This course provides students with both theoretical and practical foundations to address key questions in evolutionary biology, systematics, and biogeography, with a focus on macroevolutionary patterns and processes. Topics include phylogenetic inference, character evolution, gene vs. species trees, diversification dynamics, and historical biogeography. Emphasis is placed on understanding how evolutionary relationships are reconstructed, how biodiversity is classified, and how large-scale patterns of biological diversity evolve over time and across space. A range of case studies will be discussed to illustrate how these concepts are applied. close