Postgraduate Course: Evolution and Biodiversity (BIME11033)

Course Outline
School	Deanery of Biomedical Sciences	College	College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine
Credit level (Normal year taken)	SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate)	Availability	Not available to visiting students
SCQF Credits	20	ECTS Credits	10
Summary	This course is designed to introduce the student to evolutionary theory and example to help understand the origin and scope of diversity in the living world. The concept of biodiversity is developed and the student will learn how it is measured and managed. The drivers for biodiversity loss, both past and present are introduced and discussed, with particular emphasis placed on the interaction between human activities and the current acceleration in biodiversity loss.
Course description	Not entered

Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites		Co-requisites
Prohibited Combinations		Other requirements	None

Course Delivery Information

Academic year 2015/16, Not available to visiting students (SS1)		Quota: None
Course Start	Full Year
Timetable	Timetable
Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info)	Total Hours: 200 ( Lecture Hours 20, Seminar/Tutorial Hours 20, Online Activities 50, Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4, Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours 106 )
Assessment (Further Info)	Written Exam 0 %, Coursework 100 %, Practical Exam 0 %
Additional Information (Assessment)	Formal summative written assessment will constitute 60% of the student's grade. Online assessment will incorporate a variety of activities will constitute 40% of their overall course grade and is taken to represent a formative assessment of learning throughout the programme.
Feedback	Not entered
No Exam Information

Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to: Describe how the theory of evolution developed, from the early thinkers up to the publication of Darwin's Origin of Species. Explain how species have diversified from common ancestors to the forms we see today, using theory to account for the resulting phylogenetic divisions between them. Understand and apply techniques used to classify organisms, from the basic use of physical features and keys to modern genetic techniques such as genotyping and fingerprinting. Give examples of unique species, and understand the processes that have led to their development within a given niche habitat. Understand the importance of evolutionary significant units (ESUs) in conservation, and how they are defined; Define the term 'biodiversity' in multiple settings, and describe how these estimates are calculated; Understand the myriad factors that can lead to species extinctions, and apply these to both historical mass extinction events, and so-called 'sixth-extinction' of current times; Understand how agricultural practices can affect biodiversity; Discuss the possible implications of continued biodiversity loss, with particular emphasis on the effect(s) on human populations.