EVOLUTIONARY GENETICS. CONCEPTS, ANALYSIS, AND PRACTICE

1:The foundations of evolutionary genetics
2:Genomes and the origin of genetic variation
3:Changes in allele and genotype frequency
4:The theory of natural selection
5:The power of natural selection
6:Multilocus evolution
7:Inferring evolutionary processes from DNA sequence data
8:Genetics and genomics of speciation
9:Reconstructing the past
10:Sequencing the genome and beyond

With recent technological advances, vast quantities of genetic and genomic data are being generated at an ever-increasing pace. The explosion in access to data has transformed the field of evolutionary genetics. A thorough understanding of evolutionary principles is essential for making sense of this, but new skill sets are also needed to handle and analyze big data. This contemporary textbook covers all the major components of modern evolutionary genetics, carefully explaining fundamental processes such as mutation, natural selection, genetic drift, and speciation. It also draws on a rich literature of exciting and inspiring examples to demonstrate the diversity of evolutionary research, including an emphasis on how evolution and selection has shaped our own species.

Practical experience is essential for developing an understanding of how to use genetic and genomic data to analyze and interpret results in meaningful ways. In addition to the main text, a series of online tutorials using the R language serves as an introduction to programming, statistics, and analysis. Indeed the R environment stands out as an ideal all-purpose source platform to handle and analyze such data. The book and its online materials take full advantage of the authors' own experience in working in a post-genomic revolution world, and introduces readers to the plethora of molecular and analytical methods that have only recently become available.

Evolutionary Genetics is an advanced but accessible textbook aimed principally at students of various levels (from undergraduate to postgraduate) but also for researchers looking for an updated introduction to modern evolutionary biology and genetics.

Features
• Describes the key concepts and analyses for handling evolutionary genetic data
• Adopts a hands-on, practical approach in tackling key challenges of summarising, interpreting and visualising evolutionary genetic data
• Practical R sessions centre on concepts introduced in the textbook using genetic data from real populations as well as simulation exercises with important evolutionary models
• Encourages a strong foundation in basic programming skills and places an emphasis on bioinformatics training for evolutionary biologists

Authors
• Glenn-Peter Sætre, Professor, Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis, University of Oslo, Norway.
• Mark Ravinet, Researcher, Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis, University of Oslo, Norway