Evolutionary enigmas: solving biology’s biggest mysteries

Many aspects of biology that we take for granted are, on further examination, deeply puzzling. Surely black would be a better colour for leaves than green? Animals use many strategies for locomotion, but why has no animal ever evolved wheels? Why does the left side of the brain control the right side of the body? On this course, we will learn how to answer 'why' questions in biology, exploring how the evolutionary principles of optimality, constraint and contingency can be applied to explain what we do (and don't) see in the natural world.