Charter
sci.bio.evolution will be dedicated to discussions of evolutionary biology. These include, but
are not limited to: Natural selection, genetic drift, mutation, gene flow, recombination,
interactions of the
descent, systematics, taxonomy, modification with descent, macro- and homeotic mutations, adaptive
mutations, the history of life on earth (including the Cambrian explosion and demise of the
dinosaurs), the origin of life, paleontology, taphonomy, ecological genetics, behavioral ecology,
game theory, computer simulations of evolution, punctuated equilibrium, optimality theory,
historicity in biology, the growth of biological thought, the history of biology and evolution,
Lamarck, Darwin, Huxley, Haldane, Fisher, Wright, Simpson, Dohbzhansky, Gould, Lewontin, Diamond,
Dawkins, Leaky, Wilson, Kimura, speciation, adaptive landscapes, adaptation, population genetics and
discussion of recently published works of interest (e.g. is there a "gay gene"?)
Moderation policy: As listed above, Josh Hayes would be moderator. The only criterion for accepting
posts will be relevance. Posts dealing with scientific aspects of evolution will be accepted;
Articles of creationist content will be rejected. Those authors will be informed that the
unmoderated newsgroup talk.origins welcomes such discussions. Talk.origins has a variety of FAQ
files (available via ftp) discussing arguments favoring creationism. These have been discussed
numerous times on talk.origins and will not be rehashed on sci.bio.evolution.
A pre-existing t.o. FAQ file ("Introduction to Evolutionary Biology"😉 will be posted every month or
so to provide background material for new readers or posters.
[moderator's note: This charter is obviously woefully out of date. I mean, FAQ files available via
FTP? Who does THAT any more? Still, I think it's useful to post the original charter, and I'll also
post Chris Colby's elderly FAQ as well. - JAH]