See attached document.

In this lab, we will use sequence information in GenBank (the public repository of all known DNA sequences from many species) and bioinformatics software to test hypotheses about the relationship between aquatic mammals (seals, whales, dolphins, walruses, manatees, and sea otters) and their potential ancestral relationship to land mammals.

Prior to Lab Day:

1. Review the attached document to familiarize yourself with the general idea of the lab.

Read page 1 for background information on HOW the experiment works.

Use "PROCEDURE," "Part A, " and "Part B" on page 1 to formulate your hypothesis.

2. It it not necessary to read much further into the packet, as the rest of the procedure is relatively straight forward.

Lab Day:

1. You can work independently or with a partner.

2. Before you begin, discuss hypotheses with your partner.

3. Execute the procedure detailed in the packet for both Parts A and B.

4. Log out. Clean up.

5. When finished, immediately begin writing up a formal lab report in your actual lab notebook of what you did.

a. Title and date

b. Problem: Did marine mammals evolve from a single ancestor who returned to the ocean, or were there distinct return events from separate ancestors?

c. Sample hypothesis: marine mammals have a single common land mammal ancestor.

d. Experimental Design: use the brief description of Part A and Part B on page 1 as a guide.

e. Materials: list the items used in the lab including the websites. Include any websites used in answering discussion questions.

f. Procedure: Give a summary of the procedure.

g. Data collection: alignment and phylogeny observations.

h. Analysis: Question #15 in Part A and #6 in Part B should be the basis for your analysis.

i. Conclusion: Discuss answers to questions #1-4 at the end of the handout.

j. Post-lab: none.

6. Turn your in lab notebook by the assigned date for review by Dr. Kostenko.