Fall 2026 – Molecular Evolution (410)

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Class time and location
Sun, Tue, Thur – 10:00-10:50 (Room: SCI-S 2nd floor Room 179)
Textbook, readings, and lecturing style
Fundamentals of Molecular Evolution 2nd edition, by Dan Graur and Wen-Hsiung Li. You do not have to buy the book. I will be handing parts of the book when needed. The lectures will be given using board. It is YOUR RESPONSIBILITY to come to the lectures and take notes. You will be tested on the material I give in class and the handouts I provide.
Attendance
I will not give points for attending my lectures. You are a RESPONSIBLE student and you want to learn. Missing lectures will significantly affect your performance and grade. I do not intend to give lectures during my office hours or photocopy my lecture notes for you!
Academic dishonesty
DO NOT CHEAT. You are smart and you can get the grade you want. Academic dishonesty will not be tolerated.
Tests and grading:
Exam1: 20%
Exam2: 20%
Exam3: 20%
(Drop lowest exam grade)
Project work: 10%
Project presentation: 10%
Final exam: 40%
Important dates:
Exam 1: Sunday 11/10/2026
Exam 2: Sunday 8/11/2026
Exam 3: Sunday 6/12/2026
Project Presentation: 
Final Exam: Saturday 26/12/2026 – 3:00-5:00
Enrolled students:
  1. MOHAMMAD ALI – Project animal: Gecko (paper).*/1/2/
  2. SARAH ALAJMI – Project animal: Hypertrichosis (paper).***/1/2/
  3. ABDULLAH QASEM – Project animal: Lepidoptera (paper).*****/1/2/
  4. KAWTHER JABER – Project animal: Turtle(s) (paper).****/1/2/
  5. ZAINAB ALQALLAF – Project animal: Squid (paper).*********/1/2/
  6. KAWTHAR ALQALLF – Project animal: Dolphins (paper).***/1/2/
  7. FATEMAH ALSEYAFI – Project animal: Sea otters (paper).***/1/2/
  8. AISHAH ALMUTAIRI – Project animal: Nile crocodile (paper).***********/1/2/
  9. SHROOQ ALMUTAIRI – Project animal: Shark (paper).*/1/2/
  10. ESRA AL-FAKIH – Project animal: Butterflies (paper).****/1/2/
  11. SUHEIBA ABDALLA – Project animal: Anole lizard (paper)./1/2/
  12. ASYEL ALMUTAIRI – Project animal: Whale(s) (paper)./1/2/
Lec1: 410_lec1_General_introduction
Lec2: 410_lec2_GeneticsTraditions
Lec3: 410_lec3_NatureOfAlleles
Lec4: 410_lec4_PrinciplesOfGeology
Lec5: 410_lec5_FossilsInWithin
Lec6: 410_lec6_Homologies
Lec7: 410_lec7_DirectObservations
Lec8: 410_lec8_TheoryForEvolution
Lec9: 410_lec9_PopulationGenetics
Lec10: 410_lec10_TheBasicModel
Lec11: 410_lec11_FindingTheAllele1
Lec12: 410_lec12_FindingTheAllele2
Lec13: 410_lec13_FindingTheAllele3
Lec14: 410_lec14_FindingTheAllele4
Lec15: Sequence alignment 
Lec16: Alleles and allele frequencies
Lec17: Genotypes and genotype frequencies
Lec18: Testing HW equilibrium
Lec19: Haplotypes and haplotype frequencies
Lec20: 410_lec20_Phylogeny
Tasks:
  1. Make a folder on your desktop or in your flash-drive named “410 Material”.
  2. Choose an animal species or an animal group that you like.
  3. Using search engines, look for papers related to the evolution of your organism/system. Start by searching using the following keywords: Your animal + evolution + phylogeny.
  4. Why did you choose this animal?
  5. What is the common name of your organism(s)?
  6. What is the scientific name of your organism(s)?
  7. What is the class, order, and family of your favourite animal?
  8. How many species does your class, order, and family have?
  9. Open a powerpoint and save it as (YOUR NAME_410).
  10. What is the subfamily of your selected animal species and how many species belong to that sub-family?
  11. What is the genus of your selected animal species and how many species belong to that genus?
  12. Visit NCBI and using the Taxonomy database, search for your taxonomic group.
  13.