BIO 304 : Evolutionary Biology

Theodosius Dobzhansky famously said, “Nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution.”  Evolution is genetic change over time, and as genes change, so does the organism.  This course will explore microevolution, which is evolution at the population level, and macroevolution, which is evolution at the species level and higher.  An example microevolutionary question is: Why does a male peacock have such a large tail when it makes him more vulnerable to predation?  An example macroevolutionary question is: Why do some modern humans have gene variants that originated in Neanderthals?