Biology 3484B - Patterns in the Diversity of Life winter 2018
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Biology 3484B – Patterns in the Diversity of Life winter 2018
Official description: This course considers the large-scale patterns in the Earth’s biota: patterns in
life’s diversification and extinction, changing the biota through time; patterns in the form and
functioning of organisms, reflected in biological classification; patterns in the global distribution
of life’s lineages, and in their major responses to Earth’s diverse climate.
We will discuss biodiversity, species concepts, speciation and extinction, systematics, survey the
biodiversity on earth, and examine patterns in diversity that have emerged from convergent
evolution and historical biogeography.
Instructor: Tim Hain, tjhain@uwo.ca, Collip Building Room 209
Class hours: Tuesday and Thursday, 12:30-1:30pm, in North Campus Building room 113
Tutorial hours: Section 002: Thursday 2:30-3:30pm in Middlesex 13
Section 003: Thursday 2:30-3:30pm in B&GS 0153
Section 004: Friday 12:30pm-1:30pm in P&AB 150
Section 005: Friday 12:30pm-1:30pm in Kresge 208
Section 006: Friday12:30pm-1:30pm in B&GS 0165
Office hours: Tuesday and Thursday, 1:30-2:30pm, Collip 209
Teaching assistants: Olivia Colling (ocolling@uwo.ca), Curtis Lubbe (flubbe@uwo.ca), and Chris
Posliff (cposliff@uwo.ca). Please direct all your tutorial-related questions to your assigned TA.
Prerequisites: Registration in third year or later, plus 1.0 credits from Biology 2290A/B, 2382 A/B,
2483A/B, 2581 A/B, or 2601 A/B.
Course website:
Students should check OWL (http://owl.uwo.ca) on a regular basis for news and updates. This is
the primary method by which information will be disseminated to all students in the class.
I encourage students to use the Forums on the OWL site for asking questions that other students
might want to ask. For example, if you have a question about an assignment’s format or due date,
please post it to the forum so that the question needs to be answered only once.
Goals of the Course
Biodiversity is under threat worldwide. In this course, we will discuss the meaning and the
importance of biodiversity, plus how biodiversity has arisen from the sum of the processes of
speciation and extinction.
1) To teach you the processes that have led to the biodiversity that exists today. We will
examine how biodiversity is defined and how it has developed through processes of
speciation and extinction. We will consider how convergent evolution and historical
biogeography has led to patterns in biodiversity that we see today.
2) To develop an understanding of how biodiversity principles are taught to the public.
Assignments will be used to develop your understanding of how species are defined, and
how the public is educated on biodiversity.
3) To improve your research and presentation skills. A research project will require you to
research a Listed species and present your findings to your tutorial group.Learning outcomes Further to the goals of the course above, outcomes for each lecture will be released with the lecture. By the end of this course, you should be able to: 1. Define biodiversity, explain species concepts, and understand systematics. 2. Describe processes of speciation and extinction. 3. Describe the biodiversity seen on earth. 4. Explain how selection and historical processes have led to patterns seen on earth today. 5. Describe ongoing threats to biodiversity and offer solutions. Course materials There is no required textbook for this course. However, I encourage all students to download the textbook Species Richness: Patterns in the Diversity of Life by Jonathan Adams, which is linked from the OWL website. Primary research articles will be assigned and posted to the OWL website. Naturalist photographers and illustrators are often under-appreciated. Out of respect for their work, I give credit to the person responsible for the figures used in lecture. I encourage you to do the same in your oral presentations. Unless you have be given explicit permission by the content creator to share images, do not post them to the internet. Evaluations Tutorial attendance Regular attendance is required 5% Species concepts assignment Assigned in Tutorial 1 – due February 1-2 5% Biodiversity assignment Assigned in Tutorial 2 – due March 1-2 5% Oral presentation During tutorial between March 1 and April 6 10% Midterm February 10, 2:00pm 30% Final exam (cumulative) To be scheduled by the Registrar’s Office 45% Tutorials Tutorials will be used to introduce you to two assignments and for the oral presentation at the end of the term. Details of these assignments will be presented in tutorial and posted to the OWL website in advance. Students are expected to follow the posted guidelines. Midterm and exam There is one midterm, on Saturday, February 10 at 2:00pm. The classroom location will be announced in class and on the course website prior to the test date. The midterm is worth 30% of your final mark. The final exam is cumulative and will be scheduled by the Registrar’s Office during the April exam period. The final exam is worth 45% of your final mark. Any material discussed in class, in tutorial, or assigned as readings are testable. The tests will include multiple choice, short answer, and/or essay questions. No electronic aids are allowed. Computer-marked multiple-choice tests and/or exams may be subject to submission for similarity review by software that will check for unusual coincidences in answer patterns that may indicate cheating. Scholastic offences Scholastic offences are taken seriously and students are directed to read the policy at: http://www.uwo.ca/univsec/handbook/appeals/scholastic_discipline_undergrad.pdf
Plagiarism: Students must write their essays and assignments in their own words.
Assignments should be submitted through the OWL website, where they will be subject to
submission for textual similarity review to the commercial plagiarism detection software (i.e.
TurnItIn) under license to the University for the detection of plagiarism. All papers submitted will
be included as source documents in the reference database for the purpose of detecting plagiarism
of papers subsequently submitted to the system. Use of the service is subject to the licensing
agreement, currently between The University of Western Ontario and Turnitin.com.
