1. Course Website: Bookmark http://www.zo.utexas.edu/courses/bio301/
Download Syllabus from above site (Contract)
Exams, ground rules, discussion sections, textbook, etc.
Watch ‘Dance Monkeys Dance’ and ‘Domino Effects’ videos
Our one and only but much abused Spaceship
Ecology, environment, organismic units
Anthropocentrism, wilderness, what good are rattlesnakes?
Hierarchical structure of biological science, snobbery
Varanus eremius
(Varanid)
Lecture # 2
18 January 2018

2. Biology 301M – Ecology, Evolution, & Society Professor: Eric R
Biology 301M – Ecology, Evolution, & Society Professor: Eric R. Pianka Office: Patterson 125, Mon., Fri. 1-2 PM (or by appointment) , Lectures: Tuesday and Thursday, (Welch 2.122) Instructor and Course Websites: Download Syllabus from above site (Contract)
Ctenophorus
isolepis
(Agamid)

3. Teaching Assistant:. Craig Handley, Office: PAI 148. D
Teaching Assistant: Craig Handley, Office: PAI 148.D (or by appointment, use )
Discussion Sections (20% of letter grade) (24 readings and Problem Sets)
Wednesday AM GDC Wednesday 9-10 AM SAC 5.102
Wednesday AM CLA 0.122
Wednesday AM GDC 2.410
Wednesday PM GDC 2.410
Wednesday PM JGB 2.202
Wednesday PM MEZ 1.208
Wednesday PM GDC 6.202
Ctenophorus nuchalis
(Agamid)

4. Notice the demanding course requirements placed on this class as part of UT's Core Curriculum, and accordingly, this course must meet standards and objectives of the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board for Natural Science and Technology: o Communication Skills: effective development, interpretation and 
expression of ideas through written, oral and visual communication. 
 o Critical Thinking Skills: creative thinking, innovation, 
inquiry, and analysis, evaluation and synthesis of information. 
 o Teamwork: ability to consider different points of view and to work effectively with others to support a shared purpose or goal. 
 o Empirical and Quantitative Skills: manipulation and analysis of numerical data or observable facts resulting in informed conclusions.
Ctenotus
(Skink)

5. First Exam: 15 February. Second Exam: 29 March. Third Exam: 3 May
First Exam: 15 February Second Exam: 29 March Third Exam: 3 May Best 2 of above 3 = 40% Discussion Sections 20% Final Exam May 40% No “Extra points, No “Make Up” Exams! Final Grades are FINAL, non negotiable
Anolis
carolinensis
(Dactyloid)

6. First Exam: 15 February. Second Exam: 29 March. Third Exam: 3 May
First Exam: 15 February Second Exam: 29 March Third Exam: 3 May Best 2 of above 3 = 40% Discussion Sections 20% Final Exam May 40% No “Extra points, No “Make Up” Exams! Final Grades are FINAL, non negotiable
Anolis
carolinensis
(Dactyloid)

7. 7 Families
12 Families
Plus a dozen other families

8. as an ecologist is concerned) Henry David Thoreau (1854)
Captive organisms are out of context, they don’t have a natural environment (they might as well be dead as far
as an ecologist is concerned)
Henry David Thoreau (1854)
Walden “Book of Life” metaphor
Holmes Rolston (1985) “Vanishing
Book of Life“ Humans are just beginning to be able
to read it, but its pages are tattered and torn, and
entire chapters have been ripped out. Need to save
as much as possible (conservation biology), but also
must READ it (ecology) before it is gone. Other
Earthlings were here before us and have a right to
exist, too.

10. Wisdom

11. Wisdom Knowledge

12. Wisdom Knowledge Understanding

13. Wisdom Knowledge Understanding Manipulation

14. Wisdom. Knowledge. Understanding. Manipulation
Wisdom Knowledge Understanding Manipulation Profess: “to claim to have knowledge of”

15. Wisdom. Knowledge. Understanding. Manipulation
Wisdom Knowledge Understanding Manipulation Profess: “to claim to have knowledge of” Study: “application of the mental faculties to the acquisition of knowledge”

16. Fossil fuel is our energy slave
Fossil fuel is our energy slave. It’s too cheap, one gallon will move a one-ton car miles (for a measly $2+ bucks – just Imagine having to push your car that far)
Read Horsepower

17. Watch these videos https://www. youtube. com/watch

18. Proper motivation to do science is curiosity. How do things work
Proper motivation to do science is curiosity. How do things work? Assume an organized reality exists and that objective principles can be formulated to reflect this natural order (not faith based) Common misconception that “truth” and “proof” and even “facts” exist Nietzsche said “there are no facts, only interpretation.” Better to say facts include interpretation
Nietzsche

