Handbook : Unit informationEdith Cowan University

School: Medical and Health Sciences

This unit information may be updated and amended immediately prior to semester. To ensure you have the correct outline, please check it again at the beginning of semester.

• Unit Title

  Human Evolution and Ecology

• Unit Code

  SCH1132

• Year

  2019

• Enrolment Period

  2

• Version

  1

• Credit Points

  15

• Full Year Unit

  N

• Mode of Delivery

  On Campus
  

• Unit Coordinator

  Dr David Antony COALL

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Description

The place of humans in the natural world is explored through the fossil record, the molecules that make us, the behaviour of living nonhuman primates and the behaviours and biology of modern people. Evidence of our evolutionary past is visible in the fossil record, in our DNA, our hominid anatomy, our physiology and our behaviour. Even so, the field of human evolutionary study abounds with controversies: intelligent design and creationism; the aquatic ape hypothesis; the little people of Flores; human altruism, selfishness and genocide; is 'Homo sapiens' the architect of Planet Earth's sixth mass-extinction? This unit presents the scientific evidence for human evolution and critically appraises significant controversies within Biological Anthropology.

Learning Outcomes

On completion of this unit students should be able to:

1. Classify Primates into infraorders, suborders, superfamilies, families and subfamilies.
2. Compare sexual selection to natural selection.
3. Critically analyse a range of contemporary human evolutionary controversies.
4. Describe the forces of evolution and how they can lead to the formation of species.
5. Describe the roots and scope of Biological Anthropology.
6. Explain how an understanding of cellular anatomy and DNA structure and function has led to molecular tools for bioanthropological research.
7. Explain primate evolutionary trends and the possible selection forces that gave rise to them.
8. Identify hominid features and describe hominid progression from early hominid forms through to the emergence of Homo sapiens.
9. Recognise the key postulates and interpretations that led Darwin to his theory of natural selection.

Unit Content

1. Biological anthropology and the principles of evolution: from Charles Darwin to Richard Dawkins.
2. Hominid progression and palaeoanthropology.
3. The Primate Order and its diversity: a continuing taxonomic debate.
4. The importance of peer-reviewed research in long-standing and recent controversies in evolutionary anthropology.

Learning Experience

Students will attend on campus classes as well as engage in learning activities through ECU Blackboard.

For more information see the Semester Timetable

Additional Learning Experience Information

This unit comprises lectures (including industry based guest lecturers), interactive tutorials and a three-hour Primate field trip at Perth Zoo, which runs four times to accommodate all enrolled students. Total contact time for this unit is 3 hours per week. At the Zoo, students work in small teams to record and corroborate observations. In tutorials, students working in teams debate controversies in biological anthropology, critically evaluating opposing views and formulating their own ideas. The sustainable use of resources via Blackboard will be promoted throughout this unit.

Assessment

GS1 GRADING SCHEMA 1 Used for standard coursework units

Students please note: The marks and grades received by students on assessments may be subject to further moderation. All marks and grades are to be considered provisional until endorsed by the relevant Board of Examiners.

Core Reading(s)

• Stanford, C., Allen, J. S., & Anton, S. C. (2013). Exploring Biological Anthropology: The Essentials  . (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall. Retrieved from https://ecu.on.worldcat.org/oclc/795909435?databaseList=638
• Boyd, Robert., & Silk, J. B. (2018). How humans evolved (8th ed.). New York [etc.]: Norton & Co. Retrieved from https://ecu.on.worldcat.org/oclc/986523645

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