By Heman Nama Andrew Gardella EVOLUTION OF LIFE By Heman Nama Andrew Gardella

The Evolution of Life Life began on Earth around 4 billion years ago and has been evolving since that time. At first, all living things were single celled organisms

The Evolution of Life The first multi celled organisms appeared about 600 millions years ago The multi celled organisms took longer to evolve as they had much more complexity than the single celled organisms

Evolution of Life https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2_6cqa2cP4

Charles Darwin Born on Feb 12 , 1809 He was a naturalist( expert of natural history) Embarked on a 5 year adventure on the HMS Beagle His studies of specimen around the globe led him to formulate the Theory of Evolution and his views on the process of Natural selection In 1859, he published On the Origin of Species

Natural Selection Natural selection is the process through which evolution occurs It is the driving force of evolution

Natural Selection All organisms are born with small variations (mutations) But Nature gets to select which ones can reproduce (mainly by killing the others)

Example of Natural Selection Suppose a new fast swimming shark moves into a turtle’s habitat The turtle population has variation. Some are fast and some are slow swimmers Turtles that are able to swim faster are better adapted because they can swim away from the shark

Example of Natural Selection Fast swimming turtles will survive They will reproduce and pass on their “fast swimming” genes. Over time, the turtle population will evolve and more turtles will be able to swim faster

Adaptation Trait that helps an organism survive in its environment Adaptations have allowed katydids to mimick leaves to avoid predators

The Difference Between Natural Selection and Adaptation Whole groups of species adapt to their environment For example, many species of animals might grow thicker fur in close climates to adapt to the cold temperatures

The Difference Between Natural Selection and Adaptation Natural selection is “survival of the fittest” Some of the animals with thicker fur might die out and others survive Adaption and natural selection are steps in evolution