1

A
P
B
io
lo
g
y

U
ni
t
7
S
t
u
d
e
n
t
N
o
t
e
s
 2

Unit
7 St
ude
nt N
otes

Table
of Con
tents

A. Hi
story
of the
Theor
y of E
voluti
on—
M.
Pages
3-8
B. Ev
olutio
n Via
Natur
al Sel
ection
—
Pages
6-8
C. Pa
tterns
of Sel
ection
—
Pages
8-9
D. Po
pulati
on Ge
netics
—
Pages
9-11
E. Ha
rdy W
einbe
rg Equ
ilibriu
m—
Pages
10-11
F. Ha
rdy W
einbe
rg Equ
ations
—
Pages
10-11
G. Ge
netic
Drift
—
Page
11-12
H. Pat
terns
of Evo
lution
—
Page
12
I. Sp
eciati
on—
Pages
12-13
J. Ty
pes of
Speci
ation
—
Pages
12-14
K. Ad
aptive
Radia
tion—
Pages
14-15
L. Re
produ
ctive I
solati
ng Me
chanis
ms—
Page
15
Evide
nce fo
r Evol
ution
—
Pages
16-17
N. Ty
pes of
Evolut
ion—
Page
18
O. Ph
yloge
netic
Relati
onshi
ps/
Share
d Anc
estry
—
Pages
18-24
P. Me
thods
Used
to De
pict P
hylog
enetic
Relati
onshi
ps—
Pages
21-24
Q. Co
nstruc
ting a
Clado
gram
Based
on M
orpho
logy—
Pages
21-23
R. Usi
ng M
olecul
ar Evi
dence
to Cre
ate Cl
adogr
ams—
Pages
23-24
S. Ori
gins o
f Life
on Ear
th—
Pages
24-25
T. Ext
inctio
n—
Pages
25-26
U. Var
iation
s in P
opula
tions
—
Pages
26-27
3

Unit 7
Evolutio
n
Student
Notes

Important
Ideas/
Enduring
Understa
ndings fo
r this unit
.

A.Evolutio
n is char
acterized
by a cha
nge in th
e genetic
makeup
of a pop
ulation o
ver time
and is
supporte
d by multi
ple lines
of eviden
ce.
B.Organis
ms are li
nked by l
ines of d
escent fr
om com
mon anc
estry.
C.
Life cont
inues to
evolve w
ithin a c
hanging
environ
ment.
D. Natur
ally occur
ring diver
sity amon
g and bet
ween com
ponents
within bio
logical sy
stems aff
ects
interactio
ns with th
e environ
ment.
History
of The T
heory of
Evolutio
n
Carolus L
innaeus (
1707 – 17
78)
He is cons
idered the
Father of
Taxonom
y. (Taxon
omy is the
Science of
species cl
assificatio
n.) There
were origi
nally only
two Kingd
oms in his
system: P
lantae &
Animalia.
His syste
m uses Bi
nomial No
menclatur
e. This me
ans that h
e assigne
d a two-
part name
to each
organism.
Rules of
Binomial
Nomencla
ture:
The Genu
s name is
written fir
st and ha
s a capita
lized first
letter.
The Speci
es name i
s written s
econd an
d is not c
apitalized.
The whol
e name is
written in
Latin and
italicized
or underli
ned.

The curre
nt levels (
called “ta
xa”) of cl
assificatio
n include:
Domain (
This is the
MOST inc
lusive; yet
LEAST sp
ecific taxo
n.)
Domains
are comp
osed of si
milar, evol
utionarily-
related Ki
ngdoms.

Kingdom
s
Kingdoms
are comp
osed from
similar, ev
olutionaril
y-related
Phyla or
Divisions (
if it is plan
ts).
4

A Phylu
m or Divi
sion (use
d with pla
nts) is co
mposed of
similar, ev
olutionaril
y-related
Classes.

Classes a
re compos
ed of simil
ar, evoluti
onarily-
related Or
ders.

