A Scientific Review

BIOL 3662 – Evolution & Biosystematics

READINGS FROM THE PRIMARY LITERATURE

The intent of this exercise is to give practice in reading the primary scientific literature while at the same time adding to your education in our subject matter.

Each page is an option. Choose one and add your name to the list. (If the list is already full, choose something else.) Most options comprise papers around a particular theme, although the last two are more miscellaneous collections. Some options allow for some choice.

Some students like to choose the same option as one or more of their friends, presumably with some coöperation and discussion among them. There is nothing wrong with this. After all, this is a practical exercise, and these are almost always done in coöperation. However, we expect each of you to do the work, even as you gain from the comments of others. In such a situation, where the page allows some choice, different students should not study exactly the same set of papers.

This is not an easy exercise. These papers are written for scientists, not the general public, and the subject matter comes in advance of studying it in class. You will likely have to do some preparatory study in textbooks or other secondary sources, perhaps from the Internet, in order to get warmed up. However, half an hour's preparation should suffice.

After reading and taking notes, prepare a critical commentary on your readings. This should consist of a summary of the main subject matter, comments on where future research is likely to lead (or things that we still do not know), as well as any remarks on limitations or weaknesses in the research.

If the theme of your option is tight enough, feel free to write a single commentary of no more than six hand-written or three typed pages. If you prefer to treat the papers separately, the summed commentary should still be within this length. Some students like to put such reports in a fancy, decorated cover. Feel...