Exam Format The exam is entirely in essay format. There are three sections: Section A: short essays (5 marks each), 8/11 = 40 marks Section B: medium-length essays (15 marks each), 2/4= 30 marks Section C: one long essay (30 marks), 1/3 = 30

Section A: Point form okay if clear & unambiguous. Section B & C: No point form. Tables OK but discuss info in body of answer. Keep in mind the format. Integrate concepts and put them in context, don’t just regurgitate. No questions on specific examples You may need to provide examples or you may want to use them to clarify.

You are not responsible for specific sections of the text. Papers presented in the tutorials are also not specifically tested on the exam. You may include information from papers, the text, and your essay.

1. Darwin and the Modern Synthesis How did Darwin’s ideas differ from earlier concepts? Why was Darwin’s idea “dangerous”? Reception of Darwin’s ideas – what are the holes? Modern synthesis – What did it add to Darwin’s theory?

2. Analysis of Adaptation Are all traits adaptive? What is adaptation? How can you tell? How do adaptations arise? (NS) Are all adaptations perfect? Who/what benefits from adaptation?

Evolution of Sex – why so hard to explain? Sexual Selection What can it explain that NS can’t? Theories of dev’t Evolution of Sex Ratio maintenance of 50:50 adaptiveness of asymmetry

3. Unit of selection? Unit that benefits from adaptation + heritability Conflict between levels? Problems of reproductive restraint/altruism/ eusociality Life history analysis, Kin selection

4. Adaptive Explanation Adaptationist program Criticism (Gould & Lewontin) Mutation, Gene Flow, Genetic Drift Problem: Complex characters & Intermediate stages Explanations for non-adaptive traits Why might adaptations not be perfect?

5. Evolution & Classification Anagenesis vs. Cladogenesis, what do they cause? Pheneticists vs. Cladists How might their phylogenies differ? What characters are used & why? How can character choice affect a phylogeny? Homologies vs. Analogies Monophyly, Paraphyly, Polyphyly What causes mistakes? –Mosaic Evolution, Retention & Homoplasy

6. The Idea of Species Why do we need a definition? Why so hard to define? Species concepts (pros &cons): Phenetic Biological Ecological Premating & Postmating Isolation –Types –Are they the cause or effect of speciation? How do RIM evolve?

7. Speciation Integral to our understanding of diversification Geographic Variation –Types & relevance to speciation What is needed for speciation to occur? Speciation Models: - Allopatric - Peripheral isolates/peripatric - Parapatric - Sympatric: instantaneous & gradual Genetic models

8. Reconstructing Phylogenies Why do we need phylogenies? What do they show? Homologies vs. analogies When might some characters not be informative Distinguishing b/w ancestral & derived characters Rooted & unrooted trees Technical stuff: Molecular evolution, Parsimony Variation in substitution rates…

9. Biogeography Historical + Ecological explanations Range Expansion - Dispersal - Adaptive radiations Dispersal vs. Vicariance - Patterns formed - Models Historical Biogeography – fossil record vs. today Current dist’ns – ancient + recent history + ecology What explains differences in species ranges? Reconstructing speciation from geol. & geog history

10. Rates of Evolutionary Change Trying to explain differences in rates of change Problems: chronospecies & incomplete fossil record How phylogenetic & taxonomic rates relate to one another/affect one another Evolution of single characters (darwins) Quantum evolution Why do rates vary? What can the evolution of recent species tell us about the past? P.G. vs. P.E.

11. Macroevolution Slow & gradual vs. dramatic changes Microevolution vs. Macroevolution Saltation vs. Neodarwinists Morph change: what characters most likely to be affected? Modification Transformation (in what?) Allometry - Heterochrony - What are the outcomes - How can you tell which has acted - Importance to evolution? - Genetic basis of heterochrony ( e.g. Hox genes)

12. Coevolution What is it? Why does it happen? Can coevolutionary interactions cause extinction? Lag-load Models (Red Queen etc.) TSC to evaluate models

13. Background vs. Mass Extinctions What causes them? (5 major events) Difference b/w background & mass extinction Ecological effects of mass extinctions Cyclical mass extinctions? Signor-Lipps effect What makes a good survivor? Iterative evolution