606-303 Plant Systematics and Evolution

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This subject will introduce the general principles and modern methods of systematics: how to discover the phylogeny (relationships) of organisms using both morphological characters and molecular (DNA) data; how to use this information to improve the classification systems of plants and fungi; how to study aspects of evolution, coevolution and historical biogeography; and how to integrate information from living and fossil plants to discover the past and date evolutionary events.

Examples of the diversity and evolution of Australian plants and fungi - both fossil and living forms - will be used throughout this subject. Topics studied include:

• comparative morphology and DNA;
• numerical methods in systematics, phenetics and cladistics;
• coevolution and historical biogeography;
• evolution of vascular plants, especially seed plants and angiosperms, including Australian flora;
  
• fossils;
  
• fungi.