EVOLUTION

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Nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution.
- Theodosius Dobzhansky

 

LINKS TO: LINKS, ASSIGNMENTS, READINGS, CLASS NOTES

EVOLUTION, Fall 2014, 4 credits, M-Th, 8:10-10:00 AM, Dickinson 117
Kerry Woods
(Dickinson 143, 440-4465, kwoods@bennington.edu, office hours Tues, Wed, Fri 10-12)

Life is interesting because of its adaptive (and maladaptive) diversity and complexity.  Evolutionary theory is the only available explanation  for these properties that's both fully testable and consistent with the evidence available to us.  Any legitimate body of scientific theory must share these qualities, of course.  The great theories have the additional quality of 'fertility'.  They not only answer questions we already have, but they suggest new connections and consistencies across bodies of theory and understanding -- they generate new questions and ideas.  Evolutionary theory has been, and continues to be, extraordinarily fertile across fields ranging from geology to anthropology.

Darwin didn’t invent the idea of evolution, but his insight into its mechanisms constitutes one of a handful of great revolutions in science, and he was one of the first scientists to be recognizably 'modern' in his approach to questions and hypotheses. The modern consensus on evolution, growing from many decades of rigorous assessment and testing (and controversy), continues to embody Darwin’s ideas at its core. However, much has been added, especially through discoveries in genetics and advances in modeling, and much remains to be understood.  Evolutionary biology is a dynamic and vital science; discussions and debates are lively, and important new studies are published frequently.  

This course will explore current understanding of the mechanisms and patterns of evolution. While the basic selective process is an inescapable logical consequence of properties essential to what we call 'life', many of the implications and predictions of selective theory are deeply counter-intuitive (perhaps because our intuition has been shaped by selection!) and challenging. We will focus on the workings of selection in populations as it shapes adaptations and life-history structures.  In-depth exploration of the grand history of life – phylogeny and biogeography – is another class.

Why are organisms so diverse? Some are very complex, while others have become highly simplified; why? What is the cause and significance of the similarities and differences we observe in the properties and behaviors of different types of organisms? Are there trends in evolution? How does one study evolution? In addressing these and other questions we will read and discuss, in additional to a general text, primary research papers and essays.

EXPECTATIONS and EVALUATION

I expect you to take this course seriously. You must attend class and keep up with assigned readings; otherwise, you'll get lost and confused or the entire class will be slowed. If an absence can't be helped, let me know beforehand if possible, but you must bear the responsibility for catching up.  Too many absences (generally, more than two or three) can be reflected in evaluation and may lead to failure.

Attendance and formal completion of assignments is not enough to do well.  Give serious thought to the subject matter, participate in the discussion, exercise your capacity for critical thought, and take responsibility for pursuing your own questions and interestsChallenge yourself.  If you do nothing but come to class and complete the assigned reading and writing, you're not really doing this! 

Written assignments must be completed and on time: late assignments may not be accepted without prior arrangement, and late work can affect your evaluation.  Missing or consistently late work may lead to failure.

I also expect you to enter the class with a working familiarity with some of the basic processes and vocabulary of biology.  In particular, it's important that you have a good grasp of the cell cycle (meiosis, mitosis), of the basic structure of DNA and proteins, and of the processes of DNA replication and translation.  These are all essential to clear thinking about selective processes (as well as general understanding of modern biology and its significance in your lives) and will be assumed in this class.  Talk to me if you need to do some background review.  You will also need solid algebraic skills.

Evaluations will be based on all aspects of performance, including contributions to class discussion; if you request a letter grade, anticipate that essays and other written exercises will each account for about 35% of your grade; the remainder will be based on other aspects of class participation.

WEB SITE

All assignments as well as other information pertaining to the class will be posted through links from this website.

REFERENCES

Crosset library has substantial holdings (physical and digital) of material that bears on evolution -- journals and books; explore them. You’ll be expected (required) to choose, read, and review primary journal papers. You can find appropriate material via searches in data-bases available at the Crossett Library web-page (try the Academic Search Premier, BIOONE, JSTOR databases in particular; BUT note that some journals don't give these data-bases full-text access for a period after publication). You can determine which journals the library holds (either paper or digital access) at Crossett's E-journal portal. Scholar.google.com is also a powerful engine for scientific literature research; it can often find on-line versions of papers (for example, at authors' web-sites), and will also find more recent papers that have cited a known paper. We'll talk about these tools in class. Finally, you can simply browse current journals on Crossett shelves to get a sense of what the papers look like. Almost any biological journal will publish papers addressing evolutionary questions. Among those held in Crosset (in print and, for most, digital as well), those particularly likely to have appropriate papers for your review essays include:

American Journal of Botany
American Naturalist
(lots of theory, some with relatively advanced mathematics)
Ann. Rev. Ecol. and Systematics
(shelved with books, not journals; these are generally longer review articles, not primary research)
Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology
Proceedings of National Academy of Science
(many disciplines, but generally a few 'cutting-edge' articles on evolution)
Ecology (need to select evolutionarily oriented papers)
Evolution (obviously)
Nature (this one and next usually have one or two evolution-oriented papers; they tend to be shorter, more 'telegraphic' than others. May not be as complete as to methods, background, but generally have the hottest stuff.)
PLOS ('public library of science'; freely accessible on-line)
Science

TENTATIVE COURSE OUTLINE

This outline may change as we see how things progress. Readings are from Evolution: Making Sense of Life  by Carl Zimmer and Douglan Emlen; I don’t care whether you purchase the book, but you should make sure you have reliable access to it (or some other solid evolutionary biology text/reference; ask if you want to know if one's appropriate).  This is a new text: Zimmer is a highly respected science writer and Emlen is at the forefront of evolutionary biology research.  

We won't necessarily 'cover' text material  sequentially or completely, but I indicate chapters that are pertinent to general topics in the outline below.  Read those chapters in advance of class and bring questions to class: that'll alow us to forego much "lecturing" in favor of questions and discussion. Additional readings from primary sources will be assigned regularly. Some chapters won't be particularly addressed in class, but feel free to read them (they are interesting) and bring questions to class.

I. Introduction and Context (READ Chs. 1-2)
- What's evolution? Natural selection, adaptation, exaptation
- Origins of the idea, history of hypotheses
- Evidences of evolution; can it be studied scientifically?
- Inheritance, genetics, and inevitability
- Characteristics of genes, organisms, populations, species

II. Processes and Mechanisms: basic selective theory (READ Chs. 5-8)
- Variation and its origins
- Population structure and genetics
- Natural Selection and adaptation
- Non-selective evolution

III. Life-history evolution (READ Chs. 10-12,15)
- Life history evolution
- game theory, optimality, and stability
- Coevolution, parasitism, and symbiosis 
- Kin selection, sociobiology, altruism, and selfish genes
- What good is sex?
- Sexual selection

IV. Bigger pictures: Origins and patterns of diversity
- Speciation (READ Ch 13)
- Introduction to phylogenetics and evolutionary biogeography (READ Chs. 14)

V. Other topics?? (many possibilities: evolution of disease and evolutionary medicine, for example) (READ Ch. 16-18)

-- KDW, Feb 2014