A TIMELINE OF EVOLUTIONARY THOUGHT

17th century

John Ray (1627–1705)

 He established the modern concept of species (noting that members of one species do
not interbreed with members of another species
 He first used the term species as the basic unit of taxonomy.
 He studied fossils and recognized them as remnants of organisms that were once alive.

18th century
Carl Linnaeus, also called as Carolus Linnaeus (1707-1798)
 He developed the modern taxonomic system that is still used today
Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon (1707-1788)
 He wrote a 36-volume Histoire Naturelle (Natural History) series
 He also contributed to the debate on the age of Earth suggesting that our planet had
initially formed in a molten state and that its gradual cooling must have taken far longer
than 70,000 years
 He considered the role of vestigial organs, creating a possibility of species descending
from earlier organisms
Erasmus Darwin (1731-1802) – the grandfather of Charles Darwin
 He was aware that the modern organisms are different from the fossils scientists have
collected
 He believed that the offspring inherited features from their parents, and that the
organisms today descended from a common ancestor
Georges Cuvier (1769-1832)
 He studied and wrote books on comparative anatomy which were extremely useful in
interpreting the remains of fossils
 He classified animals based on their body plans and this classification eventually
became important in analyzing relationships among organisms
 His studies about fossils contributed and gave rise to the science of paleontology.
 He recognized that particular groups of fossil organisms were associated with certain
rock strata.
Jean-Baptiste Lamarck (1744-1829)
 He proposed that individuals were able to pass on their traits to their offspring.
James Hutton (1726-1797)
 He made a significant contribution regarding the understanding of the geological
processes that shape the earth.
 He recognized that Earth is extremely old, and that there was no need for global
catastrophes to shape the surface of Earth
 He was the proponent of uniformitarianism, which states that the present geological
features of Earth are the results of gradual processes such as erosion and
sedimentation
  It was through Hutton also that Charles Darwin must able to adapt the principles of
gradual change to his model on how species evolve

19th century
Charles Lyell (1797-1875)
 He considered the shaping of the Earth’s surface as a result of gradual long-term natural
changes
 He collected many pieces of evidence to support the principle of uniformitarianism and
wrote about them in his book Principles of Geology, which was also influential to the
creation of Charles Darwin’s theory
Charles Robert Darwin (1809-1882)
 He came up with the idea that the best adapted organisms are those that can survive to
breed and pass of their traits to their offspring.
 One of his highlighted contributions was the development of his theory of evolution by
natural selection as a coherent explanation for the form and distribution of species in
different location
Alfred Russell Wallace (1823-1913)
 Although he made an independent study on the origin of organisms, he arrived at the
same conclusion as Darwin’s.
 He concluded that organisms with favorable traits are those that carry on to the next
generation.
 Thus, he contributed to some of the postulates of Darwin’s theory of evolution.

Charles Darwin and His Theory of Evolution

 Charles Darwin contributed significant ideas on our current understanding of evolution.
 He was born in England, on February 12, 1809 and in 1831, he went aboard the HMS
Beagle and its voyage around the world. ( HMS = His/Her Majesty Ships)

Route of his voyage:

  Everytime he travelled, Darwin read scientific books and collected plant and animal
specimens as evidence
 He recorded many of his observations which serve as hypothesis on how life changes
over time
 He was well-educated and had strong interest in natural history that made him excited to
study the diversity of life on Earth
 His most famous travel involve a trip to Galapagos Islands: composed of many small
islands located 1000km West of South America
 The islands have differing climates despite the proximity of the islands with one another
 What struck him the most were his observations of surreal animals that inhabited the
island
 Darwin noted that the characteristics of certain animals, such as the shape of tortoise
shells or the beaks of beards, vary from one island to another
 He also found out that the species present in one location were different from the
species found in other locations, and what seemed like animals that look alike may
actually belong to several different species (e.g., mockingbird)

Charles Darwin
 Wrote and published a book “On the Origin of Species”
 proposed the now famous theory of evolution by natural selection
 presented pieces of evidence demonstrating this process which according to him, has
been taking place for millions of years
 He also tried to explain how evolution occurs naturally
 With the help of what he learned from Thomas Malthus, an English economist, Darwin
realized that high birth rates and a shortage of life’s basic needs would eventually force
organisms into competition for resources.
 The struggle for existence means that the members of each species compete to obtain
food, living space and other necessities of life
 In this struggle, those that are stronger and faster are able to hunt for food and protect
themselves from their enemies
 This struggle for existence was vital to Darwin’s theory
Jean-Baptiste Lamarck

 A French naturalist, who was one of the first scientist, to recognize that living things have
changed over time
 proposed that all species descended from other species
 published his theory of how organisms changed over time in 1809
 His main ideas include: Through selective use or disuse of organs, organisms may
acquire or lose certain traits during their lifetime.
 Additionally, those traits that have been acquired can be passed on to the next
generation
 Overtime, this process led to changes in species

