EVOLUTION

UNDERSTANDING
What is
Evolution?
It is the process by which
different kinds of living
organisms are thought to have
developed and diversified from
earlier forms during the history
of the earth.
EVOLUTION
Evolution is change in the heritable characteristics of
biological populations over successive generations.
Evolutionary processes give rise to biodiversity at
every level of biological organisation, including the
levels of species, individual organisms, and
molecules.
EVIDENCE OF EVOLUTION
Evidence from Fossil Records

Fossils are examples of evidences that paleontologists use in studying

evolution. They are traces of organisms that lived in the past and were
preserved by natural process or catastrophic events. They can be remains
of organisms which include bones, shells, teeth and also feces embedded in
rocks, peat, resin, and ice. Paleontologist is a person who studies fossils.
Evidence from Fossil Records
Evidence from Fossil
Records
Most fossils were commonly found in
sedimentary rocks. They were from the hard
parts of the organism like woody stem, bones, or
teeth.
Evidence from Fossil
Records
Another type of fossil is an imprint or
impression. Imprints are shallow external
molds left by animal or plant tissues with little
or no organic materials present. Compression is
the other side with more organic material.
Evidence from Fossil
Records

IMPRESSION COMPRESSION
 Hint of Evolution from
Comparative Anatomy
Another hint of evolutionary concept is from the comparative
anatomy. Structures from different species which have similar
internal framework, position, and embryonic development are
considered to be homologous.

Homologous structures may perform different functions in the

species living in the different environment, or it may have the
same origin but different functions.
Hint of Evolution from
Comparative Anatomy
 Hint of Evolution from
Comparative Anatomy
Structures of unrelated species may evolve to
look alike, because the structure is adapted to
similar function. These are called analogous
structures. Analogous structures have similar
functions but different origin.
Hint of Evolution from
Comparative Anatomy
 Evidence from
Embryonic
Development
The study of one type of evidence of evolution is called embryology, the
study of embryos. An embryo is an unborn (or unhatched) animal or
human young in its earliest phases. Embryos of many different kinds of
animals: mammals, birds, reptiles, fish, etc. look very similar and it is often
difficult to tell them apart. Many traits of one type of animal appear in the
embryo of another type of animal. For example, fish embryos and human
embryos both have gill slits. In fish they develop into gills, but in humans
they disappear before birth.
Evidence from
Embryonic
Development
 This shows that the animals
Evidence from are similar and that they
develop similarly, implying
Embryonic that they are related, have
common ancestors and that
Development they started out the same,
gradually evolving different
traits, but that the basic plan
for a creature's beginning
remains the same.
 Theories of
Evolution
Jean Baptiste de Lamarck
and
Charles Darwin
JEAN BAPTISTE de LAMARCK
Jean-Baptiste-Pierre-Antoine de
Monet, chevalier de Lamarck, more
commonly known as Jean-Baptiste
Lamarck, was a legendary French
biologist who advocated that
acquired characters are inheritable.
 JEAN BAPTISTE de LAMARCK
Jean Baptiste de Lamarck was the first
evolutionist to believe that organisms change over
time. Using fossil records as a guide, Lamarck was
able to develop three theories; one is The Theory of
Need which states that organisms change in response
to their environment. Their ability to survive helped
them develop characteristics necessary for them to
adapt in a given environment.
 JEAN BAPTISTE de LAMARCK
Next is The Theory of Use and Disuse; which according to
Lamarck, organs not in use will disappear while organs in use
will develop. Lamarck believed that giraffes before have short
necks, but because of the need to survive and in order to
reach tall trees for food, they kept stretching their necks until
these became longer and able to reach taller trees. These
acquired characteristics were believed to be inherited by their
offsprings and propagated by the next generation of giraffes.
Lamarck called it as The Theory of Acquired Characteristics.
JEAN BAPTISTE de LAMARCK
JEAN BAPTISTE de LAMARCK
Charles Darwin
Charles Darwin is best known for
his work as a naturalist,
developing a theory of evolution
to explain biological change.
Charles Darwin
The theory of evolution by natural selection, first
formulated in Darwin's book "On the Origin of Species"
in 1859, is the process by which organisms change
over time as a result of changes in heritable physical
or behavioral traits. Changes that allow an organism to
better adapt to its environment will help it survive and
have more offspring.
Charles Darwin
Darwin suggested that selection also takes place in
nature. In selective breeding, farmer identifies and
selects the best and desirable trait to propagate. In
natural selection, environmental factors promote the
survival of the fittest and eliminates the less fit.