You may choose to write your article summary based on any of the following topics (students in BIOL 513 must write two summaries).  All of the topics are available as packets in my office.  You do not need to go to the Library to get the articles.

(1) Adaptation:  Natural selection leads to adaptation, but what do we mean when we say that something is adaptive?  Also, are all aspects of an organism adaptive?  The following articles discuss the use and investigation of the concept.

Gould, S. J. and R. C. Lewontin.  1979.  The Spandrels of San Marco and the Panglossian paradigm:  a critique of the adaptationist program.  Proc. Royal Soc. London.  B.  205:581-598.

Lewontin, R. C.  1978.  Adaptation.  Sci. Amer.  239(3):212-230.

Mayr, E.  1983.  How to carry out the adaptationist program?  Amer. Nat.  121:324-334.
 

(2) The Evolutionary Biology of Angiosperms:  Angiosperms have presented a puzzle for evolutionary biologists since the time of Darwin.  They suddenly appear in the fossil record (in the early Cretaceous) and they have diversified to the point that they are the dominant terrestrial flora.  The following articles discuss some possible reasons for the success of the angiosperms, and the effect of angiosperm biology on speciation.

Levin, D. A.  1979.  The nature of plant species.  Science.  204:381-384.

Mulcahy, D. L.  1979.  The rise of angiosperms:  a genecological factor.  Science.  206:20-23.

Regal, P. J.  1977.  Ecology and evolution of flowering plant dominance.  Science.  196:622-629.
 

(3) Darwin and Natural Selection:  The Darwin-Wallace Theory of Natural Selection had a fundamental impact on both Biology and other areas (e.g., Psychology).  Like all other ideas, however, the concept of natural selection was developed through the influence of other ideas.

Ghiselin, M. T.  1973.  Darwin and evolutionary Psychology.  Science.  179:964-968.

Mayr, E.  1972. The nature of the Darwinian revolution.  Science.  176:981-989.

Mayr, E.  1977. Darwin and natural selection.  Amer. Sci., 65:321-327.

Schweber, S. S.  1978.  The genesis of natural selection - 1838:  some further insights.  Bioscience.  28:321-326.
 

(4) Plate Tectonics and Evolution:  The theory of Plate Tectonics (Continental Drift) has revolutionized both geology and paleontology.  The record of species distributions and extinctions has been clarified by our knowledge of crustal movement.

Flessa, K. W.  1980.  Biological effects of Plate Tectonics and Continental Drift.  Bioscience.  30:518-523.

Schopf, T. J. M.  1979.  The role of biogeographic provinces in regulating marine faunal diversity through Geologic Time.  In:  A. J. Boucot (ed.).  Historical Biogeography, Plate Tectonics, and the Changing Environment. Corvallis:  Oregon State University Press.

Valentine, J. W. and E. M. Moores.  1974.  Plate Tectonics and the history of life in the oceans.  Sci. Amer.  230(4):80-89.
 

(5) The Role of Competition:  Darwin realized the importance of competition in the evolutionary process.  The following articles deal with the issue of interspecific competition from an ecological process.

Diamond, J. M.  1978.  Niche shifts and the rediscovery of interspecific competition.  Amer. Sci.  66:322-331.

Schoener, T. W.  1982.  The controversy over interspecific competition.  Amer. Sci.  70:586-595.

Wiens, J. A.  1977.  On competition and variable environments.  Amer. Sci.  65:590-597.
 

 (6) Darwin's Finches:  The complex of finch species on the Galapagos Islands has been a favorite example of adaptive radiation.  The following articles discuss some current studies on the animals.

Grant, B. R. and P. R. Grant.  1979.  Darwin's finches:  population variation and sympatric speciation.  Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci.  76:2359-2363.

Grant, P. R.  1981.  Speciation and the adaptive radiation of Darwin's finches.  Amer. Sci.  69:653-663.

Grant, P. R., and B. R. Grant.  1992.  Hybridization of bird species.  Science  256:193-197.
 

