EVOLUTION

Darwin’s Theory

Slides 1 – 24

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Consider This…
• “Individual organisms live, reproduce and die.
Individuals, however, do not evolve;
populations do. Evolution is the change in gene
frequency that occurs in a population over time.”
• Audesirk, T. & Audesirk G. Biology – Life on Earth. 4 th edition. © 1996

• Population: all the individual members of a particular

species living in a given area.

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Biological evolution… Misconceptions

• Is NOT “just a theory.”

• In science, theory ≠hypothesis
• Has NO political agenda.
• Does NOT have a direction.
• Has NO ultimate goal.
• Was NOT discovered by Darwin.

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Pre-Darwinian Evolutionary Ideas

• Jean Baptiste de Lamarck

(1744 – 1829) French Biologist
• First complete explanation of
evolution (1809)
• Inheritance via acquired
characteristics –
• Claim: Organisms transform their
appearance to produce evolution.
Giraffe necks =
evidence?
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Charles Darwin
• 1831
• At only 22 years old, this
British nature lover went
for a 5-year cruise onboard
her majesty’s Beagle ship.
• He sailed around the world
to look at stuff. The most
famous stop being the
Galapagos islands off the
coast of South America.

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Biodiversity

VARIATION!

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VARIATION / Biodiversity

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Beaks differ

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Abundant babies!!!!!

OVERPRODUCTION! 10
Blue feet?

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ADAPTATIONS ?
Adaptation
• Book definition:

A trait that helps

an organism
survive and
reproduce.

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 Darwin’s
Notes
• Observation 1: Overproduction – Organisms
make more offspring than can survive.
• Observation 2: Resources are Limited.
• Conclusion 1: Competition for survival and
reproduction among species.

• Observation 3: Individuals Differ from one

another within a species’ population.
• Conclusion 2: Fitness – the most well-adapted
individuals from one generation will usually
leave the most offspring. 13
Twenty Years Later
• Darwin finally publishes his book On the Origin of Species,
sharing his theory of Evolution by Natural Selection (1859).

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Terms
Evolution Natural Selection
change in a population’s Nature selects who
genes from one stays!!
generation to the next. • This process drives
• a.k.a. change over time. evolution.

• Adaptation- A trait that helps an organism to survive &

reproduce (born with it).
• Adaptations are favorable variations.

• Variation- Differences between individuals of the same

species.
• Examples: color, shape, size, behavior, chemistry.
• Variations come from: 15
• Mutations.
• Meiosis Cross Over (challenge topic)
Populations will have a pool of
genes.
• A gene pool is all
the genes that
occur in a
population.

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Five Fingers of Micro-Ev

olution
Mutations workshop…
DNA
THE FAT CAT ATE THE RAT. Replication
THE FAT CAT ATE THE RAT.
THE FAT CAT ATE THE RAT. Mutation
THE FAT CAR ATE THE RAT.

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 Common Ancestry
Australopithecus (Genus) 4 mya Genus of Hominids (Family).
“Lucy” 3.2 mya (Ethiopia)
Extinct
Homo habilis 2.33 – 1.44 Short, long arms. Primitive
mya stone tools. Extinct.

Homo erectus 1.9 mya – “Upright man”

143,000 years
ago
Homo neanderthalensis 600,000 – Interbreeding?
Homo sapeins neanderthalensis (?) 350,000 years Climate change?
ago

Homo sapiens 200,000 years “intelligent”

ago
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Homo sapien sapiens Modern humans. Extant.
Extant!
MUST KNOW Evolution Vocab
• Adaptation • Half-life
• Branching tree • Homologous structures
• Competition • Mutation
• Common ancestor • Natural selection
• Darwin, Charles • Overproduction
• Evolution • Punctuated equilibria
• Extinct • Radioactive element
• Fossil • Relative dating
• Fossil Record • Scientific theory
• Gene pool • Species
• Gradualism • Variation 20
 More Evolution Vocab
SHOULD KNOW CHALLENGE
• Analogous structures • Altruism
• Artificial selection • Convergent evolution
• Cast • Disruptive selection
• Coevolution • Founder effect
• Mold • Genetic drift
• Perpetual change • Sexual selection
• Petrified fossil • Stabilizing selection
• Lamarck
• 21
Vestigial structures
 Name 3 Misconceptions
about EVOLUTION:
1)

