Office of Academic Affairs
Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Berhampur

BIO 418: Advanced Evolutionary Biology (DE, Credit, 3)

Course Content:

• Review of Basic concepts of Evolution.
• Population genetics. Advanced topics in H-W principle- Infinite alleles, X-linkage, Models of selection (additivity, dominance, overdominance, underdominance), viability selection, gametic selection; Mutation, Gene flow, Genetic Drift, Effective population size. Linkage disequilibrium and recombination.
• Quantitative Genetics: Metric traits or continuous traits. Partitioning of phenotypic variance. Breeding value. Additive variation. Heritability. Artifical selection. Trade-offs. Quantitative Trait loci.
• Molecular Population genetics Neutral Theory, Coalescence and genealogies. Molecular clock, tests of neutral theory. Molecular Phylogenetics, QTL mapping.
• Origin and Evolution of Sex. Cost of sex and benefits. Sexual Conflict and Sexual Selection.
• An overview of Life History Evolution. Trade-offs, Aging, Density dependent selection, Frequency dependent selection.
• Introduction to macroevolution. Evolution of humans, horse, three spined stickleback.
• Sociobiology and evolutionary psychology.
• Evolution, culture and health.

Suggested Books:

• Freeman, S., & Herron, J. C. (2007). Evolutionary analysis (No. QH 366.2. F73 2007). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.
• Hall, B., & Strickberger, M. W. (2008). Strickberger's evolution. Jones & Bartlett Learning.
• Hartl, D. L., Clark, A. G., & Clark, A. G. (1997). Principles of population genetics (Vol. 116).
Sunderland, MA: Sinauer associates.
• Hedrick, P. (2011). Genetics of populations. Jones & Bartlett Learning.
• Templeton, A. R. (2021). Population genetics and microevolutionary theory. John Wiley & Sons.
• Falconer, D. S. (1996). Introduction to quantitative genetics. Pearson Education India.

Previous

Back to Course List

Next