• ECTS

    8 credits

  • Component

    Faculty of Science

Description

"The general objective is to consolidate the students' bases in evolutionary biology, by approaching both (i) macro-evolutionary phenomena, and the general methods used for their analysis and (ii) micro-evolutionary processes by insisting on the population genetic approach. The objective of this course is to provide a common base of solid knowledge in evolutionary biology and to illustrate the applications of the discipline to the students' future fields of specialization. The teaching includes: 1) lectures on evolutionary concepts; 2) practical work in two main forms: 2a. sessions focused on the use of tools (phylogeny) and on the mathematical formalization of evolutionary processes (population genetics) as well as 2b: sessions built around group work, allowing students, depending on their career path and professional objectives, to go deeper into a particular theme (fundamental question or application of evolutionary biology)."

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Objectives

"Acquire knowledge of the history of the emergence of evolving concepts;

Acquire the basics to develop a critical sense of the notion of "biodiversity" with regard to its past and future evolution, know how to argue the effects of evolution over time with concrete examples from the fossil record ("evidence of evolution"), understand the notion of chance/contingency in macroevolution, know how to detect pseudo-scientific theories in evolution (e.g. Neo-creationism, Irreducible Complexity, Intelligent Design...).

Knowledge of basic concepts and tools in phylogeny: examples of phylogeny use; tree reading (root and outgroup, sibling group, branch lengths; mono-, para-, poly-phyletic groups); phylogenetic reconstruction methods (cladistics: synapomorphies, maximum sparsity; existence of other approaches: by distances or by probabilities) Knowledge of the effect of evolutionary forces and their mathematical formalization;

Ability to relate evolutionary phenomena on both time scales;

Mastery of neutral genetic structuring analysis tools;

Know the basic concepts of quantitative genetics: understand and describe the variation of a quantitatively determined trait, know how to analyze the transmission and similarity of the trait between parent and child.

Working knowledge of the application areas of evolutionary biology

Ability to present a problem in evolutionary biology, and to mobilize theoretical and practical knowledge in evolutionary biology to answer a question"

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Necessary pre-requisites

Advanced level in formal genetics

Basic knowledge of evolutionary biology

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Knowledge control

Continuous assessment : 100%.

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