Orders ar
e compos
ed of simil
ar, evoluti
onarily-
related Fa
milies.

Families
are comp
osed of si
milar, evol
utionarily-
related Ge
nus.

A Genus i
s compos
ed of simil
ar, evoluti
onarily-
related Sp
ecies. Th
e plural of
genus is g
enera.

Species (
This is the
LEAST in
clusive; y
et MOST
specific ta
xon)
A breed is
a sub cate
gory of a s
pecies.

An easy w
ay to reme
mber the
order of th
e taxa in t
he system
is the follo
wing acro
nym: Dom
inating Ki
ng
Phillip Ca
me Over F
or Green S
alad.

Although
Linnaeus
originally
based his
taxonomic
system on
morpholo
gy (body s
hape/
structure),
the
modern cl
assificatio
n system i
s based o
n evolutio
nary relati
onships.
Organism
s in the sa
me taxa a
re
classified
there bec
ause they
share co
mmon an
cestors.
5

Classificat
ion of Mo
dern Hum
ans

Charles L
yell (1797
– 1875)
He becam
e Darwin’
s best frie
nd over se
veral year
s of revie
wing and
supportin
g Darwin’
s research
.
He was a
Geologist
who wrote
Principles
of Geolog
y. (Darwin
took this b
ook on the
Beagle vo
yage.)
The book
was an im
portant infl
uence on
Darwin’s t
hought pr
ocess and
his eventu
al theories
.
In the boo
k, Lyell pr
oposed th
e Theory
of Unifor
mitariani
sm. (“Th
e key to t
he past is
the
present”.)
The theor
y tries to
explain th
at the sam
e geologic
processes
that are o
ccurring
today, also
occurred i
n the past.
These pro
cesses hel
ped to cre
ate, over
millions of
years,
the geolog
ic formatio
ns we see
today. For
example,
erosion, o
ver million
s of years
and
STILL tod
ay, led to t
he formati
on of the
Grand Ca
nyon. For
this theory
to work, E
arth
must be h
undreds of
millions of
years old.
(This also
supports
Darwin’s
theory… i
t
provides e
nough tim
e to pass
so that we
get the mil
lions of dif
ferent spe
cies to ev
olve.)
6

Jean Bap
tiste Lam
arck (174
4 – 1829)

Lamarck p
roposed a
theory of
evolution
via the in
heritance
of acquir
ed traits.
He propos
ed this
theory in 1
809, the y
ear Charle
s Darwin
was born.

The evolut
ion of the
giraffe is o
ften used
as an exa
mple.

Main tenet
s

1. Living o
rganisms
or their co
mponent p
arts tend t
o increase
in size.

2. Producti
on of a ne
w organ o
ccurs whe
n there is
a new nee
d.

3. Continu
ed use of
an organ
makes it m
ore develo
ped, while
disuse of a
n organ
results in
degenerati
on.

4. Acquire
d characte
rs (or mod
ifications)
developed
by individ
uals durin
g their ow
n
lifetime ar
e inheritab
le and acc
umulate o
ver a peri
od of time
resulting i
n a new
species.

Problems
with the t
heory: Wa
s propose
d before g
enetics w
as unders
tood.
Acquired
traits can
not be in
herited.

Evolutio
n via Na
tural Sel
ection
Proposed
by Charle
s Darwin a
nd Alfred
Wallace in
1859. Thi
s is the c
urrent, ac
cepted th
eory of
evolution.

Compatib
le with an
understa
nding of
genetics.

Accordin
g to Darwi
n, natural
selection
is the me
chanism
of evoluti
on.

Natural S
election i
s the proc
ess in whi
ch the org
anisms be
st adapted
to their en
vironment
tend to sur
vive and
transmit th
eir genetic
characters
in increasi
ng number
s to succe
eding gen
erations w
hile those l
ess adapt
ed tend to
be
eliminated
.

Natural se
lection is
one of the
major me
chanisms
of evoluti
on.

