Evolutio
n The Nature of
Change
and Variation
What is Evolution?
Simply… a change in
living organisms over
time
Why study evolution?
Evolutionary concepts provide a
solid foundation to much of
modern biology
- you can’t fully understand current trends in
biology or you will have difficulty
understanding evolution
Why Study Evolution?
Evolution
involves inheritable changes in
organisms through time
is fundamental to biology and paleontology
Paleontology is the study of life history as
revealed by fossils
Evolution is a unifying theory
like plate tectonic theory
that explains an otherwise encyclopedic
collection of facts
Evolution provides a framework
for discussion of life history
Misconceptions about
Evolution
Manypeople have a poor
understanding
of the theory of evolution
they hold a number of misconceptions,
which include:
evolution proceeds or advances strictly by
chance
nothing less than fully developed structures
– such as eyes are of any use
there are no transitional fossils
– so-called missing links
– connecting ancestors and descendants
humans evolved from monkeys
What is a scientific
“theory”?
Evolutionary theory is the framework
tying together all of biology.
It explains similarities and differences
between organisms, fossils, biogeography,
drug resistance, relative virulence of
parasites, and much more.
Theories are structures of ideas that
explain and interpret facts.
In the early days...
Prior to 1760 -people believed
organisms were fixed- that is they didn’t
change
1744-1829 – Jean Baptiste Lamarck
Evolution through the inheritance of
acquired characteristics
Traits acquired during an organism’s
life could be passed on to their
offspring
Giraffes long necks explained by
Lamarck’s Giraffes
Accordingto Lamarck’s theory of
inheritance of acquired – ancestral
characteristics short-necked
giraffes
– stretched their
necks
– to reach leaves
high on trees.
– Their
offspring were
born
– with longer
necks
Lamarck’s Theory
Lamark’s theory was not totally
disproved
until decades later
with the discovery that genes cannot be
altered by any effort by an organism
during its lifetime
Basic Types of Evolution
Macroevolution = speciation – the
formation of new species. The
change in species over long
periods of time. Not immediately
observable.
Microevolution = changes in
genes/alleles within a population.
Can be observed in a human
lifetime.
Macroevolution/
Microevolution
Macroevolutio Microevolutio
n n
1. Large-scale 1. Small-scale
changes in gene changes in gene
frequencies frequencies
2. Occurs over a 2. Occurs over a
longer few generations
(geological) time
period 3. Occurs within a
3. Occurs at or species or
above the level population in
Macroevolution/
Microevolution
Macroevolutio Microevolutio
n n
5. Has not been 5. Observable
directly
observed 6. Evidence
6. Evidence based produced
on by
remnants of the experimentatio
past n
7. More 7. Less
Biological Evidence
Supporting Evolution
If all existing organisms descended
with modification from ancestors that
lived during the past,
all life forms should have
fundamental similarities:
all living things consist mainly of carbon,
nitrogen hydrogen and oxygen
their chromosomes consist of DNA
all cells synthesize proteins
in essentially the same way
Evolutionary Relationships
Biochemistry provides evidence for
evolutionary relationships
Blood proteins are similar among all
mammals
Humans’ blood chemistry is related
most closely to the great apes
then to Old World monkeys
then New World monkeys
then lower primates such as lemurs
Biochemical test support the idea
that birds descended from reptiles
a conclusion supported by evidence in
the fossil record
Points
Organisms in all populations
possess heritable variations such as
size, speed, agility, visual acuity,
digestive enzymes, color, and so forth
Some variations are more favorable than others
some have a competitive edge
in acquiring resources and/or avoiding predators
Not all young survive to reproductive maturity
Those with favorable variations
are more likely to survive
and pass on their favorable variations
“Survival of the Fittest”
In common nonscientific usage,
natural selection is sometimes expressed
as
“survival of the fittest”
This is misleading because natural
selection is not simply a matter of
survival
- but involves differential rates
of survival and reproduction
Not only Biggest, Strongest,
Fastest
One misconception about natural
selection
is that among animals
only the biggest, strongest, and fastest
are likely to survive
These characteristics might provide an advantage
but natural selection may favor
the smallest if resources are limited
the most easily concealed
those that adapt most readily to a new food source
those having the ability to detoxify some substance
and so on...
