General Biology Lab IIEBIO 1240

TA: Amanda Hund

Important Information

• My office hours: N197– Monday 12-1– Wednesday 1-2– By appointment

• Email: amanda.hund@colorado.edu• Course Website: http://genbiolabhund.wikispaces.com/

A bit about me..• From Willmar, Minnesota

Weather for Saturday: 2 °

First year PhD student in Rebecca Safran’s Lab

Study: Sexual Selection, Divergence, Speciation and Parasite Interactions- In Barn Swallows

Who are you?

 

Name, year, major, where you are from, interesting fact, coolest animal you have ever seen. (it is a lot but you can handle it)

THE COURSE• Classroom Expectations• Lab Manuals• Objectives of Lab• Class Structure• Grading

– Quizzes, Lab Reports• Attendance• Honor Code• Resources

Laboratory Safety

Things to look out for:

• Prediction vs Hypothesis

• Prove

• Theory

Key Words• Phylogeny: Evolutionary History

• Taxonomy: Classifying organisms (organizes them based on phylogeny)

• Systematics: Study of diversity of organisms in relation to their phylogeny

Carl Linnaeus: What is in a Name

1) Genus (noun)2) Specific name (adjective)

Hirundo rustica Pinus ponderosa

DomainKingdomPhylumClassOrderFamilyGenus Species

Dear King Phillip Came Over For Green Socks

Key Words

• Analogy- Similar in structure or function, different evolutionary origins.

• Homology- Similar in structure or function due to common ancestry.

Convergent Evolution: Have come up with the same answer from different backgrounds

Analogous Traits

Hand Homology

May look different: but have a common ancestor, the same bones used for different things.

Today’s Lab• Use Skull characteristics to figure

out similarities (aka relatedness)• Build phylogeny• Use DNA to look at similarities• Build phylogeny• Compare

Using characteristics to create…

• A Character Matrix

• A Dissimilarity Matrix

Diastema

Things to Think About

• How do the methods compare?• Why?• Is one better?