Chapter

22

Descent with Modification: A

Darwinian View of Life
PowerPoint Lectures for
Biology, Seventh Edition
Neil Campbell and Jane Reece

Lectures by Chris Romero

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Overview: Darwin Introduces a

Revolutionary Theory
A new era of biology began on November 24,
1859, the day Charles Darwin published On the
Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection
The Origin of Species focused biologists attention
on the great diversity of organisms

Video: Galpagos Marine Iguana

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Copyright 2005 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Benjamin Cummings

 Darwin made two major points in his book:

Many current species are descendants of
ancestral species
Natural selection is a mechanism for this
evolutionary process

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Concept 22.1: The Darwinian revolution challenged

traditional views of a young Earth inhabited by unchanging
species

To understand why Darwins ideas were

revolutionary, we must examine them in relation to
other Western ideas about Earth and its life

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LE 222

Linnaeus (classification)
Hutton (gradual geologic change)
Lamarck (species can change)
Malthus (population limits)
Cuvier (fossils, extinction)
Lyell (modern geology)
Darwin (evolution, natural selection)
Mendel (inheritance)
Wallace (evolution, natural selection)
American Revolution
U.S. Civil War
French Revolution
1850
1900
1750
1800
1795 Hutton proposes his theory of gradualism.
1798 Malthus publishes Essay on the Principle of Population.
1809 Lamarck publishes his theory of evolution.
1830 Lyell publishes Principles of Geology.
18311936 Darwin travels around the world on HMS Beagle.
1837 Darwin begins his notebooks on the origin of species.
1844 Darwin writes his essay on the origin of species.
1858 Wallace sends his theory to Darwin.
1859 The Origin of Species is published.
1865 Mendel publishes inheritance papers.

Resistance to the Idea of

Evolution
The Origin of Species
Shook the deepest roots of Western culture
Challenged a worldview that had been
prevalent for centuries

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The Scale of Nature and Classification of

Species
The Greek philosopher Aristotle viewed species as
fixed and unchanging
The Old Testament holds that species were
individually designed by God and therefore perfect
Carolus Linnaeus interpreted organismal
adaptations as evidence that the Creator had
designed each species for a specific purpose
Linnaeus was a founder of taxonomy, the branch
of biology concerned with classifying organisms
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Fossils, Cuvier, and

Catastrophism
The study of fossils helped to lay the groundwork
for Darwins ideas
Fossils are remains or traces of organisms from
the past, usually found in sedimentary rock, which
appears in layers or strata

Video: Grand Canyon

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Copyright 2005 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Benjamin Cummings

 Paleontology, the study of fossils, was largely

developed by French scientist Georges Cuvier
Cuvier advocated catastrophism, speculating that
each boundary between strata represents a
catastrophe

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Theories of
Gradualism
Gradualism is the idea that profound change can
take place through the cumulative effect of slow
but continuous processes

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 Geologists Hutton and Lyell perceived that

changes in Earths surface can result from slow
continuous actions still operating today
This view strongly influenced Darwins thinking

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Lamarcks Theory of
Evolution
Lamarck hypothesized that species evolve
through use and disuse and the inheritance of
acquired traits
The mechanisms he proposed are unsupported by
evidence

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Copyright 2005 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Benjamin Cummings

Concept 22.2: In The Origin of Species, Darwin

proposed that species change through natural selection

As the 19th century dawned, it was generally

believed that species had remained unchanged
since their creation
However, a few doubts about the permanence of
species were beginning to arise

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Darwins
Research
As a boy and into adulthood, Charles Darwin had
a consuming interest in nature
After receiving his B.A. degree, he was accepted
on board the HMS Beagle, which was embarking
on a voyage around the world

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The Voyage of the

Beagle
During his travels on the Beagle, Darwin collected
specimens of South American plants and animals
He observed adaptations of plants and animals
that inhabited many diverse environments
His interest in geographic distribution of species
was kindled by a stop at the Galpagos Islands
near the equator west of South America

