EVO LUT ION

A. L. Mercurio, M.Ed., J. A. Ching, PhD., and R.M. Causaren, PhD

Evolution
Descent with modification
Descent from a common ancestor
Explains the unity of life

Adaptation to the environment

Explains the diversity of life Organisms adapt to the environment by way of natural selection
Survival of the fittest

Before Darwin

Carolus Linnaeus (1707-1778)

Father of Taxonomy Developed the binomial system of nomenclature Developed a system of classifying living things Like other taxonomists, believed in the fixity of species Fixity of Species Each species had an ideal structure and function and a place in the scala naturae (a sequential ladder of life)

Scala naturae

Scala naturae

Before Darwin (cont.)

Georges-Louis Buffon (1707-1788)
French naturalist provided the first naturalistic account of the history of the Earth that described all known plants and animals asserted that the Earth was 75,000 years old and that humans were relative newcomers claimed that changes in the structures of organisms were brought by changes happening in the environment and which occurred during life history on earth Provided evidence of descent with modification but waived his belief in evolutionary descent Still believed special creation and fixity of species

Before Darwin
Baron Georges Cuvier (1769-1832)
French vertebrate zoologist named as the Father of Comparative Anatomy and Paleontology proposed fixity of species and catastrophism Fixity of Species no changes occurred in the structure of species due to adaptation unable to adapt will result to extinction of the species Catastrophism belief that former living animals may have been wiped out by natural catastrophe after the mass extinction, repopulation of surviving species from surrounding areas took place, giving the appearance of change through time

Cuvier reconstructed animals such as extinct mastodons and said that catastrophes followed by repopulations could explain why species change over time.

Before Darwin (cont.)

Jean Baptiste de Lamarck (1744-1829)
French botanist and invertebrate zoologist proposed the theory of inheritance of acquired characteristics and theory of use and disuse Theory of Inheritance of Acquired Characteristics states that new traits were acquired in response to a need imposed by the environment states that the organs of animal become modified in appropriate fashion in direct response to changing environment Theory of Use and Disuse a used organ may be passed on from the parents to their offspring, while unused organ cannot be inherited various organs are greatly improved through use or can be reduced through disuse

REJECTED!: phenotypic changes genetic changes

Charles Darwin
(1809-1882)
British naturalist

served as a naturalist on H.M.S Beagle (1831) which set sail on a 5-year voyage to South America and Pacific
Aim of voyage: geology and biology of the journey at the Galapagos Islands, he made observations on diverse species in the environment observed that each island (Galapagos and Cape Verde) have unique species of particular group of animals which have undergone modification due to environmental conditions Gathered evidence to explain that organisms are related through common descent and that adaptation to various environments results in diversity

Charles Darwin (cont.)

concluded that organisms are products of evolution, that over successive generations, by means of gradual changes from pre-existing organism, new species may be formed proposed and formulated the process of evolution in his book On The Origin of Species by means of Natural Selection (1859) made two major contributions to scientific knowledge the term evolution and the concept by which evolution has occurred which is through natural selection

Figure 17.1a

primary mission: natural resources such as water and food in foreign lands Task: find evidence to support the biblical account of creation On the contrary, he amassed observations supporting another way of thinking Changed the history of biology and science forever

Figure 17.1

Galpagos Islands
Tortoises
Darwin observed tortoise neck length varied from island to island Proposed that speciation on islands correlated with a difference in vegetation

Finches
Darwin observed many different species of finches on various islands Speculated they could have descended from a single pair of mainland finch

Galpagos Tortoises, Geochelone

Darwins concepts of evolution

1
Characteristics of organisms change with time

change in the characteristics of the population

(Change in the genetic make up)

Darwins concepts of evolution

2
present-day species evolved from preexisting species in the past
Archaeopteryx, a transitional fossil

Darwins concepts of evolution (cont.)

