CHAPTER 10 KEY TERMS Family TreeBiological Evolution Theory of EvolutionTheory of Natural Selection Mutation TheoryMutation Homologous StructuresMutation-Selection Theory Survival of the FittestTheory of acquired characteristics

CHAPTER 10 BIOLOGICAL EVOLUTION

EVOLUTION 3

THEORY OF EVOLUTION The theory that the universe began without God and has changed by random processes into what we see today Biological Evolution The change of one kind of organism into another type of organism 4

HISTORY Jean Baptiste Lamarck French biologist in the early 1800s First to propose the Theory of Acquired Characteristics Theory of Acquired Characteristics Physical changes caused by an organism’s environment can be passed on to offspring Problem: Traits an organism acquires or loses does not affect the genetic material 5

HISTORY Charles Darwin Naturalist who published “The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection” Theory of Natural Selection The individuals in a species will compete with each other for the things necessary for survival (food, shelter…) Some individuals can compete more effectively for needs These individuals will live and reproduce, passing on their characteristics Only those organisms best suited to survive will reproduce Survival of the fittest 6

HISTORY De Vries Believed that only mutations could produce the genetic changes needed for biological evolution Mutations only change the information already present Mutation alone cannot account for the change from one species to another 7

HISTORY Mutation-Selection Theory (sometimes called Neo-Darwinism) Combines De Vries’s mutation theory with Darwin’s natural selection theory 3 points Mutations supply new traits Organisms produce more offspring than can survive Selection allows only those with best traits to survive Problems: Mutations cannot explain development of complex structures that work together Partially evolved structures would not work and be eliminated by natural selection 8

RECORD OF EVOLUTION According to evolutionists, the lining up of taxonomic groups should show the path of evolution Evolutionary Family Tree A line-up of organisms showing the ancestry of an organism The closer two organisms are on the tree, the more related they are 9

RECORD OF EVOLUTION Common Ancestor Secular scientists believe that all living organisms evolved from a common ancestor Missing Links A “between” organism that would show how one organism evolved into another Homologous Structures Structures or features that are similar in different types of organisms Attributed to common ancestry 10

RECORD OF EVOLUTION 11 Problems with homologous structures: Scientists pick and choose what are and aren’t homologous structures Genes for these “homologous structures” are different for different organisms

FOSSIL RECORD Evolutionary scientists, like Darwin, hoped the fossil record would prove evolution was true They expected the lowest (oldest) layer of fossil record would contain organisms found on bottom of family trees Also hoped to find missing links in fossil record Fossil record does not support evolution at all 12

FOSSIL RECORD The fossil record does not support biological evolution for 3 reasons: 1. No complete and uninterrupted sequence of fossil layers 2. Missing links and common ancestors are not represented 3. Evidence supports idea that layers of fossils were laid down rapidly The biblical flood accounts for and explains these reasons 13

ULTIMATE QUESTION How did it all start? Evolutionists believe in the idea of “spontaneous generation” Idea that life can come from nonliving materials Anything we believe about how life came to be is an act of faith 14