Welcome to Biol 3306

Evolutionary Biology

Please look over the

syllabus on BlackBoard
if you haven’t already.
 Today’s Tasks

• Introductions
• Course mechanics
• What is evolution?
 Introductions
• Dr. Rebecca Zufall (1st half of course)
• Dr. Tony Frankino (2nd half)
• TA: Hannah Locke
 Introductions
• Dr. Rebecca Zufall (1st half of course)
• Dr. Tony Frankino (2nd half)
• TA: Hannah Locke
Recitations: A Second Shot at the Material

Pre-Recitation:
•  Email me questions at hlocke@central.uh.edu
•  Label email “Recitation Questions”

During Recitation:
•  Take Notes
•  Take Pictures of Any Visualization
•  Stop me and ask me clarifying questions

Post-Recitation:
•  Email me questions at hlocke@central.uh.edu
•  Will respond in 24 hours
•  If unresolved, seek additional help
 Introductions
• Dr. Rebecca Zufall (~1st half of course)
• Dr. Tony Frankino (~2nd half)
• TA: Hannah Locke
• Academic history
• B.S., Cornell University, Ph.D., Duke University, Postdoc, Smith College
• Started at UH in 2006
• Teaching
• 12th year teaching Evolution at UH (11th co-teaching with Frankino)
• Other courses I’ve taught: Applied Evolution, Evolutionary Medicine,
Biology of Food, graduate seminars
• Research
• Evolutionary genetics using ciliates
• Major/non-major?
• Pre-health? Pre-something else interesting? Pre-I
don’t know yet? Pre-nothing; I’m getting a job when I
graduate…

• Why are you taking this course?

• Most interesting thing you did over break?
Course Mechanics
Syllabus
Website: BlackBoard
Website: BlackBoard
Website: BlackBoard
Understanding Evolution
website
 Sections

• Tues/Thurs 10-11:30, SW 101

• Tues/Thurs 4:00-5:30, SR2 130
‣ You may attend either section.
 Textbook

• Bergstrom and Dugatkin (2016),

2nd edition
• Available in various formats, some
cheaper than others.
• This is required.
 No Clickers

• We will not be using clickers this semester

• Instead, we will have various Blackboard
assignments, both in and out of class
• Thus, you must bring a Blackboard-capable
device to class (if this is an issue, please let
me know!)
 Genetics is a prerequisite
• You will be dropped if you have not completed 3301.
• Thus, we will assume you already know:
•What mutations are and how new alleles are formed
• How DNA replication, transcription, and translation work
• The processes of mitosis and meiosis
• Dominance/recessivity
• Recombination
•...
 Exams
• All exams will be held at CASA
• 3 midterm exams
• lowest midterm exam grade will be dropped
• Comprehensive final exam
• All multiple choice
• “There will be no office hours, appointments, emailed
questions, or other contact with faculty starting one full
working day before an exam day, through the end of the
testing period.”
 Homework
• 6 homework assignments via BlackBoard.
• worth 3 points each.
• No credit for late work.
• One extra credit “museum” homework.
• worth 3 points.
• More information will be provided later in the semester.
 Bb assignment Points
• For Zufall’s portion of the course, most of the Bb
assignments will be of the following form:
• Question assigned at the end of class
• Due by 10:00 am on the morning of the next
class day
• Other assignments will occur during class and be
due immediately
Bb assignment Points
 Grades
• Grades will be the sum of your two highest midterm
exam scores, your final exam score, and your grades
on the homework, minus any deductions for Bb
assignments.
• Scores will be converted to letter grades as
described on the syllabus.
• Grade disputes must be brought to our attention
within one week of scores being posted.
A note about communication

UH policy states that all required written notices shall be addressed to the student
via their UH email. Notices properly addressed and so sent shall be presumed to
have been received by the student. Thus, you are responsible for the content in
emails sent to your UH account, regardless if your external (non-UH) email
provider filters or blocks them. Emails lost to external providers shall not be used
as a justification to claim faculty are unresponsive, to appeal grades, etc.
Schedule
Some thoughts about how to
approach this course
• It’s cumulative. Don’t get left behind.
• Many themes will run throughout the course: fitness,
selection, adaptation...
• Recitation, practice problems, study groups, and office
hours.
• Slides are NOT your notes.
• Memorizing is not enough; you must understand.
 Other things

• You may audio record, but no video recording is

allowed.
• If you miss class, get notes from a classmate. Recall,
the slides are not sufficient notes, but I don’t have
other written notes for you.
 What is evolution?

http://www.statedclearly.com/evolution/
 What is evolution?
Any change in the heritable traits
within a population across generations

Evolution does not happen within a single generation

Development is not evolution

 What is evolution?
Any change in the heritable traits
within a population across generations

Traits must be heritable in order to evolve

Environmentally induced changes are not heritable

 What is evolution?
Any change in the heritable traits
within a population across generations

Individuals do not evolve

Evolution consists of changes in allele frequencies, a

population parameter
 What is evolution?

• The pattern of evolution:

• Common ancestry and change over time
• Evolutionary processes:
• Natural selection, Genetic drift, Migration, Sexual
selection, Mutation, ...
 Why is the theory of
evolution so important?
• It provides an explanation for the diversity of life on
the planet.
• A way to explain the similarities and differences
among all organisms, living and dead.
 Why is the theory of
evolution so important?
“Nothing in biology makes sense except in
the light of evolution.


…Without that light it becomes a pile of 

sundry facts some of them interesting or curious 

but making no meaningful picture as a whole. ”

-Theodosius Dobzhansky (1973)

 Applications of evolution

Conservation
Evolution provides context for developing appropriate
conservation strategies


 Applications of evolution
Origins
Evolution accounts for the appearance of humans and
reveals our species’ biological connections with other
living things


 Applications of evolution
Public Health
Studying evolution enables the development of effective
new ways to protect ourselves against constantly evolving
pathogens


 Applications of evolution

Food production
Evolution by artificial selection led to domestication of
the plants and animals that we use today for food


 Applications of evolution
Forensics
Evolutionary analyses are used in court as evidence in
rape, murder, and other cases
P: Patient


V: Victim
LA: reference
samples from
other infected
individuals in
Lafayette
How we study evolution

• Empirical approaches
• Observation
• Manipulation
• Theoretical approaches
• Mathematical models of biological systems
 Things you should know

• Course mechanics
• What is evolution?
• Why is evolution important?
• What are some of the applications of evolution?
• How do scientists study evolution?
 Bb Problem
• Which of the following is an example of evolution?
a. The fur on an aging dog turns from black to grey.
b. After three generations of breeding the smallest
dogs in the same environment, the average size of
pups in a litter decreases by 3 pounds.
c. Hunting dogs are only taught the smell of prey
once, but with each season that they hunt, they get
better and better at scenting the trail.
d. All of the above.