ISBN

0-87893-189-9 (Textbook available at the CUNY Graduate Center bookstore)

 

Course philosophy:   

This graduate course is designed to expose students to the fundamental elements of modern evolutionary theory and research.  Knowledge gained here should help students in their research and when taking more specialized courses—such as population genetics, systematics, and animal behavior—in later semesters.

Class periods will generally include a lecture, followed by discussion.  To complement the textbook, both classic and modern readings from the primary literature will be assigned.  Active participation in readings and discussions will be necessary to meet course objectives.  Students will take turns co-leading the discussions with the instructor, and a small number of out-of-class projects may be assigned.

 

Grading:  

Grades will be assigned based on performance on three exams, participation in class discussions (especially the topics that the student co-leads with the instructor), and any additional projects assigned.  Of necessity, the material for later sections of the course will build upon topics covered earlier in the semester.  Points will be assigned as follows: Exam 1: 30 %; Exam 2: 30 %; Final Exam: 30%; Participation (including projects assigned): 10 %.

 

Absences:

Students are responsible for the material in the readings, as well as that covered each week in class (lecture and discussion).  If you miss class, you are responsible for obtaining the supplementary (non-Futuyma) readings that were assigned on that day. 

If you know that you will miss an exam, contact me as soon as possible so that you can take the exam in advance.  Make-up exams will be allowed only for documented excused absences (e.g., death in the family, extreme sickness, etc.).

END SYLLABUS

 

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Tentative schedule:   

Date	Topic	Readings (Futuyma)
Wed. 1 Sept.	Historical background; necessary principles from genetics and ecology	Ch. 1 (pp. 4–9), Ch. 2 (pp. 17–24), Ch. 3 (pp. 31–39, 43–48), Ch. 4 (pp. 59–65, 68–70), Ch. 6 (pp. 127–130), Ch. 7 (p. 184)
Wed. 8 Sept.	The Modern Synthesis	Ch. 2 (pp. 24–28)
no class 15 Sept.
Wed. 22 Sept.	Schools of systematics and taxonomy	Ch. 5 (pp. 87–96)
Wed. 29 Sept.	Homology, characters, and phylogeny reconstruction (end material Exam 1)	Ch. 5 (pp. 96–100)
Wed. 6 Oct.	EXAM 1. New material: Hardy-Weinberg and the mechanisms of evolution	Ch. 9 (pp. 234–239)
Wed. 13 Oct.	Genetic drift and neutral evolution	Ch. 11 (pp. 297–304, 320–323)
Wed. 20 Oct.	Fitness, heritability, adaptive landscapes, models of evolution	Ch. 13 (pp. 365–369, 375–379, 384, 391–395), Ch. 14 (pp. 407–413, 418–426)
Wed. 27 Oct.	Molecular techniques and molecular evolution	Ch. 11 (pp. 327, 332–333), Ch. 22 (pp. 625–629)
Wed. 3 Nov.	Development and allometry; macroevolutionary patterns (end material Exam 2)	Ch. 6 (pp. 137, 155–162), Ch. 17 (pp. 523–527), Ch. 23 (pp. 651–658), Ch. 24 (pp. 677–678, 689–691)
Wed. 10 Nov.	EXAM 2.
Wed. 17 Nov.	Species concepts and models of speciation; evolution and biogeography	Ch. 15 (pp. 447–456), Ch. 16 (pp. 481–484,  498–500), Ch. 8 (pp. 207–209)
no class 24 Nov.
Wed. 1 Dec.	Evolution of life histories, behavior; guest scientist: Dr. Kimberly Bostwick	Ch. 20 (pp. 579–581, 586–588)
Wed. 8 Dec.	Applications of evolutionary studies to conservation biology	None
Tuesday 14 Dec.	species interactions; guest scientist: Dr. Amy Berkov	Ch. 18 (pp. 539–542, 551–554)
no class 15 Dec.
Wed. 22 Dec.	FINAL EXAM. 2:00–4:00 p.m.

 

Supplemental readings

 

Week 1 (1 Sept.; Historical background): 

pp. 375–379 in:

Darwin, C. 1891. Journal of researches into the natural history and geology of the countries visited during the voyage of H.M.S. “Beagle” round the world. Ward, Lock, and Co., London.

pp. 1–13 (Ch. 1) in:

Wallace, A. R. 1923. Darwinism: an exposition of the theory of natural selection with some of its applications. Macmillan and Co., London.