Evolution
is about r
eproducti
on. Those
organisms
that are be
tter adapte
d to an en
vironment
out reprod
uce those
that are p
oorly adap
ted to the
environme
nt.

Factors t
hat must
be in plac
e for evol
ution to o
ccur:

1. Geneti
c Variabili
ty—
Variation
may come
from sexu
al reprodu
ction (ran
dom fertili
zation, cro
ssing over
, and
independe
nt assortm
ent), muta
tions, imm
igration.

2. More o
ffspring a
re produc
ed than ca
n survive
(due to li
mited res
ources, pr
edation, e
tc…)

3. Some o
rganisms
must have
phenotype
s that are
better ada
pted than
others. Th
ese pheno
typic variat
ions
significantl
y increase
the fitness
of the orga
nism in th
eir current
environme
nt. These
adaptation
s must ha
ve a
genetic ba
sis. Natur
al selectio
n acts on
phenotypi
c variation
s within a
population
.

4. There
must be di
fferential r
eproductio
n rates du
e to the ad
aptive cha
racteristics
of some
members.

Essential
ly, Darwi
n’s theor
y says tha
t competit
ion for lim
ited resou
rces resul
ts in
differenti
al surviva
l. Individu
als with
more fav
orable ph
enotypes
(for that s
pecific
 7

environm
ent) are m
ore likely
to survive
and prod
uce offsp
ring, thus
passing tr
aits to
subseque
nt generat
ions more
often than
their coun
terparts w
ith less fa
vorable p
henotype
s.

The biotic
and abioti
c factors i
n an envir
onment ca
n be more
or less sta
ble/
fluctuating
and can
affect the r
ate and dir
ection of e
volution.
Different g
enetic vari
ations can
be selecte
d for in ea
ch
generation
. Essenti
ally, this
means th
at environ
ments ca
n change
and thus
apply diff
erent
selective
pressures
to populat
ions at dif
ferent tim
es.

Evolution i
s often ref
erred to a
over a short period of time. s “surviv
al of the f
ittest”.

In a biolog
ical conte
xt, fitness
means: th
e ability t
o survive
to reprod
uctive ag
e, find a
mate, and
produce
offspring.
Basically,
the more
offspring a
n organis
m produc
es during i
ts lifetime,
the greate
r its biolog
ical
fitness. Bi
ological fit
ness has
nothing to
do with siz
e or stren
gth. Fitne
ss is mea
sured by
reproduct
ive
success.

Fecundity
is the actu
al reprodu
ctive rate
of an orga
nism or po
pulation.

Modern d
efinition
of Evoluti
on—A ch
ange in th
e allele fr
equency/
genetic m
akeup of
a populati
on
over time.
The theo
ry of evol
ution is s
upported
by multipl
e lines of
evidence.

Microevo
lution—a
change in
the allele f
requency
within a po
pulation th
at happen
s
Microevol
ution lead
s to chang
es within t
he group,
but does n
ot lead to
speciation
.

Macroev
olution—
major evol
utionary c
hange ove
r time whi
ch leads t
o speciati
on.

Natural S
election--
the proces
s whereby
organisms
better ada
pted to the
ir environ
ment tend
to survive
and
produce
more offs
pring. The
theory of it
s action w
as first full
y expound
ed by Cha
rles Darwi
n and is n
ow
8

believed to
be the mai
n process
that brings
about evol
ution. Natu
ral selectio
n is someti
mes referr
ed to as
Darwin’s
mechanis
m of evol
ution.

