Introduction lecture

Question 1

Areas to revise from level 1

Answer 1

History of evolutionary ideas – long before Darwin (from Plato to Lamarck)

Darwin’s key contribution was providing a credible mechanism for the process of evolution: natural selection

Examples of selection in action from the breeding of domestic livestock, to industrial melanism and Darwin’s finches.

Geological time and the context of evolution (environmental change)

Major radiations (e.g. Cambrian, Paleozoic, modern) and mass extinction(e.g. Cretaceous)

Mechanisms of evolutionary change (evolution of diversity in natural populations)

Types of selection (directional, balancing, disruptive)

Speciation (allopatry, parapatry, sympatry)

Question 2

Topics this year

Answer 2

Why did sex evolve and why is it so complex in plants?

Coevolution e.g. flowers/ pollinators as with Darwin’s moths

Early vertebrate evolution

Success/failure of evolutionary paths

Evolution of mammals and the importance of K-PG mass extinction

Radiation of mammalian groups

Social and sexual selection

Evolution of marine mammals – return to the water

Evolution in our lives – how it affects us day to day

Question 3

Notes on using scientific terms (often a combination of Greek and Latin)

Answer 3

Used to describe the characteristics of a species

Important as common names often vary by country or culture

Used to track taxonomic classification and evolution theories

May honour the name of the person who discovered that species

May change over time

Question 4

How to study and retain understanding of evolution

Answer 4

1) Understand key processes
2)Be able to support your understanding with relevant examples (e.g. from the lectures or from reading)
3) Be able to integrate information from across the course– e.g. to understand pattern based on process
4)Be able to understand key points of inference based on relevant detail