2)

3)
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Turn & Talk to Complete this
frame:

microEVOLUTION
micro MACROEVOLUTION

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What did Darwin OBSERVE?
#1)

#2)

#3)
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What did Darwin
CONCLUDE?
#1)

#2)

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 Evolution,
Oh yea, PROVE IT!

part II

Proof
Fossils
Comparative Anatomy
Comparative Embryology
Vestigial Structures 26
Comparative Biochemistry
Evidence

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 Evolution
Thermodynamics

Gravity

• Recall that a scientific theories…

• Are well supported.
• By appropriate & sufficient evidence.
• Explain many observations
• Are testable.
• Are widely accepted.
• Incorporate facts, laws, inferences and tested hypotheses. 28

• Are NOT “just a theory.”

Pangaea 200 mya

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 Evidence for Evolution
• Biogeography
• Ex: Galapagos species

• Fossils
• Ex: Horses

• Homologies
• Ex: Anatomy

• DNA & Proteins

• Ex: Human FGF2 Gene

• Mathematical Models
• Population simulation
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• Artificial Selection
• Ex: Antibiotic resistance
 Fossil Evidence
• Fossils are the remains of past life
dug up from the earth’s crust.
• Fossil formation is rare.
• Most fossils form in sedimentary
rock.
• Fossils are the historical documents
of biology.
• Because the Earth’s crust
is layered over time,
younger fossils are found
closer to the top.
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Examples: bone, teeth, casts, impressions.

 Why are primate fossils rare?
1) Most primates did not live in habitats that
readily preserved fossils, such as swamps and
shallow lagoons.

2) Until recently, primates were fairly small.

3) Ancestral primates may have had small

populations, thus providing less material for
fossilization in the first place.

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FYI - Primate evolution has been linked to grasping
hands, binocular vision and a LARGE brain.
Fossil Record Evidence
• If you piece together all the millions of fossils
that scientists have dug up and sequence them
by time (age), you have the Fossil Record.
• How do you know a fossils age?
• Relative dating
• Top vs. Bottom layers.
• Radioactive dating
• Unstable element decay of nearby rocks.

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Embryology Evidence
• Looking at the early development of one
organism and comparing it to another allows
scientists to make inferences about their
evolutionary relationship.

• Embryo: Not yet born, developing multicellular

organism.
• Inference: using clues to make a conclusion.

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Homologous Structures Evidence
• Definition: similar structures that related
species have inherited from a common
ancestor.

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 Biochemical evidence
• Results from DNA
& protein analysis
further support
the theory of
evolution by
natural selection.

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Summary
• Evolution by means of natural selection explains
the history of life on earth. This claim is
supported by abundant evidence.

• Key Concepts are:

• Species share common ancestors.
• Descent with modification: (perpetual change)
• Nature chooses which species stay (extant) and which
go (extinct).
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Class Discussion
• Which is more likely to form a fossil
• Jellyfish or crab?

• Why are there gaps in the fossil record?

• How do you interpret an evolutionary tree diagram?

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7) High School Challenge
• Describe the role that geographic isolation can play in
speciation.
• Speciation = new species formation.
• Research:
• Allopatric speciation
• Vicariant vs. founder effect.
• Sympatric speciation

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Darwin’s Work
• 1. Variation: There is Variation in Every
Population.
2. Competition: Organisms Compete for limited
resources.
3. Offspring: Organisms produce more Offspring
than can survive.
4. Genetics: Organisms pass Genetic traits on to
their offspring.
5. Natural Selection: Those organisms with the
Most Beneficial Traits
are more likely to Survive and Reproduce. 46
The History of Evolutionary
Thought
• Plato (Greek philosopher 427-347 B.C.E.)-

• Aristotle (Plato’s student 384-322 BCE)-

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High School Challenge
• Lamarck v. Darwin
• Who is Jean-Baptiste Lamarck & how did his take on evolution
differ from Darwin’s?
• Hardy-Weinberg equation
• p2+2pq+q2=1; p+q=1

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