Late assignments
Assignment 1 is due one week from Tutorial 1; Assignment 2 is due two weeks from Tutorial 2
(the week following Reading Week). Both assignments are due at the beginning of class on the
due date. Assignments submitted after that time will be penalized 10% per day, and marks more
than one week late will receive a mark of 0.
The oral presentations begin during the tutorials of March 1-2. Students are expected to email their
TAs with their presentation slides no later than 3 days before their assigned presentation date. The
TA will bring the submitted version of the presentation to tutorial, and students will present the
submitted presentation. Slides should be compatible with the university’s computer system. You
are welcome to test your presentation on the university’s system at any tutorial before your
assigned presentation date.
Lecture and assignment schedule
The lecture topics presented below are tentative and may change as the semester develops. Please
refer to the tutorial schedule further below.
Date Lecture Topic
January 9, 2018 1 Introduction
January 11, 2018 2 Biodiversity – value and meaning
January 16, 2018 3 Species concepts
January 18, 2018 4 Speciation 1
January 23, 2018 5 Speciation 2
January 25, 2018 6 Cambrian explosion
January 30, 2018 7 Historical biogeography
February 1, 2018 8 Mass extinction
Tutorial Assignment 1 due on February 1-2 (5%)
February 6, 2018 9 The science of systematics 1
February 8, 2018 10 The science of systematics 2
Midterm February 10 at 2:00pm (30%). Includes material from lectures 2-10.
February 13, 2018 11 Prokaryotes and early life on Earth
February 15, 2018 12 Eukaryote evolution
No classes February 20 or 22 – Reading Week
February 27, 2018 13 Plants
March 1, 2018 14 FungiOral presentations begin in tutorial on March 1, continue through April 6
March 6, 2018 15 Animal evolution 1
March 8, 2018 16 Animal evolution 2
March 13, 2018 17 Fishes
March 15, 2018 18 Amphibians and non-avian reptiles
March 20, 2018 19 Birds
March 22, 2018 20 Mammals
March 27, 2018 21 Patterns in biogeography
March 29, 2018 22 Patterns in diversity: convergent evolution
April 3, 2018 23 Ecosystems
April 5, 2018 24 Threats to biodiversity
April 10, 2018 25 Solutions to the biodiversity crisis
Tutorial schedule
Note that there are not tutorials every week. The two tutorial assignments were designed to take
no more than 1-2 hours, but you have time outside of the tutorial to work on them.
Date Tutorial # Description
Jan 25-26 1 DNA barcoding assignment introduced and described (Due 1
week later – February 1-2)
Students assigned their Listed species for oral presentation
Feb 15-16 2 Biodiversity assignment introduced and described (Due 2 weeks
later – March 1-2)
March 1-2 3 Presentations of listed species #1-6
March 8-9 4 Presentations of listed species #7-12
March 15-16 5 Presentations of listed species #13-18
March 22-23 6 Presentations of listed species #19-24
April 5-6 7 Presentations of listed species #25-30
Accommodation for Medical Illness
If you are unable to meet a course requirement due to illness or other serious circumstances, you
must provide valid medical or other supporting documentation to the Dean’s office of your Faculty
as soon as possible, and notify the instructor immediately. It is the student’s responsibility to make
alternative arrangements with the instructor once the accommodation has been approved and the
instructor has been informed.
As part of university policy, students that have been granted permission by the Dean’s Office to
write the make-up examination will write the exam at a time scheduled by the instructor. There
will be one written make-up examination given within two weeks of the originally scheduled exam.
The format of the make-up exam is at the discretion of the instructor. Arrangements will be made
for students that have valid reasons for missing this make-up.
Students who miss an exam and do not receive appropriate accommodation from their Dean’s
Office will be awarded a ‘0’ for the missed examination. There are no exceptions to this policy.
Exams and/or assignments will not be re-weighted to accommodate poor performance on anyassessment in this course, or for unapproved absence during the mid-term or final exam. Additional assignments will not be accepted in lieu of a missed exam, lab, or to account for poor performance on any course component. Please refer to the University’s Policy on Accommodation for Medical Illness and Student Medical Certificate at: https://studentservices.uwo.ca/secure/index.cfm In the event of a missed final exam, a “Recommendation of Special Examination” form must be obtained from your Dean’s Office immediately. For further information, please see: http://www.uwo.ca/univsec/handbook/appeals/medical.pdf Students who are in emotional/mental distress should refer to Mental Health@Western http://www.uwo.ca/uwocom/mentalhealth/ for a complete list of options about how to obtain help. Academic Accommodations for Religious Holidays Effective September 1, 1997, the Faculty of Science strictly adheres to the University policy on accommodation for students based upon conflicts with religious holidays (see the appropriate section in the current Western Academic Calendar). Accommodation will only be granted for the specified date of the religious holiday. Only holidays appearing on the University-approved list of dates will be accommodated. See the Office of the Dean for the list of approved dates. Students requesting accommodation must do so, in writing, to the Office of the Dean at least a month before the scheduled exams. Accessibility Please contact the course instructor if you require material in an alternate format or if you require any other arrangements to make this course more accessible to you. You may also wish to contact Services for Students with Disabilities (SSD) at 661-2111 x82147 for any specific question regarding an accommodation.
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