Artificial
Selection
(selective
breeding)
--is a form
of selectio
n in which
humans a
ctively cho
ose which
traits shou
ld be pass
ed onto off
spring. Th
rough this
process, h
umans aff
ect variati
on in other
, non-
human
species. H
umans us
ed selectiv
e breeding
long befor
e Darwin's
Postulates
and the di
scovery of
genetics.
Farmers c
hose cattl
e with ben
eficial trait
s such as l
arger size,
and made
them bree
d; and alth
ough they
may
have know
n nothing
about gen
es, they k
new that t
he benefic
ial traits co
uld be heri
table. The
farmers
selected f
or certain t
raits in the
ir cattle an
d noticed t
hat the off
spring wer
e becomin
g more an
d more
productive
with each
generatio
n. Artificial
selection i
s essentia
lly a huma
n caused t
ype of evo
lution.

There hav
e been sit
uations in
which artifi
cial selecti
on has ba
ckfired or
caused ne
gative out
comes. S
ome
of these in
clude:

A.Insecticid
e use sel
ects for in
sects that
are resist
ant/
tolerant of
the insect
icide. Th
e use of i
nsecticide
s has led
to the cre
ation of “
super bug
s”.
B.
The use
of antivira
l drugs h
as select
ed for ver
sions of t
he HIV vi
rus that a
re resista
nt to the
drugs. T
his has
caused re
sistant str
ains of HI
V to beco
me more c
ommon.
C.
MRSA an
d other a
ntibiotic r
esistant b
acteria ar
e selecte
d for duri
ng antibio
tic treatm
ent of dis
eases. S
ome
bacterial d
iseases lik
e tubercul
osis and
MRSA are
now very
hard to tre
at
Patterns
of Select
ion
Stabilizin
g Selectio
n-- Stabili
zing select
ion occurs
when indiv
iduals at t
he extrem
es of the r
ange of a
characteri
stic
are consis
tently sele
cted again
st. This ki
nd of sele
ction is ve
ry commo
n. If the en
vironment
is stable,
most of th
e
individuals
show char
acteristics
that are co
nsistent wi
th the dem
ands of th
e environ
ment. For
example, f
or many
kinds of a
nimals, th
ere is a ra
nge of col
or possibili
ties. Supp
ose a pop
ulation of
mice has
mostly bro
wn individ
uals
and a few
white or bl
ack ones.
If the whit
e or black
individuals
are more
conspicuo
us and are
consistentl
y more
likely to b
e discover
ed and kill
ed by pre
dators, th
e eliminati
on of the
extreme f
orms will r
esult in a
continued
high
frequency
of the bro
wn form.
Many kind
s of marin
e animals,
such as h
orseshoe
crabs and
sharks, ha
ve remain
ed
unchange
d for thous
ands of ye
ars. The
marine en
vironment
is relativel
y constant
and proba
bly favors
stabilizing
selection.

Direction
al Selecti
on-- Direc
tional sele
ction occu
rs when in
dividuals a
t one extre
me of the
range of a
characteri
stic
are consis
tently sele
cted for. T
his kind of
selection o
ften occur
s when th
ere is a co
nsistent ch
ange in th
e
environme
nt in which
the organi
sm exists.
For exam
ple, when
a particula
r insecticid
e is introd
uced to co
ntrol a
certain sp
ecies of p
est insect,
there is co
nsistent se
lection for
individuals
that have
alleles for
resistance
to the
insecticide
. Because
of this, the
re is a shif
t in the ori
ginal allele
frequency,
from one i
n which th
e alleles f
or
resistance
to the inse
cticide wer
e rare to o
ne in whic
h most of t
he populat
ion has th
e alleles f
or resistan
ce. Similar
ly,
changes i
n climate,
such as lo
ng periods
of drought,
can consis
tently sele
ct for indivi
duals that
have char
acteristics
that allow
them to su
rvive in th
e drier env
ironment,
and a cha
nge in alle
le frequen
cy can res
ult.

