BIO120H1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Microevolution, Macroevolution, Biogeography
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BIO120H1 Full Course Notes
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The hierarchy of life can be considered as follows: Populations most variations occur on this level; it is the primary unit of evolution (s. barrett) Small: answering small tractable questions can help contribute towards solving big questions. We try to avoid trivial questions, such as those already answered or those that don"t necessarily make sense. We formulate through research some questions about the topic, addressing smaller questions which incrementally combine to solve larger questions. How (proximal questions): involve determining the physiological or genetic mechanisms responsible for aspects of a trait (i. e. cellular or molecular biologists) Why (ultimate questions): involve determining the ecological function and adaptive significance of a trait (i. e. evolutionary biologists, concerning adaptation) Different biologists answer the different types of questions. A variety of approaches are used to address questions; the best studies use more than one source of evidence. Observational: at the heart of all good evolutionary biology, natural history is used to describe and quantify phenomena.
