Syllabus
1) Introduction, history, approaches, methods.
2) Case study – Darwinian finches.
3) Allometry and function constraints, metabolism.
4) Morphology – performance- fitness; case studies: locomotion in lizards and birds.
5) Community ecology approach: ecological concepts in morphological context, community organization, and community convergence; species packing, species diversity, character ratio, character displacement; case studies: Mustelidae, Felidae, Cathartidae, Podicipedidae, Drepanididae, Anolis, Gasterosteus.
6) Phylogenetic approach: phylogenetic constraints, exaptation, adaptation, comparative analysis, phylogenetic hypothesis, ancestral state reconstruction, character optimization, counting evolutionary events, concentrated changes test, contingent states test, analysis of higher nodes, phylogenetic autocorrelation, phylogenetic subtraction, independent contrasts, matched-pairs comparison, directional methods.
7) Phylogenetic approach – case studies: size and life history in monitor lizards, pythons and turtles; bill morphology and prey selection in passerine birds; aposematism and gregariousness in butterflies; antipredatory defences in frogs; size dimorphism in primates.
9) Morphology and life history: trade offs; survival and reproduction; egg size and body size; precociality and altriciality in birds and mammals.
10) Phylogeny and morphology of island and mainland populations; morphological consequences of island isolation; island syndrom; island gigantism in small mammals, iguanas, and tortoises. Miniaturized forms of large mammals; case studies: Geospizidae, Nectarinidae, Lacertidae, Gallotia, Apodemus, Sorex.
11) Morphology and sexual selection I: Sexual dimorphism in size; Morphological correlates of reproduction systems;
12) Morphology and sexual selection II: Sexual dichromatism and dimorphism in ornaments.
Annotation
Please note, the lectures are given in Czech language. English version of the course can be requested in advance if there are at least 3 students.
Community organization: species diversity, species packing, guilds, character displacement, chatacter ratio; Community convergence; Functional morphology as a tool in ecological research; Performance: the link between morphology and ecology; Adaptive role of morphological plasticity; Allometry and functional constraints; Life history theory, trade offs; Morphological consequences of island isolation. Morphology and sexual selection; Evolution of sexual dimorphism; Morphological correlates of reproductive systems. Adaptation, constraint, and the comparative method; Testing adaptationist ideas using experiment, observation, and comparison; Reasons why phylogenetically related species are similar; Reconstruction of phylogenetic trees and ancestral character states; Comparative analysis of discrete data; Comparative analysis of continuous variables: phylogenetic autocorrelation method, independent comparisons methods.