GEI Lectures
1. intro: general statements
2. Biodiversity below if not reorganized!
a. Context of Course: Biodiversity weblecture 2
b. What is Biodiversity structure?: BioD weblecture 2, end at the niche
c. What is biodiversity good for? Biodiversity weblecture 1
3. World History: Biodiversity and Colonialism
a. Continue from above if necessary (as in 2010) Biodiversity produced
through evolutionary processes
i. People seek out diversity: good for mental development
ii. Sweat test! Women like sweat of men with different
immunological systems, unless they are on the pill – an
endocrine disruptor!
b. Global Extinctions history
c. Cambrian Explosion: lifeways web page
d. History and Contingency: 2 ways
i. Mass extinctions give rise to new life forms
1. Living through extinctions is not pleasant
2. Future evolution depends upon existing structures
a. Nematodes – 50% same genes
c. elegans image
b. Mammals: sense of smell may have helped
c. Panda’s thumb: why such a clumsy manner of
creating an extra digit? Evolution has to work
with what’s it got
d. Too many extinctions, not enough raw material…
ii. A history of human action has shaped the organization of
biodiversity in the world
1. Global organization of biodiversity web lecture 2?
2. Back to biodiversity hot spots