Evidence for human variation and adaptation
Lachance et al. (2012) present a recent study examining genetic differences between diverse African hunter-gatherers that explains differences according to evolutionary history and adaptation. Focus on their data on phylogenetics and locale to make connections to the evolution module as you present this work.
Click to view pages with videos by:
Group A37, A38, A39, B23, B24
The fossil record and adaptive radiation
Schmidt et al. (2012) published their recent work on early arthropods discovered in amber droplets from the Triassic Period. Use their data to connect the ideas about the stratigraphy to the extended knowledge these data provide us about the fossil record and adaptive radiations.
Click to view pages with videos by:
Group A40, A41, A42, B25, B26
Why do organisms build tissues they seemingly never use?
Clune et al. (2012) address this question in their recent paper in The American Naturalist on the maintenance of old developmental pathways even for newly evolved traits, in a new twist on the statement ‘ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny.’
Plants kick-started evolutionary drama of Earth’s oxygenation
Dahl et al. (2010) present intriguing evidence regarding the oxygenation of the earth’s atmosphere. Translate their work for the introductory biology student and how it fits into the evolution module material.