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LE 225

England

EUROPE

NORTH
AMERICA
PACIFIC
OCEAN

ATLANTIC
OCEAN
AFRICA

Galpagos
Islands

Equator

SOUTH
AMERICA

AUSTRALIA
Andes

Darwin in 1840,
after his return

HMS Beagle in port

Cape of
Good Hope

Cape Horn
Tierra del Fuego

Tasmania
New
Zealand

Video: Albatross Courtship Ritual

Video: Blue-footed Boobies Courtship Ritual
Video: Galpagos Island Overview
Video: Galpagos Sea Lion
Video: Soaring Hawk
Video: Galpagos Tortoise

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Darwins Focus on
Adaptation
In reassessing his observations, Darwin perceived
adaptation to the environment and the origin of
new species as closely related processes
From studies made years after Darwins voyage,
biologists have concluded that this is indeed what
happened to the Galpagos finches

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LE 226

Cactus eater. The long,

sharp beak of the
cactus ground finch
(Geospiza scandens)
helps it tear and eat
cactus flowers and
pulp.

Seed eater. The large

ground finch (Geospiza
magnirostris) has a large
beak adapted for cracking
seeds that fall from plants
to the ground.

Insect eater. The green warbler finch

(Certhidea olivacea) used its narrow,
pointed beak to grasp insects.

 In 1844, Darwin wrote an essay on the origin of

species and natural selection but did not introduce
his theory publicly, anticipating an uproar
In June 1858, Darwin received a manuscript from
Alfred Russell Wallace, who had developed a
theory of natural selection similar to Darwins
Darwin quickly finished The Origin of Species and
published it the next year

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The Origin of
Species
Darwin developed two main ideas:
Evolution explains lifes unity and diversity
Natural selection is a cause of adaptive
evolution

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Descent with
Modification
The phrase descent with modification summarized
Darwins perception of the unity of life
The phrase refers to the view that all organisms
are related through descent from an ancestor that
lived in the remote past
In the Darwinian view, the history of life is like a
tree with branches representing lifes diversity

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Sirenia
Hyracoidea (Manatees
(Hyraxes) and relatives)
0
10,000
2

34

Barytherium

24
Moeritherium

Mammuthus

Mammut

Platybelodon

Millions of years ago

5.5

Stegodon

Elephas Loxodonta Loxodonta

cyclotis
maximus africana
(Africa)
(Africa)
(Asia)

Deinotherium

Years ago

LE 227

Natural Selection and

Adaptation
Evolutionary biologist Ernst Mayr has dissected
the logic of Darwins theory into three inferences
based on five observations

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 Observation #1: For any species, population sizes

would increase exponentially if all individuals that
are born reproduced successfully

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Copyright 2005 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Benjamin Cummings

 Observation #2: Populations tend to be stable in

size, except for seasonal fluctuations
Observation #3: Resources are limited
Inference #1: Production of more individuals than
the environment can support leads to a struggle
for existence among individuals of a population,
with only a fraction of their offspring surviving

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 Observation #4: Members of a population vary

extensively in their characteristics; no two
individuals are exactly alike

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Copyright 2005 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Benjamin Cummings

 Observation #5: Much of this variation is heritable

Inference #2: Survival depends in part on inherited
traits; individuals whose inherited traits give them
a high probability of surviving and reproducing are
likely to leave more offspring than other individuals

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 Inference #3: This unequal ability of individuals to

survive and reproduce will lead to a gradual
change in a population, with favorable
characteristics accumulating over generations

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Artificial
Selection
In artificial selection, humans have modified other
species over many generations by selecting and
breeding individuals with desired traits

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LE 2210

Terminal
bud

Lateral
buds
Brussels sprouts

Cabbage

Leaves

Flower
clusters

Kale

Cauliflower

Stem

Flowers
and
stems
Broccoli

Wild mustard

Kohlrabi

Summary of Natural
Selection
Natural selection is differential success in
reproduction from interaction between individuals
that vary in heritable traits and their environment
Natural selection produces an increase over time
in adaptation of organisms to their environment
If an environment changes over time, natural
selection may result in adaptation to these new
conditions

