Family tree of dinosaurs

WHAT ARE EVIDENCES FOR EVOLUTION?

Paleontological evidence:
 Fossils are remains of hard parts of life-forms found in rocks.
 Different-aged rock sediments contain fossils of different life-forms who
probably died during the formation of
the particular sediment.
 They represent the extinct organisms (e.g. Dinosaurs).
 A study of different sedimentary layers in which fossils were present indicates
the geological period in which they
existed.
 The study showed that life-forms varied over time and certain life forms are
restricted to certain geological timespan.
 Hence new forms of life are believed to have originated at different times in the
history of earth.
 All this called Paleontological evidence.
Comparative anatomy and morphological evidence:
 Comparative anatomy and morphology shows similarities and differences among
organisms of today and those
that existed years ago.
Divergent evolution:
 Different mammals like bats, whales, cheetah and humans share similarities in the
pattern of bones of forelimbs.
 These forelimbs perform different functions in these animals but they have
similar anatomical structure – all of
them have humerus, radius, ulna, carpals, metacarpals and phalanges in their
forelimbs.
 Thus it can be seen that the same structure developed along different directions
due to adaptation to different
needs.
 This direction of evolution is called as divergent evolution and these structures
are homologous to each other.
 Homology indicates common ancestry.
 Other examples of homologous organ are vertebrate hearts and brains.
 Thorn of Bougainvillea and tendrils of Cucurbita represent homology.
Homologous organs: Forelimbs of mammals
Homologous organs in Plants
Convergent Evolution:
 Wings of butterfly and of birds both appear similar.
 Anatomically they do not have similar structure though they perform similar
function.
 Hence analogous structures are a result of convergent evolution.
 Eyes of different organisms like that of octopus of mammals.
 Flippers of Penguins and Dolphins.
 Sweet potato (root modification) and potato (stem modification) for storage of
food.
Biochemical evidences:
 Similarities in proteins and genes performing a specific function among different
organisms give clues regarding
common ancestry.
Embryological support for evolution:
 Ernst Heckel proposed this evidence as evolution based on observation of certain
common features during
embryonic stage of all vertebrates but are absent in adult.
 All vertebrate embryos including human embryo develop a row of vestigial gill
slits just behind the head. It is seen
that it is a functional organ only in fish. Gills are not found in any other adult
vertebrates.
 The embryological evidence was disregarded and disproved by Karl Ernst von Baer
on the basis of careful study
performed by him. He noted that the similarities in embryos never pass through the
adult stages of other animals.
Evolution by natural selection:
 A popular example is the change in frequency of moth population in England in
1850.
 Before industrialization set in more white-winged moths were observed on trees
than dark winged or melanised
moths.
 After industrialization i.e. 1920, the proportion was reversed as there were more
dark-winged moths in the same
area.
Evolution by anthropogenic action (Man Made) :
 Excess use of herbicides, pesticides etc., has resulted in selection of the
resistant varieties in a much lesser time
scale.
 This has also been observed for microbes against which we use antibiotics or
drugs.
 Hence resistance in organisms/cells are now appearing in a time scale of months
or years and not in centuries.
 These are the examples of evolution by anthropogenic action.
 Evolution is a stochastic process. This is because it is based on random and
chance events in nature and chance
mutation in the organisms.
WHAT IS ADAPTIVE RADIATION?
D arwin’s Finches:
 Darwin’s theory was based on observation of certain birds in the Galapagos
Islands. The small black birds he
observed have since been called Darwin’s Finches.
 He observed that there were many varieties of finches in the same island.
 All the varieties he came across had evolved on the island itself.
 They were originally adapted with seed-eating features. From these many other
forms evolved with altered beaks
depending on the food habit. This enabled them to become insectivorous and
vegetarian finches
 This process of evolution of different species in a given geographical area
starting from a point and radiating to
other areas of geography is called as adaptive radiation.
Australian marsupial:
 In Australia it was seen that a number of marsupials had evolved from an
ancestral stock. These marsupials were
all different from each other.
 When more than one adaptive radiation appears to have occurred in an isolated
geographical area (representing
different habitats), it can be called as convergent evolution.
