Lecture 18 - EVOLUTION

A- INTRO
1. A sea voyage helped Darwin frame his theory of evolution
Aristotle believed that species are fixed
In the mid 1700 Fossils began to be studied
Fossils suggested that life forms change
This idea was embraced by Lamarck in the early 1800s
He was the first to suggest that life evolves
but he wrongly thought acquired characteristics were passed on
Jean Baptiste Lamarck
He set the stage for Darwin
By advocating the idea of evolution (change)
Species evolve as a result of interactions with their environment
Charles Lyell
Wrote a paper called the principles of geology, 2 main ideas
natural forces gradually change earths surface
these same forces still occur
Also layering:
Oldest layers underneath newer
Darwin was influenced by Lyell
Charles Darwin, 1859
Age 22 he became the naturalist on the HMS Beagle
A surveying ship
He spent most of his time on shore collecting specimens
Fossils and living
Questioned what he observed

The voyage of the Beagle

While on the voyage of the HMS Beagle in the 1830s, Charles Darwin observed
similarities between living and fossil organisms
the diversity of life on the Galpagos Islands, such as blue-footed boobies and giant
tortoises

Galpagos Finches figure

Darwin became convinced that the Earth was old and continually changing
He concluded that living things also change, or evolve over generations
He also stated that living species descended from earlier life-forms: descent with
modification
B- DARWINS THEORY OF EVOLUTION
1. Darwin proposed natural selection as the mechanism of evolution

Darwin observed that

organisms produce more offspring than the environment can support
organisms vary in many characteristics
these variations can be inherited

Darwin concluded that individuals best suited for a particular environment are more likely to
survive and reproduce than those less well adapted
Darwin saw natural selection as the basic mechanism of evolution
As a result, the proportion of individuals with favorable characteristics increases
Populations gradually change in response to the environment
Charles Darwin, 1874
Darwin wrote his ideas into a large essay, but did not publish them for a long time because he
knew it would cause people to question their beliefs
Alfred Wallace
Wallace was a british naturalist doing work in Indonesia
Came up with an identical theory
Sent it to Darwin
Darwins colleagues urged him to publish
Both papers were presented
Darwin is credited
Finally Darwin published
Darwin does not actually use the term evolution until the last paragraph
Instead he used the term
descent with modification

The theory of natural selection explains the main mechanism whereby all species of
organisms change, or evolve:
descent with modification

Evolution happens when populations of organisms with inherited variations are exposed to
environmental factors that favor the success of some individuals over others
Natural selection is the editing mechanism
Evolution is based on adaptations

Darwin also saw that when humans choose organisms with specific characteristics as
breeding stock, they are performing the role of the environment
This is called artificial selection
Example of artificial selection in plants: five vegetables derived from wild mustard
Example of artificial selection in animals: dog breeding

These five canine species evolved from a common ancestor through natural selection
Evolutionary adaptations have been observed in populations of birds, insects, and many other
organisms

Example: camouflage adaptations of mantids that live in different environments

The evolution of insecticide resistance is an example of natural selection in action

2. The study of fossils provides strong evidence for evolution

Darwin developed his theory of decent with modification mainly with evidence from
the geographic distribution of living organisms and fossils

Past and current discoveries in many fields that study fossils continue to support
the theory of evolution

Descent with modification

Australopithecus afarensis

3.24 million years old

1m tall

Best, oldest Skelton

40% complete, celled Lucy

Found in Africa, the Afar

region of Ethiopia, in 1974

Homo erectus

1.8 million years to 500, 000 years ago

Migrated out of Africa

Petridied trees
Fossilized organic matter in a fossilized leaf
Barosaurus
The fossil record shows that organisms have appeared in a historical sequence
Formation of sedimentary rock and deposition of fossils from different time periods
Strata of sedimentary rock at the Grand Canyon
Fossils of trilobites, animals that lived in the seas hundreds of millions of years ago
Ammonites
Fossil perch
Some fossils are preserved in materials other than rock: some are found in bogs,
ice, or amber
Scorpion in amber

Many fossils link early extinct species with species living today

These are called transitional fossils linking past and present

These fossilized hind leg bones link living whales with their land-dwelling ancestors
3. A mass of evidence validates the evolutionary view of life
Other evidence for evolution comes from
Biogeography: geographic distribution
Comparative anatomy: comparing the same structure in different organisms