Disruptiv
e or Diver
sifying Se
lection--
Disruptive
selection o
ccurs whe
n both extr
emes of a
range for
a
characteri
stic are se
lected for
and the int
ermediate
condition i
s selected
against. T
his kind of
selection i
s likely to
happen w
hen there
are sharp
difference
s in the na
ture of the
environme
nt where t
he organis
ms live. F
or exampl
e,
there are
many kind
s of insect
s that feed
on the lea
ves of tree
s. Many of
these inse
cts have c
olors that
match the
leaves the
y feed on.
Suppose t
he species
of insect r
anges in c
olor from li
ght green t
o dark gre
en, and m
edium gre
en
is the mos
t common.
If a particu
lar species
of insect h
ad some i
ndividuals
that fed on
plants with
dark green
leaves,
whereas o
ther indivi
duals fed
on plants
with light g
reen leave
s, medium
green inse
cts could b
e selected
against an
d
the two ex
tremes sel
ected for,
depending
on the kin
d of plant t
hey were f
eeding on.
9

Populati
on Gene
tics
Populatio
ns evolve,
individual
s do not.

Population
genetics is
the scienc
e that stud
ies the trai
t variation
rates over
time within
a populati
on.

It basically
is followin
g allele fre
quency rat
es in a ge
ne pool. (
A.K.A. a p
opulation.)
 10

A populatio
n is defined
by four crit
eria:

A.SAME sp
ecies of or
ganism.
B.
Located in
the SAME
location.
C.
At the SA
ME time.

D.And showi
ng signs of
reproductio
n. (Offsprin
g are prese
nt within th
e group.)

Hardy-
Weinberg
Equilibriu
m
Hardy Wei
nberg /
Genetic Eq
uilibrium—
a theoretical
condition in
which a pop
ulation's
genotype an
d allele freq
uencies will
remain unch
anged over
successive
generations.
Essentially,
evolution is
not occurrin
g. The Har
dy-
Weinberg
model can
be used to
describe an
d predict
allele frequ
encies in a
nonevolvin
g populatio
n.

In order for
Hardy-
2 2
Weinberg e
quilibrium to
2 2 be achieved
, the five req
uirements li
sted below
must apply t
o the
population.
Requirem
ents for H
ardy-
Weinberg
Equilibriu
m
1. No mutati
ons. Germ c
ell mutations
bring about
evolution. S
omatic cell
mutations ar
e not
passed on to
offspring.

2. No immig
ration or em
igration. (No
gene flow)

3. There mu
st be a very
large popula
tion in order
to avoid gen
etic drift.

Genetic Drif
t—
unpredicted
changes in a
llele frequen
cies due to c
hance. Usua
lly occurs in
small,
isolated pop
ulations.

4. There mu
st be no nat
ural selectio
n.

5. There mu
st be no sex
ual selection
. Mating mu
st be rando
m.

So if the abo
ve condition
s are met, n
o evolution
occurs. Thi
s also mean
s that if any
of the condit
ions are not
met,
evolution ca
n/will occur.
We can thi
nk of mutati
on, immigra
tion/
emigration/
gene flow, g
enetic drift,
natural
selection, an
d sexual sel
ection/non-
random mati
ng as mech
anisms of ev
olution.

Mutations o
ccur rando
mly. Mutati
ons result in
the formatio
n of new all
eles/
increased g
enetic variat
ion within th
e
population.
This provide
s new phen
otypes on w
hich natural
selection act
s. If a rand
om mutation
gives an
individual a
phenotype
which is adv
antageous i
n a particula
r environme
nt, it will be
selected for
and will cont
ribute
to the evolut
ion of the po
pulation.

The movem
ent of alleles
between po
pulations ca
used by mig
ration/gene f
low can also
drive evoluti
on.

