NAME: ___________________________________________ DATE: __________

MODERATOR: ____________________________________

Laboratory Activity # 9
EVIDENCE OF EVOLUTION

INTRODUCTION:
Fossils are remains of former life. These can be actual pieces of bones, teeth
and shells. Others are in the form of impressions, gizzard stones and animal excreta
(coprolites). Fossils are formed when organisms seen after their deaths are covered by
lava, buried or submerged in mud and other materials.
Scientists used fossils as evidences of change. Fossils provide data as how
organisms looked and lived in the past. A collection of fossils for a specific group shows
the process of change. An evolutionary sequence has been established from fossils of
past and present day horses.

OBJECTIVES:
Diagrams of the hind foot of four horses are to be studied in this activity and you
will:
a. Measure the total foot length of each
b. Count the number of toe, foot and ankle bones in each
c. Describe the change that has taken place in the hind foot of our horses.

MATERIALS:
6-inch transparent ruler
Diagrams of hind foot of four horses

PROCEDURES:

1. Refer to the chart. Study the diagrams of the hind feet of three extinct horses. The
extinct horses include Eohippus, Miohippus, and Pliohippus. Equus is the present-day
horse. The foot bones are labelled 2, 3, and 4. Through the process of change, foot
bones 1 and 5 have been lost. The foot bones labelled 2 and 4 are shaded to illustrate
change in the horses.
OBSERVATIONS and QUESTIONS:

CHARACTERISTICS EOHIPPUS MIOHIPPUS PLIOHIPPUS EQUUS

Total foot length
(heel to tip of toe)
N Toes
U Toe Bones
M
B Foot Bones
E Ankle Bones
R
Heel Bones
Total no. of bones

1. Describe the differences in the hind foot of:

a. Miohippus and Eohippus

b. Pliohippus and Miohippus

c. Equus and Pliohippus

ANALYSIS AND APPLICATION:

1. List and describe the overall changes in the four horses.

2. Based on your recorded measurements, what can you say about the changes in the
overall size of the animals?

3. Explain the changes in the horse’s feet on the basis of natural selection.