This module home page will provide ready access to further information including relevant books within the Library, references to  further reading, other useful Web sites, potential examination questions and a synopsis of the lectures. This site expands throughout the semester so you may not find everything until the module ends. The lecture links are NOT a set of lecture notes but rather the outline and main points of the lecture, they include additional information and are therefore complementary to the lectures rather than replacements. This site is also designed as an "information backstop" to work with the other components of the module, consequently it does not pretend to be a "high tech bells and whistles" site, rather a learning support resource.

Also remember that electronic copies of the module handbooks and lecture presentations can be accessed via the Mellor Building LRC Q:\ drive.

Lecture Schedule

Other resources

Assessment

Evolution is the cornerstone of modern Biological Sciences, exemplified by Dobzhansky’s famous quote “nothing in Biological Sciences makes sense except in the light of evolution.”  It unites all the fields of Biological Sciences under one theoretical umbrella. It is not a difficult concept, but very few people -- the majority of biologists included -- have a satisfactory grasp of it. One common mistake is believing that species can be arranged on an evolutionary ladder from bacteria through "lower" animals, to "higher" animals and, finally, up to man. Mistakes permeate popular science expositions of evolutionary Biological Sciences. Mistakes even filter into Biological Sciences journals and texts. For example, Lodish, et al., in their cell Biological Sciences text, proclaim, "It was Charles Darwin's great insight that organisms are all related in a great chain of  being..."

There are thought to be between 5-30 million species on Earth today. As the vast majority of these species are multicellular eukaryotes the module could easily become swamped with facts. To forestall this potential neural overload we will be using the main theme of evolution to underpin the module and help us to consider the ecological ideas. The beginning of the module will examine the legacy of Darwin and aims to dispel some of the current myths surrounding this area of Biological Sciences. Subsequently the course will concentrate on major ecological ideas using major themes in plant and animal evolution (mainly) to explore evolutionary innovations and the resulting radiation of life form.

By the end of this module you should have a framework of information that allow you to understand some of the central ideas within evolutionary Biological Sciences and be able interpret and appreciate biological phenomena from an evolutionary perspective, without making the common mistakes often found within the field.

These pages are NOT a set of lecture notes they outline the session, highlight key areas and provide supplementary avenues of questioning.

As well as using the above text you can find a large amount of video material in the library which will supplement this module. Don't forget Hanley Museum, it's free. Within the Mellor Building the Resource Room houses some additional material and the I.T. Resource Centre has access to a tutorial based CD-ROM titled “Ecology” which also may prove invaluable.

You will also find the World Wide Web of use, The Natural History Museum and Tree of Life provide extensive material (text & images) and links pertinent to this module.