Video: Seahorse Camouflage

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LE 2211

A flower mantid
in Malaysia

A stick mantid
in Africa

Concept 22.3: Darwins theory explains a

wide range of observations
Darwins theory of evolution continues to be tested
by how effectively it can account for additional
observations and experimental outcomes

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Natural Selection in
Action
Two examples provide evidence for natural
selection: the effect of differential predation on
guppy populations and the evolution of drugresistant HIV

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Differential Predation in Guppy

Populations
Researchers have observed natural selection
leading to adaptive evolution in guppy populations

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LE 2212a

Pools with killifish

but no guppies prior
to transplant

Predator: Killifish; preys

mainly on small guppies

Experimental
transplant of
guppies

Guppies:
Larger at
sexual maturity
than those in
pike-cichlid pools

Predator: Pike-cichlid; preys mainly on large guppies

Guppies: Smaller at sexual maturity than
those in killifish pools

200
160
120
80
40

185.6
161.5
67.5 76.1

Males

Females

Age of guppies
at maturity (days)

Mass of guppies
at maturity (mg)

LE 2212b

100
80
60
40
20

85.792.3
58.2
48.5

Males

Females

Control population:
Guppies from pools with
pike-cichlids as predators
Experimental population:
Guppies transplanted to
pools with killifish as
predators

The Evolution of Drug-Resistant

HIV
The use of drugs to combat HIV selects for viruses
resistant to these drugs
The ability of bacteria and viruses to evolve rapidly
poses a challenge to our society

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LE 2213

Percent of HIV resistant to 3TC

100

Patient
No. 1

Patient No. 2

75

50
Patient No. 3

25

0
0

6
Weeks

10

12

Homology, Biogeography, and the Fossil

Record
Evolutionary theory provides a cohesive
explanation for many kinds of observations

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Homolog
y
Homology is similarity resulting from common
ancestry

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Anatomical
Homologies
Homologous structures are anatomical
resemblances that represent variations on a
structural theme present in a common ancestor

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LE 2214

Human

Cat

Whale

Bat

 Comparative embryology reveals anatomical

homologies not visible in adult organisms

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LE 2215

Pharyngeal
pouches

Post-anal
tail
Chick embryo (LM)

Human embryo

 Vestigial organs are remnants of structures that

served important functions in the organisms
ancestors

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Molecular
Homologies
Examples of homologies at the molecular level are
genes shared among organisms inherited from a
common ancestor

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Homologies and the Tree of

Life
The Darwinian concept of an evolutionary tree of
life can explain homologies
Anatomical resemblances among species are
generally reflected in their molecules, genes, and
gene products

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LE 2216
Species

Percent of Amino Acids That Are

Identical to the Amino Acids in a
Human Hemoglobin Polypeptide

Human

100%

Rhesus monkey

95%

87%

Mouse

69%

Chicken

54%

Frog

Lamprey

14%

Biogeograph
y
Darwins observations of biogeography, the
geographic distribution of species, formed an
important part of his theory of evolution

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 Some similar mammals that have adapted to

similar environments have evolved independently
from different ancestors

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LE 2217

NORTH
AMERICA
Sugar
glider

AUSTRALIA

Flying
squirrel

The Fossil
Record
The succession of forms observed in the fossil
record is consistent with other inferences about
the major branches of descent in the tree of life

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 The Darwinian view of life predicts that

evolutionary transitions should leave signs in the
fossil record
Paleontologists have discovered fossils of many
such transitional forms

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Copyright 2005 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Benjamin Cummings

What Is Theoretical about the Darwinian View

of Life?
In science, a theory accounts for many
observations and data and attempts to explain and
integrate a great variety of phenomena
Darwins theory of evolution by natural selection
integrates diverse areas of biological study and
stimulates many new research questions

Copyright 2005 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Benjamin Cummings