(7) The Evolution of Vertebrate Flight:  Archeopteryx is one of the most famous transitional fossils in evolutionary biology because it offers some insight into the transition between reptiles and birds.  But what were the processes involved in these animals evolving the ability to fly?

Caple, G., R. P. Balda, and W. R. Willis.  1983.  The physics of leaping animals and the evolution of preflight.  Amer. Nat., 121:455-476.

Ostrom, J. H.  1977.  Bird flight:  how did it begin?  Amer. Sci. 67:46-56.

Sereno, P. C., and R. Chenggang.  1992.  Early evolution of avian flight and perching: new evidence from the lower Cretaceous of China.  Science 255:845-848.

Wellnhofer, P.  1990.  Archaeopteryx.  Sci. Amer. 262(5):70-77.
 

(8) Historical Myths in Evolution:  The passage of time alters not only the characteristics of living organisms but our perception of past events as well.  These articles examine several episodes in the early history of evolutionary biology, and show how the current views of the are incorrect.

Gould, S. J.  1977.  Darwin's delay.  In:  Ever Since Darwin.  New York:  W. W. Norton.

Gould, S. J.  1983.  Darwin at sea.  Nat. Hist.  92(9):14-20.

Gould, S. J.  1986.  Knight takes bishop?  Nat. Hist.  95(5):  18-33
 

(9) The Giant Panda:  The giant panda has been a popular attraction at those zoos fortunate to have it, but is also has been a taxonomic puzzle and an instructive example of the evolutionary process.

Gould, S. J.  1980.  The panda's thumb.  In:  The Panda's Thumb.  New York.  W. W. Norton.

Gould, S. J.  1986.  Fuzzy Wuzzy was a bear, Andy Panda too.  Discover.  7(2):40-48.

O'Brien, S. J., et al. 1991.  Molecular biology and evolutionary theory: the Giant Panda's closest relatives.  p. 2225-250, in, Warren, L. , and H. Kaprowski (eds.), New Perspectives on Evolution.  New York: Wiley-Liss.
 

(10) The Origin of life and Biochemical Evolution:  Research into the origin and early evolution of Life is still in its infancy.  The following articles summarize the "classical" model and some current ideas.

Dickerson, R. E.  1978.  Chemical evolution and the origin of Life.  Sci. Amer.  239(3):70-86.

Horgan, J.  1991.  In the beginning....  Sci. Amer. 264(2):116-125.

Woese, C. R., and G. Wachterhauser.  1990.  Origin of life. p. 3-9, in, Briggs, E. G., and P. R. Crowther (eds.), Palaeobiology: a synthesis.  London: Blackwell Scientific.
 

(11) Mass Extinctions:  The history of life on this planet has been marked by brief (geologically speaking) periods when large numbers of species became extinct.  The following articles examine possible causes and periodicity of mass extinctions.  The following articles are from Briggs, D. E. G., and P. R. Crowther (eds.). 1990.  Paleobiology: a synthesis, London: Blackwell Scientific.

Hallam, A. 1990. Mass extinctions: processes/Earth bound causes. p. 160-164.

Jablonski, D. 1990.  Mass extinctions: processes/extra-terrestrial causes.  p. 164-171.

Sepkoski,J. J., Jr. 1990. Mass extinctions: processes/periodicity. p. 171-179.
 

(12) Sexual Selection: Darwin was the first to explore the mechanisms and ramifications of sexual selection, but it was only in the last few years that this process has been explored in detail.  The following papers explore some recent issues related to sexual selection.

Balmford, A. 1991. Mate choice on leks.  Trends Ecol. Evol., 6:87-92.

Gwynne, D. T. 1991.  Sexual competition among females: what causes courtship role reversal?  Trends Ecol. Evol., 6:118-121.

Kirkpatrick, M., and M. J. Ryan. 1991. The evolution of mating preferences and the paradox of the lek.  Nature, 350:33-38.

Willson, M. F. 1990. Sexual selection in plants and animals. Trends Ecol. Evol., 7:210-214.
 