Darwin observed Galapagos
finches showing variations in
beak shape and size from island
to island.
He reasoned these differences
made the finches better adapted
to the food in their particular local
environment.
Each finch population had
developed beaks which were
suitable for that particular
environment.
Phylogenic
Tree
Phylogenic trees trace
patterns of shared
ancestry between
lineages.
Each lineage has a
part of its history that
is unique to it alone
and parts that are
shared with other
lineages.
Limits of Natural Selection
Natural selection works
on existing variation in a population
Itcould not account for the origin of variations
Critics reasoned that should a variant trait
arise,
it would blend with other traits and would be lost
The answer to these criticisms
existed even then in the work of Gregor Mendel,
but remained obscure until 1900
Evidence of Change
FossilRecord
Embryology
Molecular Biology-Amino Acids,
Nucleotides, DNA sequencing,
mitochondrial DNA
Anatomy commonalities
Various adaptations
EVIDENCE OF EVOLUTION
STRUCTURAL ADAPTATIONS
MIMICRY
CAMOUFLAGE
http://evolution.berkeley.edu/evolibrary/home.php
http://science.howstuffworks.com/animal-camouflage2.htm
Fossil Record
Fossils are a major source of
information about changes in
life during the
distant past
In general, fossils
show that life has
increased in
diversity and complexity
over time
Fossil Record
Interpretation of the distribution of fossils in
the rock initially based on the principle of
superposition
- in undisturbed rock layers, older fossils will
be found lower in the rock than younger
fossils
-radiometric dating confirms this
In general older life forms tend to be less
complex
Periods of diversity are interrupted by mass
extinctions – followed by new life forms
Embryology
All vertebrate embryos have
Gill slits on sides of the throat
Post anal tail
The fact that organisms without gills, or tails
have them as embryos is taken as evidence of
a common ancestry with organisms that had
both
Which is the fish, rabbit, human, chicken,
tortoise?
Comparative Anatomy
Similarities in
structure between
organisms was
used
to determine
evolutionary
relationships
Other Proof From Anatomy
Vestigial structures – structures that are
greatly reduced with little or no function
- they are thought to be left over from
ancestors
Pelvis and leg bones in snakes
Reduced toe in horse
Appendix in human
Coccyx (tail bone) in humans
Vestigial Structures
Comparative Anatomy
Analogous Structures
Similar function but
different structure -
Insect’s wing, Bird’s
wing and Bats wings
– all allow flight, but
are structurally
different
Eyes of Mollusks and
Vertebrates – both
allow sight, but are
different in structure
Comparative Anatomy
Homologous Structures
Have a similar structure but different
function
The forelimbs of vertebrate animals all
have the same structural design, but they
have different functions
This similarity of structure shows a
common ancestry
Homologous
Structures
Analogous
structures
Molecular Biology
Comparisons of the sequences of
amino acids in proteins or
nucleotides in DNA
can show the relationships
between organisms
the number of differences in the
sequences of amino acids or
nucleotides indicates how closely
related two organisms are
Hemoglobin Comparison
Species AA differences from
humans
Gorilla 1
Rhesus Monkey 8
Mouse 27
Chicken 45
Frog 67
Hemoglobin
Cladogram
Cladogram (family tree)
created from a fossil
record
Bird Evolutionary Tree
Phylogenic Trees
and Cladograms
are also created
using comparative
DNA sequences.
If the DNA is very
similar to each
other, it means they
share a fairly
recent common
ancestor.
Darwin Developed the
Theory
During his voyage, Darwin observed fossil
mammals in South America that are
similar to yet different from present day
animals.
Ex. Llamas, sloths, and armadillos.
The finches and giant tortoises lining on
the Galapagos Islands vary from South
America, even though they differ in subtle
ways.
These observations convinced Darwin that
organisms descended with modification
from ancestors that lived during the past
Charles Darwin
Alfred Wallace
Descent with modification.
The Origin of Species. 1859
Species were not created in their present
forms but evolved from an ancestral
species.
Natural selection, the
mechanism by which
change occurs (Explanation
of how evolution occurs).
Darwin and Wallace
Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace (1823-
1913)
read John Malthus’ book
and came to the same conclusion,
that a natural process
was selecting only a few individuals for
survival
Darwin’s and Wallace’s idea
called natural selection
was presented simultaneously in 1859
