Biology: Evolutionary Biology - Patterns and Processes

<p>BIOR89</p><p>The general aim of the course is to enable students to understand the aims, theories, models and methodologies of contemporary evolutionary biology, and how these are applied to different biological systems.</p> <h3>Course content</h3> <p>The course will enable students to acquire extensive knowledge and understanding of fundamental topics in evolutionary biology. The course will explain how the history of life can be unravelled through studies of genes and genomes, developmental biology, and the features of extant organisms and fossils. The course will also provide a deep understanding of the evolutionary process. It will explain why evolution by natural selection gives rise to adaptation, what are the causes of diversification and novelty, and how the evolutionary process itself can evolve. The course makes use of a wide range of examples to illustrate how different biological systems, models, methods, and types of data can reveal how evolution works. Ultimately, it examines how an evolutionary perspective can be applied to phenomena at all levels of biological organisation, from molecules to ecosystems.</p>