(13) Endangered Species: Many species have had their population sizes reduced by either natural causes or effects of human activity.  The following articles discuss two specific case histories and discuss the interactions among population size, genetic variability and disease.

O'Brien, S. J., and J. F. Evermann.  1988.  Interactive influence of infectious disease and genetic diversity in natural populations.  Trends Ecol. Evol., 3:254-259.

Packer, C., et al., 1991.  Case study of a population bottleneck: lions of the Ngorongoro crater.  Conservation Biology., 5:219-230.

Wayne, R. K., et al., 1991.  The Channel Island Fox (Urocyon littoralis) as a model of genetic change in small populations.  p. 639-649 in, Dudley, E. C. (ed.), The Unity of Evolutionary Biology, Portland: Discorides Press.
 

(14) The Irish Elk:  The Irish Elk was actually a large deer that was abundant until the end of the last major glacial period.  These articles discuss the apparent Biology of the species and some possible reasons for its extinction.

Barnosky, A. D. 1985.  Taphonomy and herd structure of the extinct Irish Elk, Megaloceros giganteus.  Science, 228:340-344.

Gould, S. J., 1977.  The misnamed, mistreated, and misunderstood Irish Elk.  pp. 79-90, in Ever Since Darwin.  New York: W. W. Norton.

Moen, R. A., J. Pastor, and Y. Cohen. 1999.  Antler growth and extinction of Irish elk.  Evol. Ecol. Res., 1:235-249.
 

(15) Industrial Melanism: Industrial melanism is a classic textbbok case of Natural Selection in action.  While the case is still valid, there are a number of factors that make it more complex.

Brakefield, P. M., 1987.  Industrial melanism: do we have all of the answers?  Trends Ecol. Evol., 2:117-122.

Cook, L. M., G. S. Mani, and M. E. Varley. 1986. Postindustrail melanism in the peppered moth.  Science, 231:611-613.

Grant, B. S., A. D. Cook, C. A. Clarke, and D. F. Owen.  1998.  Geographic and temporal variation in the incidence of melanism in peppered moth populations in Americ and Britain.  J. Heredity, 89:465-471.
 

(16) Humans as an Evolutionary Force:  Having more than 6 billion people on the planet clearly has a significant effect on the ecology of this planet.  Less obvious, however, is the effect is the evolutionary effect of our species.  The following two articles discuss our overall evolutionary impact and the synergistic effects of domestication on plants and animals.

Diamond, J. 2002. Evolution, consequences, and future of plant and animal domestication.  Nature, 418:700-707.

Palumbi, S. R., 2001. Humans as the world's greatest evolutionary force.  Science, 293:1786-1790.

(17) The Evolution of Whales:  The fossil record indicates that modern cetaceans evolved from terrestrial ancestors, but recent fossil finds offer a clear picture of the transition from land to sea, and more about cetacean ancestors.

de Muizon, C. 2001.  Walking with Whales.  Nature, 413:259-260. and Thewissen, J. G. M., E. M. Williams, L. J. Roe, and S. T. Hussain. 2001. Skeletons of terrestrial cetaceans and the relationship of whales to artiodactyls.  Nature, 413:277-281.

Gatesy, J., and M. A. O'Leary. 2001.  Deciphering whale origins with molecules and fossils.  Trends. Ecol. Evol., 16:562-570.

Gingerich, P. D., M. ul Haq, I. S. Zalmout, I. H., I. H. Khan, and M. S. Malkani. 2001. Origin of whales from early artiodactyls: hands and feet of Eocene Protocetidae from Pakistan.  Science, 293:2239-2242.

(18) Progress & Evolution :  The concept of  "progress" is common in many contexts.  The following essays discuss the degree to which the evolutionary process may be "progressive".

Dawkins, R. 1997. Human Chauvinism.  Evolution, 51:1015-1020.

Gould, S. J. 1997.  Self-help for a hedgehog stuck on a molehill.  Evolution, 51:1020-1023.

Shanahan, T. 1999. Evolutionary progress from Darwin to Dawkins.  Endeavour, 23:171-174.