QUARTER3- SCIENCE 10
MODULE 6: BIODIVERSITY AND EVOLUTION
MELC: Explain how fossil records, comparative anatomy and genetic information provide evidence for evolution. S10LTIIIf-39
Sources of Evidence for Evolution
Organisms inhabiting the earth have changed overtime,
their structures, traits, and abilities allowed them to adapt and survive
in their environment. Data from the fossil records, anatomy and
morphology, embryonic development and biochemistry could be
analyzed to demonstrate if evolution of life on earth has taken place.
Evidence from Fossil Records
Fossils are examples of evidences that palaeontologists 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.
Most fossils were commonly found in sedimentary rocks. They
were from hard parts of the organisms like woody stem, bones or
teeth.
TWO TYPES OF FOSSIL
a. IMPRINTS OR IMPRESSION- shallow external molds left
by animal or plant tissues with little or no organic materials
present
b. COMPRESSION- the other side with more organic
material
Determining the Age of Fossils
Palaeontologists make initial estimates of the age through
the position in the sedimentary rocks. Fossils found in the bottom
layer are much older than those found in the upper layer of rocks.
Relative dating is a method used to determine the age of
the rocks by comparing them with the rocks in the other layer. The
younger sedimentary rock is assumed to be found on top and the
older rock is found at the bottom layer. Fossil found at the bottom
layer are assumed to be older than those on the upper layer.
Another method is through the use of radioactive isotopes
such as carbon-14. Radiometric dating is a method used to
determine the age of rocks using the decay of radioactive isotopes
present in rocks. Carbon dating is used to tell the age of organic
materials. Era is the largest division of Geologic Time Scale, namely
Precambrian, Paleozoic, Mesozoic, and Cenozoic. Each Era is
further divided into Period.
Hint 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. Examples: forelimbs of dog, big, lizard
and whale, which are structurally the same but functionally different.
In
analogous structure, structures of unrelated species may look
alike because the structure is adapted to similar function.
Examples: wings of birds, bats and insects that have the same
function but different in origin.
The front limbs of man, cat, horse, bat, whales and other
mammals are made up of same kinds of bones, they just vary only in
size and function differently. The presence of homologous structure
is a strong indicator that organism evolved from common ancestors.
This type of evolution is called divergent evolution.
Divergent evolution is the splitting of an ancestral population into
two or more sub
populations that are
geographically isolated
from one another.
Convergence is
an increase in the
similarities among
species derived from different ancestors as a result of
similar adaptation to similar environment. In convergent
evolution, analogous structures of unrelated organisms
from different ancestors develop similar function such as
butterfly wings and bird wings.
Evidence from Embryonic Development
An embryo is an early stage of development in organisms.
Embryonic development includes stages such as blastula,
gastrula and organogenesis. The embryo of fishes,
salamanders, lizards, birds, cats and humans are similar during
the first stage of their embryonic development and have several
homologous structures that are not present when the organisms
are adults.
Evidence from Biochemical Analysis and Amino Acid Sequence
The greater the similarity in amino acid sequence, the
closer the relationship of the organisms. The organisms which
are similar in structure and also possess similarity at the
biochemical level could probably have a common ancestor.