I. History A. Original ideas: 1. Species are fixed/permanent 2. Earth is less than 10,000 years old and relatively unchanging
B. Early Scientists 1.Georges Buffon (mid-1700s) French naturalist a. Suggested Earth might be a lot older than a few thousand years b. Specific fossils & certain living animals were similar but not exactly alike
B. Scientists 2.Jean-Baptiste Lamarck (mid-1800s) a. Proposed that life evolves/changes b. Explained evolution as a process of adaptation
c. Proposed that by using or not using a body part, an organism develops certain acquired characteristics- **thought these could be passed on to offspring** d. Called “Inheritance of Acquired Characteristics”
Lamarck’s Giraffe
B. Scientists 3.James Hutton (1700s) A. Two conclusions: i. Slow processes from mountain building & erosion suggest Earth is very old ii. Slow/gradual change occurring over vast amounts of time cause enormous change on Earth
4. Charles Lyell (mid-1800s) A. wrote influential book Principles of Geology; B. proposed that gradual and observable geologic processes such as erosion could explain the physical features of today's Earth
About 180 million years ago, Pangaea split into northern and southern land masses that later separated into the modern continents. India collided with Eurasia just 40–50 million years ago, forming the Himalaya mountain range. The continents continue to drift today.
B. Scientists 5.Thomas Malthus (mid-1700 to mid-1800s) A. Reasoned that if human population growth was left unchecked, sooner or later there would be insufficient living space for everyone and we would bring on our own population control
C. Charles Darwin 1.Mission: to study the geology, plants, animals he encountered on his voyage; H.M.S. Beagle; focused on the Galapagos Islands
2. Observations: a. too many organisms are produced b. All individuals in a species have variation c. All individuals must struggle for existence, and those with favorable variation have an advantage over others (fight for food, mate, habitat, etc.) d. Variation is heritable time produce new species. e. Successive inheritance of favorable variation over vast stretches of geological time produce new species.
C. Charles Darwin 3.His Main Points: A. Descent with modification- organisms spread out over millions of years and accumulate different modifications to diverse ways of life B. Theory of Natural Selection- process by which individuals with inherited characteristics well-suited for their environment survive to leave more offspring on average than other individuals; “Survival of the fittest”
Honey Badger WHAT DOES IT MEAN “THE FITTEST”?
Butterfly
Sea Slug Glaucus atlanticus
Nudibranchs
Red Squirrel
Dogs vs. Wolves
Water Bears
Venezuelan Pitcher Plant
Hemeroplanes triptolemus moth
Glasswing Butterfly
Camel
Descent with Modification Survival of the fittest
D. Alfred Wallace (1858) Came to same conclusion as Charles Darwin, sent Darwin his manuscript. Darwin published his book, On the Origin of Species, in Why didn’t he publish sooner?
EVOLUTION
II. Evolution Define “evolution”: gradual changes that have transformed life over an immense period of time
A. Evidence of Evolution 1. Fossil record 2. Geographic Distribution- continental drift 3. Similarities in structures 4. Similarities in development 5. Molecular biology- DNA, proteins
B. Fossil Record 1.A fossil is preserved remains or markings left by organisms that lived in the past 2. Fossils are cast in sedimentary rock
Imprint
Mineralized
Frozen
Amber
Cast
THE FOSSIL RECORD 3. Dating Fossils i. Radiometric Age -Measurement of isotopes in objects ii. Relative Age - Age based on layers
C. Geographic Isolation 1.Traits of organisms are directly linked to the geography and environmental conditions of an area
D. Homologous Structures 1.Homologous Structures: different organisms that have similar bone structure 2.
E. Analogous Structures 1. Define: features of different species that are similar in function but not in structure- are not derived from a common ancestor, but evolved in response to similar environmental challenge.
Examples 2. Example: Insects and birds both have wings to fly, although their wing structure is very different structure. The fat-insulated, streamline shapes of seals (mammals) and of penguins (birds) is another example.
F. Vestigial Structures 1. Vestigial Structures- remnants of structures that may have had important functions in an ancestral species but have no function currently
G. Similarities in Development 1.Embryos of closely related organisms have similar stages in development
H. Molecular Biology 1.Similar DNA suggests an evolutionary relationship 2.Hemoglobin 3.Cytochrome C
III. OTHER CONCEPTS IN EVOLUTION A. Antibiotic- and Pesticide-Resistance 1. Antibiotic- medicine that kills/slows the growth of bacteria 2. Some bacteria with natural resistance will not be killed off by the antibiotics and can re-grow a resistant population quickly
3. When pesticides are used, some insects will already have a natural resistance and survive the spraying, then reproduce more insects that inherit the resistance genes. Eventually the same pesticides will not have the same effect as before.
B. Artificial Selection 1. Defin e: selective breeding of domesticated plants and animals to produce offspring with genetic traits that humans value
IV. Types of Evolution A.Divergent Evolution: consequence of adaptive radiation- organisms sharing a common ancestor evolve to become different according to environmental pressures
Adaptive Radiation
B.Convergent evolution: arises when there are some sort of ecological or physical driver toward a similar solution, even though the structure or function has arisen independently.
Ex: sharks and dolphins share analogous body plans, yet have different ancestral backgrounds (fish versus mammal)