Chapter 6

Darwin and Evolution

Textbook Page no: 1-16

UNIT 7-AP BIOLOGY

EVOLUTION
15.1 The History of Evolutionary Thought
15.2 Darwin’s Theory of Natural Selection
15.3 Evidence for Evolution

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 15.1 The History of
Evolutionary Thought
Learning Outcomes

Headline
BELL RINGER
 What do you know about Evolution
Charles Darwin
Darwin’s Theory of Evolution
 Evolution, or change over time, is the
process by which modern organisms have
descended from ancient organisms.

 A scientific theory is a well-supported

testable explanation of phenomena that
have occurred in the natural world.
video
EVOLUTION
How do you think Darwin came
up with his theory?
Voyage of the Beagle
Voyage of Beagle
 Dates: February 12th, 1831
 Captain: Charles Darwin
 Ship: H.M.S. Beagle
 Destination: Voyage around the world.
 Findings: evidence to propose a
revolutionary hypothesis about how life
changes over time
 Patterns of Diversity

 Darwin visited Argentina and Australia which

had similar grassland ecosystems.

 those grasslands were inhabited by very different

animals.

 neither Argentina nor Australia was home to the sorts

of animals that lived in European grasslands.
 Patterns of Diversity

 Darwin posed challenging questions.

 Why were there no rabbits in Australia, despite the
presence of habitats that seemed perfect for them?

 Why were there no kangaroos in England?

 Living Organisms and Fossils

 Darwin collected the preserved

remains of ancient organisms, called
fossils.

 Some of those fossils resembled

organisms that were still alive today.
 Living Organisms and Fossils
 
 Others looked completely unlike any creature he had
ever seen.

 As Darwin studied fossils, new questions arose.

 Why had so many of these species disappeared?

 How were they related to living species?

Fossils
The Journey Home
 Darwin Observed that characteristics
of many plants and animals vary
greatly among the islands

 Hypothesis: Separate species may

have arose from an original ancestor
 Ideas that shaped Darwin’s
Thinking
Plato-All species are perfect.Variation is the
imperfection of the species.
Aristotle-Organism vary in their complexity and
can be arranged based on their increasing
complexity.
Mid-Eighteenth-Century Influences

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 Ideas that shaped Darwin’s
Thinking
Carolus Linnaeus :1707-78
 The fixity of species


That each species had:

An ideal structure and function, and

A place in the scala naturae,sequential ladder

of life
He developed the binomial system of
nomenclature
System of classification for living things

Count Buffon:1707-88
Wrote 44-volume catalog of all known plants and
animals
 Suggested descent with modification
 Late-Eighteenth-Century Influence

Baron George Cuvier:1769-1832

First to use comparative anatomy to
develop a system of classification.

Founded Paleontology-study of fossils

Proposed Catastrophism and mass

extinction
Local catastrophes in past had caused later
strata to have a new mix of fossils.
After each catastrophe, the region was
repopulated by species from surrounding
Late-Eighteenth/Early-Nineteenth-Century
Influences
Lamarck:
Charles Lyell:
Malthus:
Lamarck
Lamarck’s Theory of Evolution

First
biologist to:
Propose evolution

Link diversity with environmental adaptation

Concluded more complex organisms are descended

from less complex organisms

Proposed inheritance of acquired characteristics

– Lamarckianism
Lamarck’s Theory of Evolution

 Tendency toward
Perfection(Giraffe
necks)

 Use and Disuse (bird’s

using forearms)

 Inheritance of
Acquired Traits
INHERITANCE OF ACQUIRED CHARACTERISTICS
Ideas that shaped Darwin’s
Thinking
 James Hutton:
 1795 Theory of
Geological change
 Forces change
earth’s surface
shape
Ideas that shaped Darwin’s Thinking

 Earth is subject to slow but continuous cycles of

erosion(not by catastrophes) .-still accepted today
It produces dirt and rock debris that is washed into the rivers,
transported to the oceans, and deposited in thick layers,
which are converted over time into sedimentary rock.

These layers of sedimentary rocks, which often contain fossils, are then
uplifted to form land during geological upheavals.
Proposed uniformitarianism(-natural process witnessed
today are same process that occurred in the past) rates
and processes of change are constant
Ideas that Shaped Darwin’s
Thinking
 Charles Lyell
 Book: Principles of Geography which
contain Hutton,s idea.
 Geographical features can be built up or
torn down
 Darwin thought if earth changed over time,
what about life?
 Population Growth
 Thomas Malthus-19th century
English economist
 If population grew (more
Babies born than die)
 Insufficient living space

 Food runs out

 Darwin applied this theory to

animals and formulated his

idea on natural selection.
Darwin’s Natural Selection
Publication of Orgin of Species
 Russel Wallace wrote
an essay summarizing
evolutionary change
from his field work in
Malaysia

 Gave Darwin the drive

to publish his findings