a summary of each paper’s position, including an assessment of the supporting evidence, its strengths and weaknesses, and the authors’ logic and interpretations.
A survey of other recent literature on the topic, including other papers that offer additional evidence, or that suggest alternative interpretations of the existing evidence.
In your assignment, you may criticize or comment on any aspect of the papers, but you must justify all of your statements. Include a Literature Cited section at the end of your assignment (not included in the word count).

Topic 1. Regressive evolution (character reversals) in cave fish.

Wilkens H (2010). Genes, modules and the evolution of cave fish. Heredity 105: 413-422.
Jeffery WR (2010). Pleiotropy and eye degeneration in cavefish. Heredity 105: 495-496.
Wilkens H (2011). Variability and loss of functionless traits in cave animals. Reply to Jeffery (2010). Heredity 106: 207-208.
Topic 2. Do rates of molecular evolution in birds and mammals vary with latitude?

Weir JS & Schuter D (2008) Calibrating the avian molecular clock. Molecular Ecology 17: 2321-2328.
Gillman LN, Keeling DJ, Ross HA, Wright SD (2009). Latitude, elevation and the tempo of molecular evolution in mammals. Proc. Royal Soc. B 276: 3353-3359.
Weir JS, Schluter D (2011). Are rates of molecular evolution in animals substantially accelerated in warmer climates? Proc. Royal Soc. B 278: 1291-1293.
Gillman LN, McBride P, Keeling DJ, Ross HA, Wright SD (2011). Are rates of molecular evolution in animals substantially accelerated in warmer climates? A reply. Proc. Royal Soc. B 278: 1294-1297.
Topic 3. Fossil evidence of the earliest winged insect.

Marden JH (2013). Reanalysis and experimental evidence indicate that the earliest trace fossil of a winged insect was a surface-skimming neopteran. Evolution 67: 274-280.
Benner JS, Knecht RJ, Engel MS (2013). Comment on Marden (2013): “Reanalysis and experimental evidence indicate that the earliest trace fossil of a winged insect was a surface-skimming neopteran”. Evolution 67: 2142-2149.
Marden JH (2013). Reply to “Comment on Marden (2013) regarding the interpretation of the earliest trace fossil of a winged insect”. Evolution 67: 2150-2153.