the ant life

SPRING 2014: MONDAYS 10:15AM – 12:05PM (FOX HALL, ROOM 204)

INSTRUCTOR: D. MAGDALENA SORGER

DMSORGER@NCSU.EDU

ANNOUNCEMENTS
4/21/2014
TIME CHANGE: Final exam on Monday, April 28th 9-11AM


3/31/2014
Change made to independent project rubric regarding movie length, HW06 posted

3/25/2014
Independent project rubric posted

3/13/2014
New version of Slides Lec01 uploaded (one slide incomplete and one missing in previous version) & Homework05 is posted

3/7/2014
No office hours next week (3/10/2014). ENJOY YOUR SPRING BREAK!

2/26/2014
Homework04 is posted & deadline for independent project draft script extended to Friday, Mar 7th 5pm

2/14/2014
Homework03 & Extra credit instructions are posted

2/13/2014
Homework02 deadline extended to Sunday, Feb 16th 5pm

2/12/2014
Slides to all past lectures are now available

1/17/2014
Change made to course calendar: Final exam on 4/28/2014 (previously it said “No Class: Reading Days” on this day, that was a mistake, I apologize)

1/13/2014
Change made to course calendar: No class on 1/20/2014 (Martin Luther King Jr. Day)

1/6/2014
No office hours on 1/6/2014 – please, contact me for an individual appointment this week if you were planning to come to office hours today
DateTopicReadingsAssignmentsAdditional resources
6-JanWhy should we care about Evolution and Islands?

Course Guideline Lec01
Slides Lec01
Reference readings
Freeman&Herron: Ch. 1
Take-home assignment due 13-Jan at beginning of classAye-aye: NatGeo, EpicWildlife, TrueFacts, Wired

Morning sickness: Discover, Flaxman&Sherman2000
Lactose intolerance: CornellNews, Bloom&Sherman2005
Evolutionary programming: Sims1994_1, Sims1994_2, Gritz&Hahn1997

Adaptation and diversification on islands: Losos&Ricklefs2009
13-JanNatural Selection & The History of Evolutionary Theory

Course Guideline Lec02
Slides Lec02
How to read/write a scientific paper: Slides
Beak of the Finch: Ch. 1 & 2

Reference readings
Freeman&Herron: Ch. 3
Futuyma: Ch. 1, Ch. 11 (p. 250-252)
 Epigenetics: Scitable article, TEDxOU, Bozeman Science

Darwin & Wallace: The Guardian article, Wallace movie
20-JanNO CLASS:
MARTIN LUTHER KING DAY
   
27-JanVariation

Course Guideline Lec03
Slides Lec03


Guest speaker: Dr. Terry Campbell(NCSU) (Answers to questions)
Beak of the Finch: Ch. 3

Paper: Zhou et al. 2012 (Ignore Class II transcripts, marked red)

Reference readings
Freeman&Herron: Ch. 10 (p. 380-383)
Futuyma: Ch. 8 (p. 190-192), Ch. 13 (p. 297-299, 306-308, 317-318)
Homework01 due 4-Feb (Tue) 5pm (submit via email)Daphnia: De Caestecker et al. 2007, TEDxFlanders, New York Times

Cuckoo: BBC Natural World – Cuckoo (full movie)

Shade/Sun-adapted phenotypes in plants: Dudley&Schmitt1996

Honeybees: Chittka&Chittka 2010(Epigenetics of royalty), Kamakura 2011 (Royalactin induces queen differentiation)

More on phenotypic plasticity: Levin: Ch. I.9
3-FebMechanisms of Evolution I

Course Guideline Lec04
Slides Lec04


Guest speaker:
Paul Durst (Duke)
Beak of the Finch: Ch. 4

Paper: Meiri et al. 2008

Reference readings
Freeman&Herron: Ch. 5-7
Futuyma: Ch. 9 (p. 193-199), Ch. 10 (p. 231-235), Ch. 15 (p. 359-363), Ch. 8 (p. 165-178)
 Khanacademy review videos: Introduction to heredity, Punnett square fun, Hardy-Weinberg principle

Mechanical isolation: Richard Dawkins on orchid pollination, Masly 2012 (Lock & Key review)

More on orchids: Wasp mimic (BBC)
10-FebMechanisms of Evolution II

Course Guideline Lec05
Slides Lec05
Beak of the Finch: Ch. 5 & 6

Paper: Sorger&Zettel 2011

Reference readings
Freeman&Herron: Ch. 5-7
Futuyma: Ch. 9 (p. 193-199), Ch. 10 (p. 231-235), Ch. 15 (p. 359-363), Ch. 8 (p. 165-178)
Homework02 due 14-Feb (Fri) 5pm (submit via email) EXTENDED TO 16-Feb (Sun) 5pm

INDEPENDENT PROJECTinstructions
draft script due 3-Mar EXTENDED TO 7-Mar (Fri) 5pm (submit via email)
Evolution in NYC: Munchi-South Lab(featuring TedEd video)

Estimates of mutation rates: Denver et al. 2004

Argentine ants (supercolonies): Tsutsui et al. 2000, Moffett 2012

PCR (how to amplify microsatellite markers and other DNA fragments): Video1 (ancient but good explanation), Video2 (more detailed)
17-FebMechanisms of Evolution III

Course Guideline Lec06
Slides Lec06


Guest speaker: Dr. Daniel Fergus (NC Museum of Nat. Sciences) (Answers to questions)
Beak of the Finch: Ch. 7 & 8