Hardy We
inberg Eq
uations
The Hardy-
Weinberg eq
uation is a m
athematical
equation tha
t can be use
d to calculat
e the geneti
c variation of
a
population a
t equilibrium
. In 1908, G.
H. Hardy an
d Wilhelm
Weinberg in
dependently
described a
basic princi
ple of
population g
enetics, whi
ch is now na
med the Har
dy-
Weinberg e
quation. The
equation is
an expressi
on of the
principle kn
own as Har
dy-
Weinberg e
quilibrium, w
hich states t
hat the amo
unt of geneti
c variation i
n a populati
on
will remain c
onstant from
one generati
on to the ne
xt in the abs
ence of dist
urbing factor
s.
To explore t
he Hardy-
Weinberg e
quation, we
can examin
e a simple g
enetic locus
(location) at
which there
are two
alleles, A an
d a. The Har
dy-Weinberg
equation is e
xpressed as:
p + 2pq + q
= 1 (genoty
pe frequen
cy equation
)
where p is t
he frequenc
y of the "A"
dominant all
ele and q is
the frequenc
y of the "a"
recessive all
ele in the
population. I
n the equati
on, p repres
ents the freq
uency of the
homozygous
dominant ge
notype AA,
q represent
s the
11

frequency of
the homozyg
ous recessiv
e genotype
aa, and 2pq
represents t
he frequenc
y of the hete
rozygous ge
notype
Aa. In additi
on, the sum
of the allele f
requencies f
or all the alle
les at the loc
us must be
1, so p + q
= 1 (allele
frequency e
quation). If t
he p and q a
llele frequen
cies are kno
wn, then the
frequencies
of the three
genotypes
may
be calculate
d using the
Hardy-
Weinberg e
quation. In p
opulation ge
netics studie
s, the Hardy
-Weinberg e
quation can
be used to
measure wh
ether the ob
served geno
type frequen
cies in a pop
ulation differ
from the freq
uencies pre
dicted
by the equat
ion.

The Hardy
Weinberg e
quations ca
n only be u
sed if the st
udied popul
ation is in g
enetic equil
ibrium. Do
not
attempt to u
se the equat
ions to calcu
late allele fre
quencies for
populations t
hat are evol
ving.
Genetic D
rift
Genetic Dri
ft-- Random
fluctuations i
n the freque
ncy of the a
ppearance o
f a gene in a
small isolate
d population
,
presumably
owing to cha
nce rather th
an natural s
election. Th
ese are non-
selective pro
cesses.

Types of G
enetic Drift

The Found
er Effect—
A founder ef
fect occurs
when a new
colony is sta
rted by a fe
w members
of the origin
al
population.
This small p
opulation siz
e means tha
t the colony
may have:

reduced ge
netic variati
on from the
original pop
ulation.

a non-
random sam
ple of the ge
nes in the or
iginal popula
tion.

For exampl
e, the Afrika
ner populati
on of Dutch
settlers in S
outh Africa i
s descende
d mainly fro
m a few
colonists. To
day, the Afri
kaner popul
ation has an
unusually hi
gh frequenc
y of the gen
e that cause
s
Huntington's
disease, bec
ause those
original Dutc
h colonists j
ust happene
d to carry th
at gene with
an
unusually hi
gh frequenc
y.
 12

Bottleneck
Effect—
genetic drift
resulting fro
end of the 19th century. Their m the reduct
ion of a pop
ulation due t
o a natural d
isaster/
human
activity. The
new populati
on is not rep
resentative
of the origin
al populatio
n. Northern
elephant se
als have
reduced gen
etic variation
probably be
cause of a p
opulation bo
ttleneck hu
mans inflicte
d on them in
the 1890s.
Hunting red
uced their p
opulation siz
e to as few
as 20 individ
uals at the
population h
as since reb
ounded to o
ver 30,000
— but their
genes still c
arry the mar
ks of this bot
tleneck: they
have much l
ess genetic
variation tha
n a populati
on of southe
rn elephant
seals that w
as not so int
ensely
hunted.

Genetic drift
can result in
a decrease i
n genetic va
riation within
a given pop
ulation. Thi
s decrease i
n
variation can
increase the
differences b
barrier. This reproductively etween popu
lations of the
same specie
s.

Small popul
ations with l
ess genetic
variability ar
e more susc
eptible to ra
ndom enviro
nmental imp
acts and
less able to
adapt to the
m than are l
arger popula
tions with m
ore genetic
variability.
lation.