EEB 187 - COMPARATIVE BIOLOGY AND MACROEVOLUTION LECTURE M 9:00-10:50,100 LaKretz HallLAB Thursdays 10:30-12:00 YH 4336Instructor:Michael Alfaro, PhDOffice: Life Sciences 5217 Office Hours: by appointmentOverview Modern comparative biology provides the framework for studying broad questions in evolution like: !How do body shapes evolve? What are the dynamics of evolutionary arms races? Why are there so many species in the tropics? Why are there so many beetles and so few crocodiles? Did dinosaurs put the brakes on the diversification of mammals? Students in this course will learn why the tree of life is essential to understanding patterns of biological diversity and how phylogenetic comparative methods are used to test macroevolutionary hypotheses. Course Readings See course website: EEB 187. The course uses review articles, primary literature, and web resources.Approximate Schedule Check the EEB 187 website regularly for updated scheduleLabs There will be a computer lab most Thursdays from 10:30 to 12:00 in YH 4336 to demonstrate software packages used in macroevolutionary analyses.Assessment There will be a final cumulative exam March 15th. In addition, graduate students will give an oral presentation showing an example of comparative analysis. Details of the oral presentation will be discussed in class.Tentative ScheduleWeekLectureReadingsLabJan 4--UC_Evol_101_Macroevolution and ModernSynthesis--Jan 11Introduction to phylogeny and macroevolutionHo SYW, & Phillips MJ (2009) Systematic Biology, 58: 367-380.dating phylogeniesJan 18Why are there so many beetles and so few tuataras?TBAmodels of speciation and extinctionJan 25How can we infer traits in evolutionary ancestors?TBAancestral state reconstructionWeekLectureReadingsLabFeb 1Do traits co-evolve?TBAindependent contrastsFeb 8What are adaptive radiations?TBAkey innovations and models of character evolutionFeb 15Has life evolved to be more complex?TBATBAFeb 22Why are species found where they are?TBAbiogeographic modelsMar 1Does culture evolve?TBATBAMar 8TBATBATBAMar 15Final