Core Ch 30 Evolution II

30.1 Lamarck’s theory (Lamarckism)

-environmental changes created needs that caused organisms to modify their existing
structures to meet these needs (e.g. during a shortage of grass, giraffes stretched their
necks to feed on leaves that grew high up in trees); those structures which were
repeatedly used would become well-developed (e.g. giraffes’ necks become longer due to
frequent stretching), whereas those which were not used would degenerate

-acquired characters would be passed on to later generation (e.g. offspring of giraffes

inherited the character of a long neck and continued to stretch their
necksaccumulated effect of continued neck stretching produced giraffes with
extremely long necks)

30.2 Darwin’s theory (Darwinism)

Lamarck’s theory
Environmental change creates a need for
organisms to change
Individuals can develop new features in
response to the environmental change
Acquired characters are passed on to later
generations, making them quite different
from their ancestor
Darwin’s theory
Variations already exist within species
The environment selects those individuals
with favourable characters to survive, and
eliminates the others
Individuals with favourable characters
have a higher chance of survival and
reproductionoffspring inherit these
characters, making them quite different
from their ancestor

EXAMPLES:
1. Peppered moths
-before industrialization, white peppered moths on light-coloured tree trunks were
hard to seeblack peppered moths were easily seen and eaten by birds
-during industrialization, tree trunks were darkened by smoke and soot released
from factorieswhite peppered moths became easier for birds to see and eat while
black peppered moths had a higher chance of survival and reproduction
-black peppered moths produced more offspringhigher proportion of black
peppered moths in polluted areas
2. Insecticide-resistant insect pests
-genetic variations exist among mosquito individuals in their resistance to DDT
-DDT kills most non-resistant mosquitoes while resistant-mosquitoes survive
-resistant mosquitoes have a higher chance of survival and reproduction
-with the repeated use of DDT, the proportion of DDT-resistant mosquitoes increases
in subsequent generations

3. Antibiotic-resistant bacteria
-genetic variations exist among bacteria in their resistance to a certain antibiotic
-when the antibiotic is used, the antibiotic-resistant bacteria survive while those
which are non-resistant to the antibiotic are killed
-the antibiotic-resistant bacteria have a higher chance of survival and reproduction
-with the indiscriminate use of the antibiotic, the proportion of the resistant bacteria
increases in subsequent generations

4. Evolution of the giraffe’s long neck

-genetic variation existed in the giraffe population, some with longer necks and
others with shorter necks
-individuals with longer necks have better ability to obtain food/could get more food
than those with shorter necks
-individuals with longer necks have greater chance to survive and reproduce
-the proportion of giraffes with longer neck increases in subsequent generations

30.3 Speciation
Step 1:
a single species of tortoise occupies a habitat; the individuals can interbreed freely
Step 2:
geographic isolation happens (different groups of organisms are separated by physical
barriers)tortoise population are separated into two groups so that they cannot meet
and interbreed
Step 3:
as the environmental conditions on the two sides of the mountain range are different,
natural selection acts on the two groups in different waysthe two groups evolve
independently
Step 4:
after many generations, the genetic differences between the two groups have become so
large that they can no longer interbreed to produce fertile offspring even if they meet
againbecome two different species
Evolution (★★★)

1. The concept of Natural Selection

2. Causes of genetic variation
3. Define the term ‘Species’
4. Mechanism of Speciation (Various Isolation Mechanisms)
5. Fossil records as an evidence of evolution and their adaptation
{DSE 15 P1-10, DSE 14 P1-6(b), AL 96 PIIA-3(a)(b), AL 07 PIIA-2, CE 05-10(b)}