Echinodermata

Mollusca Arthropoda

Deuterostome lineage Chordata Acoelomate Coelomate

Annelida Protostome lineage Nematoda Pseudocoelomate

Echinodermata

Ancestral triploblastic acoelomates

Ancestral diploblastic radial animals

Cnidaria

Radial ancestor Porifera

3
Figure

Ancestral protista . A phylogenetic tree of Kingdom Animalia.

all species have evolved from one common

Darwins concepts of evolution (cont.) 4

natural selection brings evolution, which means that a change in the environmental conditions would result to a change in the characteristics of the organisms
only those that are mostly adapted to the environment are fit to reproduce and can preserve their traits by passing their characters to their offspring however, the traits of those animals that are less favored would be eliminated

Evidences of Evolution
Paleontology
fossil records (at least 10,000 years old) provide the first and most important evidence about the history of life on earth continuous discovery of new fossils shows evolution of plants and animals

Archaeopteryx, a transitional fossil

Figure 17.13

Fossils are complete enough to trace the history of an organism

Evidences of Evolution (Fossils)

Transitional links are intermediate between major groups. i. Archeopteryx has features intermediate between primitive reptiles and birds. ii. Eustheopteron is fish ancestral to amphibians. iii. Seymouria is amphibian ancestral to reptiles. iv. Therapsids are reptiles ancestral to mammals. v. Fossil links combined with modern comparative anatomy allows us to deduce vertebrate descent: fish --> amphibian --> reptile --> bird and mammal.

Evidences of Evolution (cont.)

Biogeography the study of range and distribution of plants and animals in different places throughout the world showing how organisms evolve in one locale and then spread to other regions

Each type of marsupial in Australia is adapted to a different way of life. All the marsupials in Australia presumably evolved from a common ancestor that entered Australia some 60 mya.

Evidences of Evolution (cont.)

Comparative Anatomy states that species that share a recent common ancestor will be quite similar to each other and to the ancestor a structure of an organism may be similar to the structure of another animal because of common evolutionary origin structures that are anatomically similar because they are inherited from a common ancestor are called homologous structures The presence of homology, and not analogy,is evidence that organisms are related

Evidences of Evolution (cont.)

Comparative Embryology
early embryonic stages of related organisms resemble each other species that have similar embryonic development though differ during the adult stage may be assumed to be closely related

Evidences of Evolution (cont.)

Comparative Biochemistry
almost all organisms have the same basic cellular and biochemical plan including DNA, ATP, organelles, key proteins and many identical enzymes organisms having similar biochemical composition evolved from common ancestor, any differences may provide an idea how closely different species are related

The branch points in this diagram indicate the number of amino acids that differ between human cytochrome c and the organisms depicted. These biochemical data are consistent with those provided by a study of the fossil record and comparative anatomy.

Organic Evolution
change in genetics of a population over time population refers to all individuals of the same species living in a defined area at the same time can be studied at two different levels: microevolution, which refers to small-scale genetic changes within populations which arise randomly through mutation variation macroevolution, which refers to the largescale results of genetic changes in populations speciation

Microevolution

Industrial melanism (Great Britain) and microevolution. Peppered moth, Biston betularia. Both dark-colored and light-colored individuals exist in the population.

Rat snake (Elaphe obsoleta) populations. There is interbreeding and therefore gene flow among the populations. This keeps their gene pool somewhat similar.

Figure 17.10

All dogs, Canis familiaris, descended from a wolf, Canis lupus.

Microevolution
can occur through several mechanisms natural selection by Alfred Russel Wallace (1858) and by Charles Darwin (1859) Process that results in adaptation of a population to the biotic and abiotic environments survival of the fittest Increased survival and hence can reproduce better traits become increasingly more and more common in populations

Darwins 4 postulates (on the properties of population) resulting to natural selection:

1. Differential reproduction
more young are produced each generation but few can survive to reproduce Those which are better adapted are more likely to reproduce

Darwins 4 postulates
2. Variation individuals in a
population vary in their characteristics

Darwins 4 postulates
3. Inheritance
the differences among individuals are based on genetic differences which are heritable

Darwins 4 postulates
4. Differential adaptiveness
individuals with some characteristics survive and reproduce better (have higher fitness) than do individuals with other characteristics

Macroevolution
evolution brought about by genetic changes within populations resulting to speciation Species? Speciation?
Splitting of 1 species to 2 or more species Transformation of 1 species to a new species

End result?