 Jean-Baptiste Lamarck
o Theory of Use and Disuse
 Theory of Use:: organisms could alter the size, shape, or structure of particular
body parts or organs by continuously using them in new ways
 Example by Lamarck is the elongation of giraffe's neck. Giraffes used to
have short necks however their increase in population caused a shortage
of their food supply on the ground thus, they try to eat the leaves on the
trees to survive. To be able to reach the leaves giraffes need to stretch
their necks. Such continuous stretching over time enabled the next
generations of giraffes to have longer necks.
 Theory of Disuse:: if an animal chooses not to use its body part, that body part or
organ decrease in size for several generations until it finally disappears
 Example of this is the vestigial structures found in snakes. The spurs of
snakes according to the theory of disuse because ancestral snakes did not
use their feet their body parts became underdeveloped. Vestigial parts or
organs are those that have become functionless in the course of
evolution.
o Theory of Inheritance of Acquired Characteristics:: organisms inherited their traits from
their parents, and that they may also pass them on the next generation of offspring
 Example: The presence of long trunks of an elephant. Lamarck believed that the
ancestors of elephants have short trunks as ancestral elephants struggled for food
and water their trunks stretched to reach the water and branches. Their offspring
eventually inherited the traits for long trunks.
o Lamarck's theories proved to be incorrect in several ways unlike Darwin, Lamarck was
not aware of how traits are inherited. He did not know the inheritable characteristics of
organisms are not affected by their behavior. His theory for example about elephants was
quite different from Darwin's. For Darwin, most elephants used to have short trunks and
some had longer ones, when there was scarcity of food and water those with short trunks
were not able to reach the water and food and they eventually die the ones with longer
trunks survived and reproduced.
 Evidence of Evolution
o Biogeography:: study of the distribution of plants and animals on Earth. The distribution
of organisms in an environment can be used as an important rule for explaining
evolution.
 As observed by Charles Darwin in the Galapagos Islands, there were finches with
different shapes of beaks depending on their geographical locations. Each species
was likely different from the others. Using this observation Darwin was able to
 infer that these finches could have descended with modification from the
common mainland ancestor. Because locations have different natural conditions,
different animals ended up developing striking features.
o Fossil Record
 A fossil contains preserved remains or evidence of ancient organisms.
 provide strong evidence of the history of life on Earth
 show how organisms have changed over time
 Example of Fossil Record: An ancient crocodile dies and sinks to the bottom of a
river. Layers of sediments cover the crocodile's body. Over millions of years the
sediments harden to become rock. The crocodile is preserved as a fossil. The
rock erodes. The fossil is exposed on the surface of a rock.
 One interesting fact about fossils is that they reveal how life on earth change
from one period of time to the next because they appear in a particular order.
Fossils of ancient appear on older rocks. Also, there are fossils that appear on a
certain rock layer only. By studying fossil records, paleontologists found out
almost 99% of all species have lived before become extinct. This means we
should really know how to protect the organisms that exist today.
o Homology
 Homologous structures:: are structures that are similar on different species of
common ancestry. Such structures may have different mature forms but they all
came from the same set of embryonic tissues. Some of the limbs shown in the
picture are arms, legs, wings, and flippers. even though they have different
functions among these animals they are all constructed from the same basic
features. Color markers represent the homologous structures among different
organisms this means each of the limbs has adapted in ways that enable each
organism to survive different environments.
 Example: The limbs of four modern vertebrates including humans, cats,
whales, and Turtles bat. They have bone structures that are quite similar.
o Embryology:: Different organisms have similar structures during their early
embryological development.
 This picture show three different types of organisms which almost have the same
early stages of development. The shared embryological development of
organisms is also responsible for the similar growth of their homologous
structure. The comparative embryology among different species suggest that
there is common ancestry because all the embryos have similar early
developmental stages.
o DNA/Protein Sequence
 Similarities in DNA sequences among organisms indicate their close relation
with one another.
 The study of DNA/Protein Sequences is important for identifying the evolution
of organisms on earth. In fact, DNA sequencing is the most advanced tool or
evidence for evolution. Similarities in DNA sequences among organisms indicate
their close relation with one another. By studying DNA sequences scienctists
were able to discover that chimpanzees have DNA that are identical to humans
about 1/3 of the genes of chimpanzees code for proteins that are exactly the same
as humans. This strongly suggest that humans and chimps share a common
ancestor.
 Another example can be observed in the DNA of dogs and wolves which share
many similarities. However, if you compare their DNA to that of a mouse, you
would observe fewer similarities. Note that dogs and mice have backbones and
are mammals. This means that dogs and mice although distant in relation may
also share a common ancestry. By comparing DNA sequences scientists can
determine how closely related one species is with one another