1. LINES OF EVIDENCE FOR EVOLUTION

2. Fossils and Rock Layers Earth is OLD!!! Earth has CHANGED A LOT over its 4.5 billion year history!!! Many organisms are no longer with us. Proof of ancient ancestors in the fossil record…similar yet different.

3. Structural Similarities Similar structures (forelimb bones of bird, human, bat and whale) are all the same with modification. This is evidence of a shared ancestor.

4. Geographical Distribution Similar organisms in areas with similar conditions show how the environment impacts life on earth. Some similar organisms in South American and Africa show that those two continents were once connected. Unique life in Australia shows that evolution was going on there independently from other regions of Earth.

5. Embryological Similarities Similarities are proof of a common ancestor. This was Darwin’s favorite line of evidence!

6. Organism Groupings Members of a population of frogs in Shadow Lake bog is more closely related to each other than they are to members of a different population of the same type of frog in Lake Lucerne. Just like you are more closely related to your family members than you are to other people’s family members, even though we are of all the same species.

7. Molecular Similarities Among Organisms The protein molecules in your hair are more similar to orangutan hair protein than they are to cow hair protein. Your hemoglobin is more like the hemoglobin in a dog than the hemoglobin in a snake.

8. Direct Observation Even though evolution is a long, slow process, we have had opportunity to directly observe it happening. This is Mrs. Nance’s favorite line of evidence! What is your favorite line of evidence??