Evolution and

Biodiversity

Chapter 4
 Key Concepts

 Origins of life

 Evolution and evolutionary processes

 Ecological niches

 Species formation

 Species extinction
 How Did We Become Such a
Powerful Species So Quickly?

 Strong opposable thumbs

 Walk upright

 Intelligence
 Origin & Evolution of Life

 Chemical evolution - 1st billion yrs

organic molecules, biopolymers & chemical rxns needed
for formation of first cells
(Age of Earth = 4.6 billion years)

 Biological evolution -
first life 3.7 bya (prokaryotes)
“Populations - not individuals - evolve by becoming genetically
different.”
Animation- Chemical Evolution

Stanley Miller's experiment animation

Biological Evolution of Life
Modern humans
(Homo sapiens)
appear about
2 seconds
before midnight

Recorded human
history begins
1/4 second
before midnight

Origin of life
(3.6–3.8 billion
years ago)

Fig. 4-3, p. 66
 How Do We Know Which
Organisms Lived in the Past?

 Fossil record

 Radiometric dating

 Ice cores

 DNA studies
 Biological Evolution
 Evolution= change in populations genetic makeup over
time
(“Populations - not individuals - evolve by becoming genetically different.”)

 “Theory” of evolution= All species descended from earlier,

ancestral species

 Microevolution= small genetic changes in a population

 Macroevolution= long-term, large scale

evolutionary changes (speciation, extinction)
 Natural Selection
 Definition: Process where particular beneficial trait is reproduced in
succeeding generations more than other traits

 Three Conditions:
1. Genetic Variability
2. Trait must be inherited
3. Differential Reproduction - individuals w/ trait have more offspring
 Adaptations
 Structural- coloration, mimicry, protective, gripping

 Physiological - hibernate, chemical

 Behavioral - ability to fly, migrate

 Animation

Change in moth population animation

“Genes mutate, individuals are selected, and populations evolve.”

Animation

Adaptive trait interaction

 Ecological Niches and
Adaptation
 Ecological niche = occupation (role)

 Habitats = address

 Fundamental niche = no competition

 Realized niche = with competition

 Broad and Narrow Niches and
Limits of Adaptation
 Generalist species - broad niche

 Specialist species - narrow niche, more extinction-

prone under changing environmental conditions.
Which is better?

 Limits of adaptation- gene pool & reproductive

capacity

Refer to Spotlight, p. 72- cockroaches

Niches of Specialist and
Generalist Species

Specialist species Generalist species

with a narrow niche with a broad niche
Number of individuals

Niche
separation

Niche
breadth

Region of
niche overlap

Resource use
 Animation

Stabilizing selection animation.

 Animation

Disruptive selection animation.

 Specialized Feeding Niches for
Birds
Herring gull is a
Brown pelican dives for fish, tireless scavenger
Black skimmer which it locates from the air
seizes small fish Ruddy turnstone
at water surface Dowitcher probes deeply searches
Avocet sweeps bill through
Scaup and other mud and surface water in into mud in search of under shells and
diving ducks feed on search of small crustaceans, snails, marine worms, pebbles for small
mollusks, crustaceans, insects, and seeds and small crustaceans invertebrates
and aquatic vegetation

Flamingo Knot (a sandpiper) picks up

feeds on worms and small crustaceans
minute Oystercatcher feeds on left by receding tide
organisms clams, mussels, and Piping plover feeds
in mud Louisiana heron wades into other shellfish into which on insects and tiny
it pries its narrow beak crustaceans on
water to seize small fish sandy beaches

Fig. 4-10, p. 72
Cockroaches: Nature’s Ultimate
Survivors

Fig. 4-11, p. 72
Evolutionary Divergence of
Honeycreepers
Fruit and seed eaters Insect and nectar eaters
Greater Koa-finch

Kuai Akialaoa

Amakihi

Kona Grosbeak

Crested Honeycreeper
Akiapolaau

Maui Parrotbill Apapane

Unknown finch ancestor

Misconceptions of Evolution

 “Survival of the fittest”

Fitness = reproductive success ≠ strongest

 “Progress to perfection”
 Speciation
 What is speciation?

 Geographic isolation

 Reproduction isolation
mutation & natural selection operate independently
in gene pools of geographically isolated populations
original populations become genetically distinct-
unable to produce live, fertile offspring
 Geographic Isolation can Lead to
Speciation
Arctic Fox Adapted to cold
through heavier
fur, short ears,
short legs, short
Northern nose. White fur
population matches snow
for camouflage.
Spreads northward
Early fox and southward
Different environmental
population conditions lead to different
and separates selective pressures and evolution
into two different species.

Gray Fox Adapted to heat

through
Southern lightweight fur
population and long ears,
legs, and nose,
which give off
more heat.

Fig. 4-8, p. 68
 Animation

Speciation on archipelago animation

Factors Leading to Extinction
 Plate tectonics

 Climatic changes over time

 Natural catastrophes

 Human impacts
 Extinctions
 Background extinctions= 1-5 species per million

 Mass extinctions- five previous mass extinctions:

25% - 75% species go

 Mass depletions- > background, but < mass

 Human impacts - 6th major mass extinction???

“Continental Drift” (Plate Tectonics): The
Breakup of Pangaea

LAURASIA
AEA
ANG
P GO
NDW
ANA
LAN
D

225 million years ago 135 million years ago

RICA
E
H AM EURASIA
O RT
N
SO

AFRICA
UT

IA
IND
H
AM

MAD
A
GASC
ER

AR A
I
RAL
IC

ST
AU
A

ANTARTICA
65 million years ago Present

Fig. 4-6, p. 66
Mass Extinctions of the Earth’s Past
 Changes in Biodiversity over
Geologic Time
1600
Terrestrial
Ordovician

Cretaceous
Devonian

Carboniferous

Jurassic
Silurian
Cambrian

Triassic
Permian
Pre-cambrain

organisms
Number of families

1200
Marine
organisms
800

Quaternary
Tertiary
400

0
3500 545 500 440 410 355 290 250 205 145 65 1.8 0

Millions of years ago

Genetically Engineered Mouse

Mouse on right has

human growth
hormone gene-
grows 3x faster and
2x larger

Fig. 4-B, p. 69