Macroevolution @ ISU

About this Course

BIOL 465X/EEOB 565X - Macroevolution, Spring 2022

Course Description

Evolutionary thinking provides the underpinnings of modern biology. In recent decades, the field of macroevolution (evolution above the species level) has matured into a rich discipline with a well-developed mathematical theory for testing hypotheses of species diversification, for understanding trait evolution, and evaluating patterns of covariation across the tree of life. This course will provide a synthetic view of biology and how life on earth has changed over time.

Through a combination of lectures and computational exercises, students will become familiar with the foundational concepts of macroevolution. They will understand patterns of diversity in the fossil record, the major changes in that diversity over time. Students will be immersed in ‘tree thinking’, where a phylogenetic perspective is exploited to understand patterns of diversity, and testing hypotheses of how species and trait diversity changes through time. Computational exercises will reinforce lecture topics and discussion of recent research. Hands-on training will put these concepts into applied practice to test biological hypotheses and provide students with experience using software tools for macroevolutionary analysis.

Conceptual Topics:

• Patterns in the fossil record
• Lineage Diversification
• Mass extinctions and extinction rates
• Trait evolution: tempo and mode
• Gradualism, stasis, and punctuated equilibrium
• Tree thinking, phylogeny reconstruction using basic approaches
• Trait comparisons, trait evolution on phylogenies
• Statistical methods for inferring phylogenies

Practical Exercises:

• Inferring dated phylogenies
• Methods for detecting variation in rates of diversification
• Testing hypotheses about correlations among traits
• Ancestral state reconstruction
• Biogeography: ancestral area reconstruction
• Modeling the tempo and mode of continuous character evolution
• Understanding multivariate trait evolution