Assignment:
Possible topics for discussion:
1. What do you think the correlation between number of cell types (multicellularity) and number of gene families linked to cell-cell signaling is?
2. Early mammalian development occurs in the uterus. What kind of selective pressures might operate in uterus?
3. How does an evo-devo approach to gene duplication support and strengthen the argument that evolution is like a tinkerer, building new gadgets from whatever is available at the time?
4. If all living humans can trace their matrilinear ancestry to a single female who lived between 100,000 and 200,00 years ago, does that means that our ancestral population went through such a tight bottleneck that the mitochondrial Even was the only reproductive female of her time?