19. Proper motivation to do science is curiosity. How do things work
Proper motivation to do science is curiosity. How do things work? Assume an organized reality exists and that objective principles can be formulated to reflect this natural order (not faith based) Common misconception that “truth” and “proof” and even “facts” exist Nietzsche said “there are no facts, only interpretation.”
Nietzsche
‘Just Another Monkey’

20. Sunrise
Sunset
Geocentric world view

21. X X
Sunrise
Sunset
Geocentric world view

22. Solar system world view
“Spinup”
“Spindawn””
“Spindown”
“Spindusk”
Solar system world view

23. Heliocentric world view

24. Heliocentric world view
You are Here
Heliocentric world view

25. Most people consider a “fact” as “what really happened.”
However, Many “facts” are not so clean and simple -- most
involve varying levels of interpretation. Consider, for example,
the apparently simple fact that the Sun rises each morning.
Daily we receive new evidence confirming this fact. We can
be quite confident that the Sun will rise again tomorrow.
References to sunrise and sunset are based on now defunct
concept of a “flat Earth and moving Sun”. But our understanding
of cosmic events is greatly enhanced when instead of thinking
of the Sun as moving, it is viewed as fixed in space at the
center of a solar system, and the Earth is interpreted as a
rotating globe orbiting around a small star. Our vocabulary
hasn't caught up -- clearly, we should refer to “sunrise” as
“spinup” or “spindawn” and “sunset” as “spindown” or “spindusk.”

28. Our one and only Spaceship (there is no planet B)

29. Observation and Experiment are vital
Observation and Experiment are vital. Scientists formulate hypotheses to explain repeatable events. A hypothesis is tested by confronting it with reality — if it fails, it is discarded and replaced with another, hopefully better, hypothesis. In time, a well supported hypothesis becomes a theory. The scientific method is self regulating: poor hypotheses are continually replaced with better ones as human knowledge expands and is improved. We benefit immensely from past genius.

30. A sprinkling of past geniuses:
Socrates
Aristotle
Archimedes
Euclid
DaVinci
Newton
Darwin
Einsteinn

31. Archimedes
“The Method”

32. Archimedes (287-212 BC) “The Method”

33. Archimedes (287-212 BC) “The Method”
- ref389152

35. 8+ Billion
of us

36. 8+ Billion
of us
Paul Ehrlich

37. 8+ Billion
of us

38. 8+ Billion
of us

39. Caribou
Pribolof Islands
Alaska

40. Caribou
Pribolof Islands
Alaska

43. Domain of Ecology
Simple versus multiple causality

44. Observation and Experiment are vital
Observation and Experiment are vital. Scientists formulate hypotheses to explain repeatable events. A hypothesis is tested by confronting it with reality — if it fails, it is discarded and replaced with another, hopefully better, hypothesis. In time, a well supported hypothesis becomes a theory. The scientific method is self regulating: poor hypotheses are continually replaced with better ones as human knowledge expands and is improved. We benefit immensely from past genius.

45. Genetic Drift (random sampling) Gene Flow (migration)
Evolution is not synonymous with Natural Selection Evolution is defined as any change in the gene pool Agents of Evolution
Genetic Drift (random sampling)
Gene Flow (migration)
Mutation Pressure
Meiotic Drive (segregation distortion)
Natural Selection

46. Natural Selection = Differential Reproductive Success
Natural Selection = Differential Reproductive Success “Struggle for Existence” “Survival of the Fittest” Selection results in Adaptation (other agents of evolution do not) (Adaptation is conformity between organism and environment)

47. Natural Selection does not always operate via Differential Mortality Cautious long-lived tomcat versus short-lived alley cat The currency of Natural Selection is progeny (offspring, babies) Not beauty, brains, or brawn If the ugly stupid and weak make more babies, their genes prevail

48. Natural Selection does not always operate via Differential Mortality Cautious long-lived tomcat versus short-lived alley cat The currency of Natural Selection is progeny (offspring, babies) Not beauty, brains, or brawn If the ugly stupid and weak make more babies, their genes prevail

49. Darwinian Fitness = ability to perpetuate genes in the gene pool Natural Selection operates like an efficiency expert, ferreting out the best way to perpetuate an organism’s genes Natural Selection is however short sighted (does not “see” past the next generation!) Natural Selection is the ultimate inventor: flight, echolocation, celestial navigation, insulation, infrared sensors, hypodermic needles, plus all sorts of pharmaceuticals (antibiotics, analgesics, diuretics, hormone mimics, laxitives, tranquilizers, etc.)