Evolution of

Living Things
Evolution
Evolution, theory in biology postulating
that the various types of plants, animals,
and other living things on Earth have
their origin in other preexisting types and
that the distinguishable differences are
due to modifications in successive
generations.
Fossil Records
• Evidence of species that no longer exists have been
found by scientist through fossils. Fossils are
mineralized/hardened traces of dead organisms most
commonly found in layers of sedimentary rocks.
• Fossils are formed when organisms, footprints, or
burrows are buried in sand or sediment. For a
skeleton or shell to become fossilized, the dead
animal must be buried by sediment.
Fossil Records
• Fossils are not always the body parts of an
organism. An imprint is a type of fossil in
which a film of carbon remains after the
other elements of an organism have
decayed. Imprint fossils are formed from an
organism moving in some way, leaving
behind a trace or track
Imprint fossils
Mold fossils

• A mold is a type of fossil in which an

impression of the shape or track cast forms
when sediments fill in the cavity left by a
fossil mold.
Mold fossils
Relative dating & radioactive dating methods
• Relative dating & radioactive dating methods are used to determine
the age of fossils. Relative dating determine whether the fossil is older
or younger than other fossils. It is based on where fossils are found in
the stratified rock layers.
• Relative - Relative dating is used to arrange geological events, and the
rocks they leave behind, in a sequence. The method of reading the
order is called stratigraphy (layers of rock are called strata). Relative
dating does not provide actual numerical dates for the rocks.

• Radiometric dating, or radioactive dating as it is sometimes called, is a

method used to date rocks and other objects based on the known
decay rate of radioactive isotopes.
Index fossils
• Index fossils represent species that have lived for a short period of
time but over a wide geographic range. They are used as indicators of
a particular geologic period,
On the Origin of Species
Charles Robert Darwin (February 12, 1809 to April
19, 1882) was a naturalist and biologist known for
his theory of evolution and the process of natural
selection. Born in Shrewsbury, England, in 1831
he embarked on a five-year survey voyage around
the world on the HMS Beagle; his studies of
specimens led him to formulate his theories. In
1859, he published On the Origin of Species.
Natural Selection
• Darwin’s theory of evolution declared that species survived through a
process called "natural selection," where those that successfully
adapted, or evolved, to meet the changing requirements of their
natural habitat thrived, while those that failed to evolve and
reproduce died off. Through his observations and studies of birds,
plants and fossils, Darwin noticed similarities among species all over
the globe, along with variations based on specific locations, leading
him to believe that the species we know today had gradually evolved
from common ancestors. Darwin’s theory of evolution and the
process of natural selection later became known simply as
“Darwinism.”
Darwin’s Theory of Evolution by Natural
Selection
• Heritability- There must be a way to transfer hereditary
information from parent to offspring. This was unknown in
Darwin's time, but DNA is the genetic material that allows
for the passing down of traits.

• Infinite potential to expand- The rate of birth needs to

exceed the rate of death, and given perfect conditions, it
should be possible to multiply ad infinitum, without limits.
Obviously, without this, extinction would be unavoidable
over time.
Darwin’s Theory of Evolution by Natural
Selection
• Variability- There must be a diversity of traits within
the population. This means that there will have to be
a way for new variations to come about. Again, we
now know that mutations exist as mistakes in DNA
replication, transcription, or translation. This brings
about new variants. In addition, recombination and
gene flow between populations can introduce new
gene sequences and functions into the gene pool.
• Struggle for resources- It must be that some individuals are
better suited than others to a certain environment based
on their ability to survive and reproduce successfully. The
individuals who are less adapted will either starve and die
off because they simply cannot keep up with the
competition, get eaten by predators, or reproduce at a
much slower rate compared with the more fit individuals.
Homologous Body Structure
• Comparing the way organisms are put together provides important
evidence for evolution. Your arm appears quite different from the
wing of a bird, the fin of a whale, or the limb of a dog. But, if you
examine the placement and order of the bones, they are very similar.
Biologists say that these limbs are homologous. Homologous
structures share a common ancestry. It is similar in position, structure,
and evolutionary origin but not necessarily in function.
Homologous Body Structure
Analogous Structures