Results of Natural Selection

Advance body organization and improve species. Preservation and accumulation of smallinherited modifications that are profitable for the species. The favored form increases in number and generally the less favored decreases and become rare. Increased diversity of life.

THE GEOLOGICAL TIMESCALE: The diversity of life

Mass extinction Permian Conifers appear 245 286 Age of great coal-forming forests; club mosses, horsetails, and ferns (trees) flourish Mass extinction 360 408 First seed plants appear. Seedless vascular plants diversify. Seedless vascular plants appear. 408 438 Mass extinction Marine algae diversity 438 505
Nonvascular land plants appear

Reptiles diversify; amphibians decline

Weather (cold and dry) Carbonife rous Age of Amphibians; abundance of water

286 360

Amphibians diversify; first reptiles appear; insects radiate (wings)

Devonian Paleozoic Age of Fishes; very from 245 to 570 impt. (transition?) million years ago Relatively short Silurian 3 mass extinction Extinction? Mass extinction?
Ordovician

Jawed fishes diversify and dominate the seas; first insects and amphibians appear First jawed fishes appear

Invasion of land plants

Invertebrates spread and diversify; jawless fishes (first vertebrates) appear Invertebrates dominate

Cambrian

505 570 700

Marine algae prosper

Cambrian explosion
2,100
Precambrian time from 570 4,600 million years ago 3,100 3,500 4,600

Trilobites; exoskeletons
Multicellular organisms appear

First eukaryotic cells appear

First prokaryotic cells in stromatolites appear Earth forms

87% of timescale; 1st life arose

THE GEOLOGICAL TIME SCALE (cont.)

Era Period Epoch Holocene Quaternary Pleistocene Million of years ago 0 0.01 Plant life Destruction of tropical rain forest by human activities Animal life

-endAge of human civilization

Significant mammalian extinction

Ice Age
Cenozoic End of tertiary: Pliocene from the world :colder present to Miocene 66.4 million year ago
Mammal diversification

0.01 2 26

Herbaceous plants spread and diversity Herbaceous angiosperms prosper Grasslands spread as forests contract.

Modern humans appear; ice age mammals First hominids appear Ape-like and grazing mammals prosper; insects prosper Browsing mammals and monkey-like primates appear

6 24
24 37

Tertiary

Oligocene

Modern families of angiosperm evolve

Subtropical forests prosper Angiosperm diversity

Eocene Paleocene

37 58 58 66

Modern orders of mammals appear

Primitive primates, herbivores, carnivores, and insectivores appear Meteorite collision

Mass extinction of dinosaurs and most reptiles

Cretaceous
Mesozoic from 66.4 to 245 million years ago

Angiosperms spread; conifers persist 66 144 Cycads and gymnosperms dominate

Placental mammals appear; modern insect appear

Jurassic
Age of cycads

144 208

Angiosperms appear

Dinosaurs prosper; birds appear

Triassic

208 245

Mass Mass extinction extinction Cycads and ginkgoes appear; forest of gymnosperms and ferns dominate

First mammals and dinosaurs appear; corals and mollusks dominate seas

Stromatolites
Cyanobacteria added O2 to the atmosphere So that by 2MYA, O2 accumulated in the atmosphere which caused anaerobic prokaryotes to decline Photosynthetic cyanobacteria and aerobic bacteria flourished Oxygen formed ozone Prior to ozone formation
Life diversified 1st in the oceans terrestrial existence became possible

when ozone was formed

Invertebrates during the Cambrian period

Trilobites

Carboniferous period

Had a wingspan of nearly a meter

Jurassic Period

Jurassic period

A scene from the early-mid Jurassic (119.6-161.2 million years ago) may have looked like this.

Cercomoloch very large, predatory pteropod

Archaeoptheryx

One group of dinosaurs (pteropods) most likely gave rise to birds whose fossil records begin with Archaeoptheryx

Dinosaurs of the late Cretaceous period

Mammals of Oligocece epoch

Woolly mammoths of Pleistocene epoch

humans, giant ground sloths, tortoise, beavers, wolves, bison, woolly rhinoceroses, wild horses, mastodons, and mammoths

Pleistocene epoch

-end-