I.    WHAT IS EVOLUTION?  The History and Development of a Unifying Discipline          25%

 

      A.   The Meaning and Significance of Evolutionary Biology

     

      B.   A Brief History of Evolutionary Biology

            1.   Origins and early development of evolution as a discipline

                  a)   Evolutionary philosophy before Charles Darwin

                  b)   The important works and contributions of Charles Darwin

                  c)   Other important figures in early evolutionary philosophy

            2.   The Modern Synthesis

                  a)   The importance of the modern synthesis to the development of evolutionary
                        theory

                  b)   Main tenets of the modern synthesis

                  c)    Influence of the modern synthesis on the unification of disciplines that
                        characterize contemporary biology

            3.   The Evolution of Populations

                  a)   The genetics of populations

                  b)   Microevolution occurring within populations

                  c)   Natural selection as a mechanism for adaptive evolution

 

 

II.   LATIN AMERICA AND EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY—Darwin and the Galápagos          15%

 

      A.  Charles Darwin and the H.M.S. Beagle in South America

 

      B.  The Role of Latin America in the Development of Evolutionary Thought

            1.   Case Study: Darwin's Finches

 

 

III.  TAXONOMY, CLASSIFICATION, AND SPECIES                                                        5%

     

      A.  Linnaeus and the Binomial Nomenclature System

     

      B.  The Classification Hierarchy

     

      C.  Rules for Naming and Classifying Organisms

     

      D.   Methods of Classification

            1.   Phenetics

            2.   Cladistics

            3.   Evolutionary taxonomy

            4.   The five-kingdom system

            5.   The three-kingdom system

 

 

IV.  MECHANISMS OF GENETIC VARIATION AND EARTH'S DIVERSITY                        35%

 

      A.  Selection and Variation

            1.   The theory of natural selection

            2.   Other types of selection

            3.   Mutation

            4.   Recombination

            5.   Gene flow

 

      B.  Speciation as a Mechanism of Macroevolution

            1.   Modes of speciation that increase diversity

                  a)    Sympatry

                  b)   Allopatry

            2.   Extinction as a mechanism that decreases diversity

 

      C.   The Pace of Evolution

            1.   Gradualism

            2.   Punctuated equilibrium

 

      D.   A Brief History of Life on Earth

 

      E.   Fossil Evidence

 

 

V.   Select Topics in Evolutionary Biology                                                             20%

     

      A.   Natural Selection and Genome Size

            1.   The fossil record

            2.   Genome sizes in living species

 

      B.   Evolutionary Developmental Biology ("evo devo")

            1.   Hox genes

            2.   Non-coding DNA    

            3.   Criticisms of evo devo

 

      C.   Biochemical and Molecular Similarities among Organisms

 

      D.  Evolution as "Tinkering"