Paper: Mendelson&Shaw 2005

Reference readings
Freeman&Herron: Ch. 5-7
Futuyma: Ch. 9 (p. 193-199), Ch. 10 (p. 231-235), Ch. 15 (p. 359-363), Ch. 8 (p. 165-178)
EXTRA CREDIT ASSIGNMENT instructions
(at latest due on 21-Apr)
Happy-faced spider: Oxford & Gillespie 2001, Croucher et al. 2012

Birds of paradise: Cornell project intro, NatGeo Live

Sexual selection: Marine iguanas combat, Damselflies sperm removal, Cuttlefish (Nature news), Dark Fishing Spider (Science Take)

Additional readings on sexual selection: Andersson&Simmons 2006 (sexual selection & mate choice), Chapman et al. 2003(sexual conflict)
24-FebEvolutionary Trees

QUIZ 1
Answer key & follow-up

Course Guideline Lec07
Slides Lec07


Guest speaker:
Dr. Brian Wiegmann(NCSU)
Beak of the Finch: Ch. 9

Paper: Condon et al. 2008

Reference readings
Freeman&Herron: Ch. 4
Futuyma: Ch. 2
Homework03 due 28-Feb (Fri) 5pm (submit via email)Khanacademy review videos: Taxonomy & the Tree of Life

Sexual swellings in old world monkeys: Nunn 1999

More on phylogenetics: Levin Ch. I.16
3-MarPatterns of Evolution

Course Guideline Lec08
Slides Lec08


Guest speaker:
Dr. Brian Langerhans (NCSU)
(Answers to questions)
Beak of the Finch: Ch. 10 & 11

Paper: Langerhans 2009

Reference readings
Futuyma: Ch. 3 p. 48-55
 Echolocation in bats & dolphins: Parker et al. 2013

Beetles & host plants: Farrell & Mitter 1998
10-MarNO CLASS:
SPRING BREAK
   
17-MarSpecies Concepts

Course Guideline Lec09
Slides Lec09
Beak of the Finch: Ch. 12 & 13

Reference readings
Freeman&Herron: Ch. 16
Futuyma: Ch. 16
Homework04 due 21-Mar (Fri) 5pm (submit via email)Cryptic species: Amazonian frogs news post, Funk et al. 2011, Caminer & Ron 2014

More on species concepts: Queiroz 2007, List of 26 species concepts
24-MarSpeciation

Course Guideline Lec10
Slides Lec10


Guest speaker:
Dr. Reade Roberts(NCSU)
(Answers to questions)
Beak of the Finch: Ch. 14

Paper: Roberts et al. 2011

Reference readings
Freeman&Herron: Ch. 10
Futuyma Ch. 11 (p. 260-265), Ch. 3 (p. 62-63)
 Greenish warbler (ring sp.): Irwin et al. 2001, Website
Salamanders (ring sp.): Video, Moritz et al. 1992

Cichlids: Mutant Planet video, Maruska et al. 2012 (video of cichlid singing included), Kocher 2004 (review paper)

Stag beetles (char. disp.): Kawano 2003
African birds (char. disp.): Kirschel et al. 2009

More on character displacement: Pfennig&Pfennig 2010, Gerhardt 2003

Sorting Finch Species: HHMI
31-MarAdaptation

Course Guideline Lec11
Slides Lec11
Beak of the Finch: Ch. 15 & 16

Reference readings
Futuyma Ch. 11 (p. 260-265), Ch. 3 (p. 62-63), Ch. 7, Ch. 15
Homework05 due 3-Apr (Fri) 5pm (submit via email)Mice (adaptation): Vignieri et al. 2010 iBioSeminar Dr. Hoekstra

More on adaptation: Barrett&Hoekstra 2011 (review paper), Blog post

Arctic fish (adapt. rad.): Matschiner et al. 2011
Bacteria (adapt. rad.): News post, Engel et al. 2011
Darwin’s finches (adapt. rad.): Grant & Grant 2003
Ants (adapt. rad.): Moreau et al. 2006
Silverswords (adapt. rad.): Robert et al. 1990, Baldwin & Sanderson 1998

More on adaptive radiation: Yoder et al. 2010 (review paper), Nature Ed. Knowledge, Levin Ch. I-19
7-AprThe Evolution of Biodiversity & Life History Evolution

QUIZ 2
Answer key & follow-up

Course Guideline Lec12
Slides Lec12


Guest speaker:
Emily Meineke(NCSU)
Beak of the Finch: Ch. 17 & 18

Paper: Meineke et al. 2013

Reference readings
Freeman & Herron Ch. 13, Ch. 18
Futuyma Ch. 7, Ch. 17 (p. 407-416)
 Why are tropics more diverse: NY Times, Coley&Kursar 2014

Global biodiversity estimates: NY Times, Mora et al. 2011

Fig wasps (Coevolution): BBC video

More on life history theory: Nature Scitable, Stearns 1989, Stearns 2000 (review paper), Levin Ch. I-10

Tungara frogs: Halfwerk et al. 2014, Smithsonian article, Dr. Mike Ryan Lab, Video 1, Video 2,
14-AprIsland Biogeography

Course Guideline Lec13
Slides Lec13


Guest speaker:
Dr. Rob Dunn(NCSU)
Beak of the Finch: Ch. 19 & 20

Reference readings
Futuyma Ch. 6
Homework06 due 18-Apr (Fri) 5pm (submit via email)Island biogeography: MacArthur & Wilson 1963

Empty islands experiment: Simberloff & Wilson 1969, Wilson & Simberloff 1969
21-AprReview & movie presentations INDEPENDENT PROJECT
Rubric & Information
final script & movie due 21-Apr at beginning of class
The Beak of the Finch: HHMI video clip
28-AprFINAL EXAM
(9:00-11:00am, Fox 204)