 

Week 2 (8 Sept.; the Modern Synthesis):

pp. ix–xxvi (Introduction by Egbert G. Leigh, Jr.) in:

Haldane, J.B.S. 1990. The causes of Evolution. Princeton University Press, Princeton.

pp. 540–570 in:

Mayr, E. 1982. The growth of biological thought: diversity, evolution, and inheritance. Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts.

 

Week 3 (22 Sept.; Schools of systematics and taxonomy):

pp. 120–124, 195–199, 242–250 in:

Mayr, E. and P. D. Ashlock. 1991. Principles of Systematic Zoology, 2nd edition. McGraw-Hill, New York

pp. 91–111 in:

Wiley, E. O., D. Siegel-Causey, D. R. Brooks, V. A. Funk. 1991. The compleat cladist: a primer of phylogenetic procedures. Special Publication, University of Kansas Museum of Natural History, 19.

 

Week 4 (29 Sept.; Homology, characters, and phylogeny reconstruction):

pp. 1–24 in:

Wiley, E. O., D. Siegel-Causey, D. R. Brooks, V. A. Funk. 1991. The compleat cladist: a primer of phylogenetic procedures. Special Publication, University of Kansas Museum of Natural History, 19.

Grandcolas, P., P. Deleporte, L. Desutter-Grandcolas, and C. Daugeron. 2001. Phylogenetics and ecology: as many characters as possible should be included in the cladistic analysis. Cladistics, 17: 104–110. (Chosen by Kathleen Schnaars-Uvino)

 

Week 5 (6 Oct.; Exam 1; Hardy-Weinberg and the mechanisms of evolution):

Arnaud, L. and E. Haubruge. 2002. Insecticide resistance enhances male reproductive success in a beetle. Evolution, 56: 2435–2444. (chosen by Ting Yang)

 

Week 6 (13 Oct.; Genetic drift and neutral evolution):

 pp. 47–57 in:

 Graur, D. and W.-H. Li. 2000. Fundamentals of molecular evolution, 2nd edition. Sinauer Associates, Sunderland, Massachusetts.

 Plikat, U., K. Nieselt-Struwe, and A. Meyerhans. 1997. Genetic drift can dominate short-term Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 nef quasispecies evolution in vivo. Journal of Virology, 71:4233–4240. (chosen by Jonathan Báez)

 

Week 7 (20 Oct.; Fitness, heritability, adaptive landscapes, models of evolution):

Anderson, R.P. and C.O. Handley, Jr. 2002. Dwarfism in insular sloths: biogeography, selection, and evolutionary rate. Evolution, 56:1045–1058.

 Arnold, S.J. 2003. Performance surfaces and adaptive landscapes. Integrative and Comparative Biology, 43:367–375. (chosen by Yael Grun Kramer)

 

Week 8 (27 Oct.; Molecular techniques and molecular evolution):

pp. 132–143 in:

Avise, J.C. 2004. Molecular markers, natural history, and evolution, 2nd edition. Sinauer Associates, Sunderland, Massachusetts.

Burns, C.E., C. Ciofi, L.B. Beheregaray, T.H. Fritts, J.P. Gibbs, C. Márquez, M.C. Milinkovitch, J.R. Powell, and A. Caccone. 2003. The origin of captive Galápagos tortises based on DNA analysis: implications for the management of natural populations. Animal Conservation, 6:329–337. (chosen by Linda Gormezano)

 

Week 9 (3 Nov.; Development and allometry; macroevolutionary patterns):

Gayon, G. 2000. History of the concept of allometry. American Zoologist, 40:748–758.

 

Week 10 (10 Nov.; Exam 2)

No readings.

 

Week 11 (17 Nov.; Species concepts and models of speciation; evolution and biogeography)

pp. 23–38 in:

Mayr, E. and P. D. Ashlock. 1991. Principles of Systematic Zoology, 2nd edition. McGraw-Hill, New York.

