An Introduction to Evolutionary Biology

Overview

ABOUT THE COURSE:This is an introductory course in evolutionary biology. The aim is to give the students an overview of the process of evolution and how it connects various disciplines of biology. We will also look at how evolutionary thinking informs other domains of human interest like medicine, psychology, antibiotic resistance etc. After taking this course, the students should be able to apply the core concepts in evolution across domains and also appreciate significance of evolutionary theory in biology and society.INTENDED AUDIENCE: Primarily undergraduates enrolled in various biology courses.PREREQUISITES: Students should have a basic (Class XII level) understanding of concepts in Biology. No other course is required as a prerequisite.

Syllabus

Week 1: Overview of evolution, History of evolutionary thought, Extended Evolutionary Synthesis.
Week 2:Evidence for evolution. Microevolution (selective breeding, direct observation, vestigial organs). Macroevolution (fossil records, transitional forms, evolutionary homology, molecular homology).
Week 3:Mechanism of evolution: Variation. Kinds of variation important for evolution. Randomness of mutations. Non-genetic inheritances and their importance.
Week 4:Mechanism of evolution: Selection (process, pre-requisites, consequences). Examples of selection under laboratory and natural systems.
Week 5:Mechanisms of evolution: Genetic Drift and Inbreeding. Founder effect, bottleneck effect, neutral evolution.
Week 6:Aging: Why do we age? Molecular theories of aging. Evolutionary theories of aging. Antagonistic pleiotropy and Mutation accumulation.
Week 7:Sex and sexual selection: Sexual selection and its various types (male-male competition, female choice), evolution of sex ratios. Why sex?
Week 8:Cooperation and conflict: Evolution of altruism, Kin selection, Intra- and inter-locus conflicts, Parent-offspring conflicts, Eusociality.
Week 9:Macroevolution: Different species concepts, Speciation, Various mechanisms of reproductive isolation, adaptive radiation, introduction to phylogenetic trees.
Week 10:Genome Evolution and Evolutionary Developmental Biology: Birth and death of genes, chromosome evolution, Phenotypic plasticity, canalization and genetic assimilation, constraints on adaptive evolution.
Week 11:Origin of life and human evolution: Various theories about origin of life, closest relatives of humans, other hominin groups, cultural evolution, human evolution in modern times.
Week 12:Evolution and the society: Evolutionary medicine, Evolution of antibiotic resistance, evolutionary psychology.