•Such structures are similarly in function

but not in structure. Such structures
would not represent common ancestry.
The moth is not closely related to the
other 3 vertebrate animals ( it lacks
bones in its wings).
Analogous Structures:
Vestigial Structures
• Vestigiality is the retention during the process of
evolution of genetically determined structures or
attributes that have lost some or all of their
ancestral function in a given species. The
emergence of vestigiality occurs by normal
evolutionary processes, typically by loss of
function of a feature that is no longer subject to
positive selection pressures when it loses its
value in a changing environment.
Vestigial Structures
 Similarity of Embryos
• The study of one type of evidence of evolution is called embryology, the
study of embryos. An embryo is an unborn (or unhatched) animal or
human young in its earliest phases. Embryos of many different kinds of
animals: mammals, birds, reptiles, fish, etc. look very similar and it is
often difficult to tell them apart. Many traits of one type of animal
appear in the embryo of another type of animal. For example, fish
embryos and human embryos both have gill slits. In fish they develop
into gills, but in humans they disappear before birth.

• This shows that the animals are similar and that they develop similarly,
implying that they are related, have common ancestors and that they
started out the same, gradually evolving different traits, but that the
basic plan for a creature's beginning remains the same.
Biochemical Evidence
• Biochemistry reveals similarities between organism of different
species. Closely-related species will show more similarities in the
amino acid sequences of their proteins. This is because the amino
acid sequence in a protein reflects the nucleotide sequence of the
gene coding for that protein. If the genes of several species are
compared, closely-related species would show more similarities in
their nucleotide sequences than distantly-related species.
• Biologists were stumped by a "chicken and egg" problem: in all modern organisms, nucleic acids (DNA
and RNA) are necessary to build proteins, and proteins are necessary to build nucleic acids - so which
came first, the nucleic acid or the protein? This problem was solved when a new property of RNA was
discovered: some kinds of RNA can catalyze chemical reactions — and that means that RNA can both
store genetic information and cause the chemical reactions necessary to copy itself. This breakthrough
tentatively solved the chicken and egg problem: nucleic acids (and specifically, RNA) came first — and
later on, life switched to DNA-based inheritance.

• Another important line of biochemical evidence comes in the form of surprisingly common molecules.
As you might expect, many of the chemical reactions occurring in your own cells, in the cells of a
fungus, and in a bacterial cell are quite different from one another; however, many of them (such as
those that release energy to power cellular work) are exactly the same and rely on the exact same
molecules. Because these molecules are widespread and are critically important to all life, they are
thought to have arisen very early in the history of life and have been nicknamed "molecular fossils."
ATP, adenosine triphosphate (shown below), is one such molecule; it is essential for powering cellular
processes and is used by all modern life. Studying ATP and other molecular fossils, has revealed a
surprising commonality: many molecular fossils are closely related to nucleic acids, as shown below.
Extinction of Species
• Once a species is extinct, it does not reappear. There have been
several periods in Earth’s history when a large number of species died
out at the same time. These large-scale extinctions are called mass
extinctions.

• What causes extinction? Extinction may be caused by major changes

in Earth’s climate or atmosphere. Other causes could be global
environmental changes, changes in climate due to movements of
continents, competitions among species Human activities have been
pointed out as the major cause of present extinctions.
Taxonomy
• The branch of science concerned with
classifying organisms is called taxonomy.

• The modern system of classification was

developed by Carl Linnaeus. Linnaeus
classified all known organism by their shared
characteristics.
Taxonomy
• Linnaeus introduced a system of assigning a standard, a two-word
Latin name to each organism known in his time This system was called
binomial nomenclature, referring to the species’ scientific name.

• Biologists currently recognize six kingdoms: two kinds of bacteria

(Archaebacteria and Eubacteria), a largely unicellular group of
eukaryotes (Protista) and three multicellular groups (Fungi, Plantae
and Animalia)
Convergent evolution
• In evolutionary biology, convergent evolution is
the process whereby organisms not closely
related (not monophyletic), independently
evolve similar traits as a result of having to adapt
to similar environments or ecological niches.
Phylogeny
• A phylogeny (or a tree of life) is a theory about how
organisms are related to one another through
evolutionary time. Phylogenies are based on the
assumption that more closely related species will be
more similar to one another, and they are commonly
built using genetic sequences or physical characters.
Cladograms
Chapter 14 – Evolution of Living
Things
• Powepoint made by: Sheen Albis
Jeric Calamno
Arianne Pimentel
Mariel Gonzales
Joyce Samson
Jaerson Estera