Comparative embryology- Notice the remarkable similarity of the embryos at this

early development stage
Molecular biology: comparing how similar the same gene is in different species: - closer
related = less different
4. Populations are the units of evolution
A species is a group of populations whose individuals can interbreed and produce fertile
offspring

Human populations tend to concentrate locally, as this satellite photograph of North

America shows
The modern synthesis connects Darwins theory of natural selection with population genetics

5. Microevolution is change in a populations gene pool over time

A gene pool is the total collection of genes in a population at any one time
Microevolution is a change in the relative frequencies of alleles in a gene pool
6. The gene pool of a nonevolving population remains constant over the generations
Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium states that the shuffling of genes during sexual reproduction
does not alter the proportions of different alleles in a gene pool
To test this, lets look at an imaginary, nonevolving population of blue-footed boobies
We can follow alleles in a population to observe if Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium exists
Five Conditions are required for Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium
The population is very large
The population is isolated
Mutations do not alter the gene pool
Mating is random
All individuals are equal in reproductive success
7. There are several potential causes of microevolution
Change in the gene pool is called microevolution
Two main causes are:
Natural selection
Genetic drift

Genetic drift is a change in a gene pool due to chance

The smaller the population = the greater the chance of genetic drift

Two situations that shrink a population, thus cause genetic drift are:
Bottleneck effect
Founder effect

Bottleneck effect:
An event (earthquakes, floods, fires) drastically reduces the size of a population
All descendents only have the possibility of getting the alleles that the few founders
have
Example of bottleneck effect:
1890s human hunting reduced the population of northern elephant seals
in California to 20 seals:
Now about 30,000 seals all from those 20
No variation was found in 24 different genes from a sample of the population
the founder effect: colonization to a new location by a small number of individuals
A few individuals migrate to a new area

Gene flow can change a gene pool due to the movement of genes into or out of a population
Mutation: random changes in DNA
changes alleles
Natural selection leads to differential reproductive success

8.

Variation and natural selection

Variation is extensive in most populations
Phenotypic variation may be environmental or genetic in origin
But only genetic changes result in evolutionary adaptation
Natural selection results in the accumulation of traits that adapt a population to its
environment
If the environment should change, natural selection would favor traits adapted to the new
conditions
Examples of vartiation:
Polymorphism: different forms
Two forms in the same species of king snake
Geographic variation: variation between population in different locations
Cline: a specific type of geographic variation - the variation is a graded
change ( a little difference at a time)
How does natural selection affects variation?
Natural selection tends to reduce variability in populations
The diploid condition preserves variation by hiding recessive alleles
having two copies of each allele
The heterozygous genotype hides recessive alleles: Pp
Balanced polymorphism may result from the heterozygote advantage
Not all genetic variation may be subject to natural selection
Some variations may be neutral, providing no apparent advantage or disadvantage
Example: human fingerprints
Low genetic variability may reduce the capacity of endangered species to survive as humans
continue to alter the environment
Studies have shown that cheetah populations exhibit extreme genetic uniformity
Thus they may have a reduced capacity to adapt to environmental challenges
9. The continuation of genes defines evolutionary fitness

An individuals Darwinian fitness is the contribution it makes to the gene pool of the next
generation relative to the contribution made by other individuals
How many babies does it have to carry its genotype into the next generation
compared to the amount of babies others have
The babies only count if they grow up to reproduce

Production of fertile offspring is the only score that counts in natural selection
10. There are three general outcomes of natural selection

1-stabilizing selection, 2-directional selection, 3-diversifying selection

11. Sexual selection may produce sexual dimorphism
Sexual selection leads to the evolution of secondary sexual characteristics
These may give individuals an advantage in mating

Male and female lions

12. Natural selection cannot fashion perfect organisms

This is due to:
historical constraints: a structure is based on the ancestral form
adaptive compromises: an advantage in one situation may be disadvantageous in another
chance events
availability of variations: natural selection favors what is there; it may not be the absolute
best, only the best available; better then the others
13. The evolution of antibiotic resistance in bacteria is a serious public health concern
The excessive use of antibiotics is leading to the evolution of antibiotic-resistant bacteria
Example: Mycobacterium tuberculosis