Lectures
Some of the fossils on display in lecture in Spring 2019
Only partial lecture materials will be posted online; you must attend lectures to do well in this course.
Reading assignments from the textbook are on a separate page. Sources of images used in lectures are listed here.
| Lecture | Date | Topic |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tu Jan. 21 | Why study evolution? |
| 2 | Th Jan. 23 | Phylogenies and tree thinking |
| 3 | Tu Jan. 28 | Estimating phylogeny |
| 4 | Th Jan. 30 | Natural selection |
| 5 | Tu Feb. 4 | Quantitative trait evolution |
| 6 | Th Feb. 6 | Quantitative trait evolution |
| 7 | Tu Feb. 11 | Selection at a single locus |
| Th Feb. 13 | EXAM 1 (covers Lectures 1-7) | |
| 8 | Tu Feb. 18 | Modeling evolution |
| 9 | Th Feb. 20 | Molecular evolution; sexual selection |
| 10 | Tu Feb. 25 | Advantages of sex, multilevel selection |
| 11 | Th Feb. 27 | Inclusive fitness, Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (bonus!) |
| 12 | Tu Mar. 4 | Genetic drift and population structure |
| 13 | Th Mar. 6 | Bottlenecks, founder effect, shifting balance, reproductive isolation |
| Tu Mar. 11 | EXAM 2 (covers Lectures 8-12) | |
| 14 | Th Mar. 13 | Speciation |
| Tu Mar. 18 | SPRING RECESS | |
| Th Mar. 20 | SPRING RECESS | |
| 15 | Tu Mar. 25 | Speciation |
| 16 | Th Mar. 27 | Speciation |
| 17 | Tu Apr. 1 | Adaptation |
| 18 | Th Apr. 3 | Adaptation |
| 19 | Tu Apr. 8 | Origin of Life |
| Th Apr. 10 | EXAM 3 (covers Lectures 14-19) | |
| 20 | Tu Apr. 15 | Origin of Life |
| 21 | Th Apr. 17 | Fossils / Pre-Cambrian |
| 22 | Tu Apr. 22 | Fossils / Cambrian |
| 23 | Th Apr. 24 | Fossils / Cambrian |
| 24 | Tu Apr. 29 | Human evolution |
| 25 | Th May 1 | Human evolution |
| TBA | EXAM 4 (covers Lectures 20-25) |
The Final Exam will be held in the same room as the lectures (TLS 154) but note that it will not be at the usual time. See the Final Exam Information page on the Registrar’s web site for more details.