Wiens, J.J. 2004. What is speciation and how should we study it? American Naturalist, 163:914–923. (chosen by Frank Fontanella)

Joseph, L., E.P. Lessa, and L. Christidis. 1999. Phylogeny and biogeography in the evolution of migration: shorebirds of the Charadrius complex. Journal of Biogeography, 26:329–342. (chosen by Chris Nagy)

 

Week 12 (1 Dec.; Evolution of life histories, behavior):

Bostwick, K.B. 2000. Display behaviors, mechanical sounds, and evolutionary relationships of the club-winged manakin (Machaeropterus deliciosus). Auk, 117:465–478.

 

Week 13 (8 Dec.; Applications of evolutionary studies to conservation biology; species interactions I):

Stockwell, C.A., A.P. Hendry, and M.T. Kinnison. 2003. Contempory evolution meets conservation biology. Trends in Ecology and Evolution, 18:94–101. (chosen by Linda Lalicata)

Proctor, H. and I. Owens. 2000. Mites and birds: diversity, parasitism, and coevolution. Trends in Ecology and Evolution, 15:358–364. (chosen by Robyn Crook)

 

Week 14 (Tuesday 14 Dec; species interactions II):

Berkov, A. 2002. The impact of redefined species limits in Palmae (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae: Lamiinae: Acanthocinini) on assessments of host, seasonal, and stratum specificity. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 76:195–209.

 

Week 15 (22 Dec; Final Exam):

All of the above.

 

Information regarding co-leading discussions 

For most class sessions, two students will co-lead class discussions with the instructor.  These discussions will primarily focus on the supplemental readings (from the primary literature).  Student co-discussion-leaders will focus on one of two roles, as specified by the initial signup sheet.  In addition to their specific roles, both students will be expected to play an active role in the overall discussion, especially by posing questions (regarding the readings) to the group.

Student 1, literature selection:

In consultation with the instructor, this student will select a paper or book chapter from the primary literature, relevant to the week’s topic.  This reading must be selected at least the Friday (12:00 noon) a week and half before the class session when it will be discussed.  By that time, the student must provide a copy to the instructor and the other student co-discussion-leader.

Student 2, literature presentation:

This student will give to the class a brief (3–5 minute) oral overview of the structure of ideas (and results, if applicable) of the paper selected by the other student.  At the beginning of the class period, the student will provide the instructor with a written copy of his/her notes for this overview, as well as three discussion questions based on the reading. 

Both students:

Along with the instructor, both student co-discussion-leaders will facilitate discussion of the questions provided by the second student as well as others that arise in the course of the discussion.

 

Grading of co-leading discussions:

Student will be assigned grades for their participation co-leading class discussions as follows:

Responsibility, punctuality: 25%

Be responsible.  Contact me early and choose your paper on time; or turn in your outline at the beginning of the class period in question, as applicable.  Do not be late to the class period when you are a co-discussion-leader.

Intellectual creativity: 25%

Use your head.  Think when you choose the paper, or put together the brief presentation, as applicable.

Mechanics: 25%

Get the job done.  Do your work and you will get these points.

Participation in discussion: 25%

In addition to selecting the paper or presenting a synopsis of it, facilitate discussion by pointing out relevant passages from the paper and asking questions of the group.

 

Example outline for students co-leading class discussions

 

pp. 540–570 in:  

Mayr, E. 1982. The growth of biological thought: diversity, evolution, and inheritance. Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts.

 

The Modern (Evolutionary) Synthesis

Mendelians vs. “Naturalists”

 

Differences:

1. Hard vs. soft inheritance

            (and: is continuous (“individual”) variation inherited?)

2. Is mutation the supreme force in evolution?

3. Gradual vs. saltational

 

Advances in genetics clarified misconceptions (on both sides) and allowed synthesis

 

Rise of (mathematical) Population Genetics

            Fisher (single, large population)

            Wright (several, small populations)

            Haldane

 

Dobzhansky—brought it all together

Other workers 

  

Questions:

1. What was the background of the workers who made the synthesis possible?

2. Which camp was more right?

3. To what degree do you think a similar rift still exists today between molecular and non-molecular biologists?

 

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R. P. Anderson
Copyright © 2004.

All photographs by RPA

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Last modified: 8 April 2005 (RPA)

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