Highlights
Description from Unit Guide In this major written assignment you are required to conduct a literature search of the primary literature in order to map out a research project addressing a major question from the perspective of evolutionary biology. This written report will be due towards the end of the course and build on the knowledge acquired from the lecture material, case studies, and practical classes up to that point. The full details of the assessment task will be released on iLearn in Week 8, and the assignment will be due for submission on Sunday* 24th May in Week 11. *Please note, in the Unit guide it stated Friday, however that was an error and the 24th is a Sunday.
The assignment
Your proposal should be no longer than 2,000 words of text, but the word count does not include the reference list.
The assignment should have an introduction, outline of proposed work, with appropriate justification for the questions being addressed and the approach taken to investigate them. The area of the Research Project is outlined below (on next page)
The introduction should outline the important questions and previous, or similar work or approaches used in this area. The work should make reference (using Harvard style) to appropriate papers in the existing literature.
The main body of the work should be a set of research plans proposing work that could be done.
Figures and tables should be used to enhance the presentation of ideas and the plan of research.
The research proposal should not be the outline for just a single experiment, but rather a plan for a range of projects that come together to coherently provide insight into the relevant biology.
The proposal does not need to be completely comprehensive, anticipating that good scientific outcomes often inspire further, novel questions.
The proposal should consider the variety of scientific approaches through which evolutionary insight is achieved, for example comparative work, meta-analyses, experimental work, observational study and molecular analyses.
You are only asked to propose research plans. You shouldn’t write up results, or conclusions.
The marking rubric is provided below and should help to identify the elements of a high standard research proposal.
The Challenge –
Following the COVID Pandemic, Australian scientists have been closely examining the potential for the emergence of a new coronavirus in Australian fauna. A pair of similar-looking fruit bats (the x-wing bat and the y-wing bat, due to distinctive markings on their wings) has been discovered in central Queensland, and have been found to carry a virus that is closely related to COVID-19. Whilst another research program has been launched to investigate the virus, you have been tasked with designing a program of research to learn as much about the bat as possible.
They have stressed that they want the research program to be conducted from a broad evolutionary perspective, and justified by reference to the existing literature. Make sure that your program of research is evolutionary in perspective, and is not simply behavioral, or ecological research.
Given the potential dangers of the new bats (and the virus they carry), against the commitment to biodiversity values, the government urgently needs to learn everything they can about the new bats, and money is no object. They encourage you to be ambitious and imaginative in the targets of your research program.
Important questions include, but are not limited to understanding the
What are the x-wing and y-wing bats related to phylogenetically? Are they sister species, or two sexes of the same species? What is the life history of the bat? How likely is it that the bat can be effectively controlled, should the need arise? What interactions do the bats have with other species, as pollinators, or agents of seed dispersal, and how will that affect decisions about its control in the future? Is there any functional relevance of the X and Y markings on the underwings of the bats?
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