Unit 11 Important Topics

Introduction to Unit 11 : Important Topics To Read

The Single Reason why you must opt for this course is Unit 11, Its not just tough but also Very Very important for CSIR NET exam. So why take the RISK ? Take the Course buddy.

Unit 11: All about evolution. Highly interesting topics, and the scoring unit as well. You will have to understand some concepts thoroughly and memorize the rest. It has quite some important topics from where questions are asked in the exam.

Syllabus

A. Emergence of evolutionary thoughts Lamarck; Darwin–concepts of variation, adaptation, struggle, fitness and natural selection; Mendelism; Spontaneity of mutations; The evolutionary synthesis.

B. Origin of cells and unicellular evolution: Origin of basic biological molecules; Abiotic synthesis of organic monomers and polymers; Concept of Oparin and Haldane; Experiement of Miller (1953); The first cell; Evolution of prokaryotes; Origin of eukaryotic cells; Evolution of unicellular eukaryotes; Anaerobic metabolism, photosynthesis and aerobic metabolism.

C. Paleontology and Evolutionary History: The evolutionary time scale; Eras, periods and epoch; Major events in the evolutionary time scale; Origins of unicellular and multi cellular organisms; Major groups of plants and animals; Stages in primate evolution including Homo.

D. Molecular Evolution: Concepts of neutral evolution, molecular divergence and molecular clocks; Molecular tools in phylogeny, classification and identification; Protein and nucleotide sequence analysis; origin of new genes and proteins; Gene duplication and divergence.

E. The Mechanisms: Population genetics – Populations, Gene pool, Gene frequency; Hardy-Weinberg Law; concepts and rate of change in gene frequency through natural selection, migration and random genetic drift; Adaptive radiation; Isolating mechanisms; Speciation; Allopatricity and Sympatricity; Convergent evolution; Sexual selection; Co-evolution.

F. Brain, Behavior and Evolution: Approaches and methods in study of behavior; Proximate and ultimate causation; Altruism and evolution-Group selection, Kin selection, Reciprocal altruism; Neural basis of learning, memory, cognition, sleep and arousal; Biological clocks; Development of behavior; Social communication; Social dominance; Use of space and territoriality; Mating systems, Parental investment and Reproductive success; Parental care; Aggressive behavior; Habitat selection and optimality in foraging; Migration, orientation and navigation; Domestication and behavioral changes.

Important Topics to be studied From CSIR NET Unit 11

Ensure you know all the types of selection like directional, stabilizing and disruptive
Concept clarity should be there about the founder’s effect and bottleneck effect
Natural selection – Lamarck concept, Darwinism, adaptation, variation, struggle, fitness, the spontaneity of mutation.
Also, it’s related theories such as the origin of a cell, how prokaryotic, unicellular eukaryotic multicellular eukaryotic cells, anaerobic metabolism, photosynthesis, aerobic metabolism, evolved one after the other.
Concept of Oparin and Haldane; Experiment of Miller
Then some important terms like adaptive radiation, endosymbiotic theory
Types of evolution like convergent, divergent and parallel and the basic difference between them.
The concept of speciation types such as allopatric, parapatric and sympatric
Genetic drift changes through natural selection
Phylogenetic tree and cladogram, molecular evolution, molecular divergence, clocks, tools, protein, and nucleotide gene analysis, new protein or gene origin, duplication, divergence
Geological time scale – Ontology, evolutionary history, Major events in different eras, periods, epochs. You can use some mnemonic code to memorize them.
Primate evolution stages
Brain-behavior evolution- altruism, behavior concepts, biological clock.

REFERENCE BOOKS For CSIR NET UNIT 11