Darwin & Natural Selection

Unit 6: Evolution
Chapter 15
Theory of Evolution
 Evolution: The process of change
over time
 Specifically, a change in the frequency
of a gene or allele in a population over
time
Charles Darwin
 Father of Evolution
 Proposed a mechanism for
evolution, natural selection
 Darwin went on a 5-year trip
around the world on the ship,
the HMS Beagle
 As the ship’s naturalist, he
made observations of
organisms in South America
and the Galapagos Islands
•Wrote a book, “Origin of the Species”
 His observations:
 1. All plants and animals seemed to be well
suited for the environment they inhabited
 2. He was impressed by how the organisms
survived.
 3. He was impressed by how they produced
offspring
 4. He was puzzled by where different species
lived vs. where they did not live.
Stick Mantid
Flower Mantid
Darwin’s Tortoises
Darwin’s Finches
 Darwin also studied the
remains of dead
organisms (fossils)
 some seemed to resemble
the living organisms in the
same area
 some looked nothing like
anything ever seen before
Natural Selection
 Organisms that are best adapted to an
environment survive and reproduce more
than others
 Darwin’s Theory of Natural Selection
occurs in four steps:
 Overproduction
 Variation
 Competition
 Selection
1. Overproduction
 Each species produces more
offspring that can survive
 2. Variation
 Each individual has a
unique combination of
inherited traits.
 Adaptation: an inherited
trait that increases an
organism’s chances of
survival
What adaptations do
you see?
What adaptations do
you see?
Why is Variation Important?
 Because the environment changes.
 The more variation within a species,
species the
more likely it will survive
 EX: If everyone is the same, they are all
vulnerable to the same environmental
changes or diseases
 The more variation of types of species in
an habitat, the more likely at least some
will survive
 EX: Dinosaurs replaced by mammals
 3. Competition
 Individuals COMPETE for limited
resources:
 Food, water, space, mates
 Natural selection occurs through
“Survival of the fittest”
fittest
 Fitness:
Fitness the ability to survive and reproduce
 Not all individuals survive to adulthood
4. Selection
 The individuals with the best traits /
adaptations will survive and have the
opportunity to pass on it’s traits to
offspring.
 Natural selection acts on the phenotype
(physical appearance), not the genotype
(genetic makeup)
 Individuals with traits that are not
well suited to their environment
either die or leave few offspring.
 Evolution occurs when good traits
build up in a population over many
generations and bad traits are
eliminated by the death of the
individuals.
 Peppered Moth A

 Which moth will the bird catch?

B
Which
Which community
community has has aa better
better chance
chance of
of
surviving
surviving aa natural
natural disaster?
disaster?

Community A Community B
Descent with Modification
 Descent with Modification – each
living species has descended, with
changes, from other species over
time.

 Common Descent – all living

organisms are related to one another
Evidence for Evolutions:
 Fossil Record
 Homologous Body Structures
 Vestigial Organs
 Embryology
 Biochemical Evidence
The Fossil Record
 Fossils:
Fossils a record of the history of life
on Earth
Archaeopteryx
 Missing link between
reptiles and birds
Homologous Body Structures
 Homologous
Body Structures:
Structures
similar anatomy in
different types of
animals because
of common
ancestor
Vestigial Organs
 Vestigial Organs: “leftover” traces of
evolution that serve no purpose
Embryology
 Embryology:
Embryology embyos of all
vertabrates are very similar early on
Developmental
Stage
Amphibian Bird Monkey Human

Fertilized
egg

Late
cleavage

Body
segments

Limb
buds

Late fetal
Biochemical Evidence
 Biochemistry:
Biochemistry DNA with more similar
sequences suggest species are more
closely related
 EX: Humans and chimpanzees share
more than 98% of identical DNA
sequences
Coral Snake Milk Snake
(Poisonous) (Not
poisonous)