About The Course Content and Objectives Evolution provides an explanation for the diversity of life on Earth and is thus perhaps the most fundamental concept in biology.
Evolution is the concept that connects all other fields of biological study.
Principles of Evolution provides an introduction to modern evolutionary biology. Specific areas covered include population genetics, natural selection and adaptation, sexual selection, construction of evolutionary trees, species concepts and speciation, biogeography, evolutionary rates, large-scale evolutionary change, coevolution, and the evolution of social behavior. I will emphasize concepts and the research findings that support or refute them. A fair amount of factual information will be presented, but the course is primarily about ideas. This course has a standard lecture format.