Stockbridge Sch of Agriculture 697AZ - ST-Applied Zoology & Ev Bio

This course provides an overview of animal diversity, evolution, behavior, morphology, and physiology. It will help develop an understanding of the interrelationships of form function, ecology, and behavior, with an emphasis on the processes of evolution and the patterns generated by these processes in addition to applying these concepts to contemporary conservation challenges, including an understanding of their application towards landscape ecology. Topics will include: elementary population genetics, the theory of evolution by natural selection, concepts of fitness and adaptation, genetic and developmental bases of evolutionary change, modes of speciation, molecular evolution, principles of systematic biology, paleontology and macroevolutionary trends in evolution, extinction and human evolution.