HistBio — Pass/Fail Assessment

Since I received no requests from 5th-year students, the assessment will be held on Wednesday, March 12, at 10:00, in room 7-26. The test is organized according to the standard used in Vertebrate Zoology and Ecology courses. A description of test structure and procedures is available here. Three main topics are included: — origin of life; — early stages of life history; — human origin; biological prerequisites of human behavior. Preparation materials: Origin of life Ecology: Biology of Interactions. 2.10. (supplement) Evolution of the Universe, the Solar System, and Earth Ecology: Biology of Interactions. 2.12. (supplement) Origin of life. Pre-living systems Origin of life and panspermia: Pre-biological selection; Pre-life; Panspermia — dead end or hope?; Aliens among us! Lectures and related materials nos. 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8. Origin of modern animal phyla Ecology: Biology of Interactions. 2.13. (supplement) Geochronological scale Ecology: Biology of Interactions. 2.14. (supplement) Some stages in the history of terrestrial life On the common genealogy of life and symbiogenesis: The origin of sex, separate-sex reproduction, and hemiclonal inheritance. Framing the problem Stromatolites and organisms: Competition or control? Lectures and related materials nos. 13, 14. Human origin One of the latest and most detailed schemes reflecting current views on hominid evolution. Pay attention not only to the scheme itself but also to other pages of Antropogenez.ru linked from it. The list of species to focus on is available here. Three columns on skin-color evolution: On skin color: discussing one human adaptation with far-reaching conclusions about ecological factors; More on skin color: why we are white and why we tan; Three conclusions from discussing causes of differences in human skin color. Causes of our traits: A zoologist’s credo, or what we can learn from our own animal nature?; Causes of our (im)perfection; The antelope track chain; Guests from the past.