ESS 5012 Systematic Biology 3.0 Credits
This is an introduction to systematic biology. The primary tasks of systematics are 1) the discovery, description, and classification of biodiversity to construct a general reference system for life on Earth; 2) the reconstruction of the "tree of life": the descent relationships among units of biodiversity at multiple hierarchic levels from genes to phyla; and 3) the application of reconstructions of decent relationships to the study of evolution. Phylogenetic systematics, concerned with units of biodiversity at the species level and above, will be emphasized.
Repeat Status: Not repeatable for credit