Evolutionary Biology (Biology 3500) -- Spring 2008

Class meetings: Classroom Building 137, 9:35-10:50 a.m. on Tuesday and Thursday

Syllabus: pdf version of syllabus

Professor: Alex Buerkle (email)

Teaching Assistant: Mark Lesser (email)

Readings from the primary literature

All links are to pdf files that are suitable for printing with Adobe Reader.

1. Bradshaw, H. D. and D. W. Schemske. 2003. Allele substitution at a flower colour locus produces a pollinator shift in monkeyflowers. Nature 426: 176–178.
2. McKinnon, J. S. and H. D. Rundle. 2002. Speciation in nature: the threespine stickleback model systems. TREE 17: 480–488.
3. Stolz, U. et al. 2003. Darwinian natural selection for orange bioluminescent color in a Jamaican click beetle. PNAS 100: 14955–14959.

Sexual selection video clips

Below are a few links to video excerpts that are hosted on YouTube. You can find others by searching on "birds of paradise" or "bowerbirds". The videos are great, but I obviously can't be held responsible for the YouTube commentary (you're all adults, unlike some of the commenters).

• Elephant seals
• Plumed Bird of Paradise
• Various birds of paradise
• Bowerbird

Campus presentations

• Cooperation and Conflict in Animal Societies
  Tim Clutton-Brock, University of Cambridge, England
  2 April 2008, 7:30 p.m. (Classroom Building 129)
  There will be a reception prior to the lecture at 7:00 pm in the lounge adjacent to Rm 129.
• Polygyny and the Evolution of Sex Differences
  Tim Clutton-Brock, University of Cambridge, England
  3 April 2008, 4:10 p.m. (Classroom Building 129)
  There will be a reception prior to the lecture at 3:30 pm in the lounge adjacent to Rm 129.

General biology review materials

• Meiosis animation
• Mitosis and meiosis in animation I
• Mitosis and meiosis in animation II