 Placental mammals in Australia were also seen to exhibit adaptive radiation. They
seem to be evolved from a
marsupial into various placental mammals. The placental mammals are showed
similarities to the ancestral
marsupial (e.g. placental wolf and Tasmanian wolf-marsupial).
BIOLOGICAL EVOLUTION:
 Natural selection is the essence of Darwinian Theory about evolution.
 The rate of appearance of new forms is related to the life cycle or the life
span.
 For variations to get selected and evolve there has to be a genetic basis.
 Organisms with favorable variations are better adapted to survive in a hostile
environment.
 Variations result in adaptability. They have a genetic basis and are therefore
inherited.
 Fitness is the ability to adapt to changing environment and thus get selected by
the nature.
 The key concepts of Darwinism are:
 Natural selection: Survival of the fittest by the nature in face of changing
environment.
 Theory of Common Descent: Organisms are descended from common ancestors due to
accumulation of
variations
Lamarck theory of evolution: (theory of inheritance of acquired characters)
 French Naturalist Lamarck proposed that evolution of life forms occurs due to use
and disuse of organs.
 He explained this theory using giraffes as an example. He claimed that giraffes
formed long necks in an attempt to
forage leaves on tall trees. Therefore, this character was acquired based on a need
to adapt and survive
 This acquired character was passed to succeeding generations.
 Giraffes, therefore, came to develop long necks slowly over the course of many
years.
MECHANISM OF EVOLUTION:
 Hugo de Vries worked on evening primrose. He gave the idea of mutations.
 Mutation is the difference arising suddenly in a population.
Hugo de Vries theory of mutation differs from Darwin’s theory of natural selection.
 He stated that mutation causes evolution and not the minor variations that as
suggested by Darwin.
 Mutations are sudden, random and directionless while Darwinian variations are
small and directional.
 Evolution according to Darwin was slow and gradual whereas Hugo de Vries believed
that mutation caused large
changes that led to speciation. He therefore called it saltation (single step large
mutation).
 Saltation: It is a large and an abrupt evolutionary change that has been brought
about due to sudden large scale
mutation.
HARDY – WEINBERG PRINCIPLE:
 For given population the frequency of occurrence of alleles of a particular gene
present on a specific locus can be
calculated.
 This frequency is usually fixed and remains the same throughout different
generations.
 Hardy-Weinberg principle expressed the same using algebraic equations. This is
called as the Hardy-Weinberg
Principle.
 The principle states that allele frequencies in a population are stable and are
constant from generation to
generation.
 The gene pool (total genes and their alleles in a population) remains a constant.
This is called genetic equilibrium.
 Sum total of all the allelic frequencies is 1.
 The principle can be represented mathematically as follows:
 (p + q)2
= p2
+ 2pq + q2
= 1.
 p and q represent the individual allele frequencies.
o Therefore, p2
= frequency of homozygous condition represented by p
o And q2
= frequency of homozygous alleles represented by q
o And pq = frequency of heterozygous condition
 Difference in values of p, q and pq indicate the extent of evolutionary change.
 Disturbance in genetic equilibrium (Hardy Weinberg equilibrium) or change of
frequency of alleles in a population
can then be interpreted as accumulation or change in variations that results in
evolution.
 Five factors are known to affect Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium:
o Gene migration or gene flow.
o Genetic drift.
o Mutation.
o Genetic recombination.
o Natural selection.
 Gene migration: When a section of population migrates to another place gene
frequencies will change in the
original as well as in the new population. New genes /alleles will be added to the
new population and the same are
lost from the old population.
 Gene flow: When gene migration occurs frequently it is termed as gene flow.
 Genetic drift: Change in gene frequency that occurs due to a random event or by
chance.
 Founder effect: Sometimes the change in allelic frequency is so drastic that in
the new sample of population the
variants form a different species. The original drifted population from which the
variants arose becomes founder
species and this effect is called founder effect.
Operation of natural selection on different trait:
 Natural selection can lead to :
o Stabilization: In which more individuals acquire mean character value.
o Directional changes: Occurs when more individuals acquire value other than the
mean character value.
o Disruption: more individuals acquire peripheral character value at both ends of
the distribution
curve.