THEORIES OF EVOLUTION THOMAS MALTHUS (1766-1834)
EVOLUTION- explains the emergence of new - Wrote an essay entitled “An essay on the principle
varieties of living things in the past and in the present of population”
THEORY- idea that is suggested or presented as THEORY OF USE DISUSE
possibly true but that is not known or proven to be
- Inheritance of acquired characteristics was
true
brought about by the environment
CREATION- there was a special and independent
JEAN BAPTISTE LAMARCK (1744-1829)
creator of every species on earth.
- First biologist to believe in the evolution of life
-God created an infinite and continuous series of life
forms
forms which remained unchanged.
- Very famous in his idea about the giraffe’s
JAMES USSHER (1581-1656) adaptation
- Anglican archbishop NATURAL SELECTION
- Armagh, Northern Ireland
- “Survival of the fittest and elimination of the
- Reinforced the Judeo-Christian version of
unfit”
creationism
- Organisms which are adaptative to their
SCALA NATURAE -sequential ladder of life which environment has a greater chance to survive
was originally Aristotle’s idea or live longer
CAROLUS LINNAEUS (1707-1778) -“FATHER OF CHARLES DARWIN (1809-1882)
TAXONOMY”
- “Father of Evolutions”
- believed that each species contained an ideal - Led a voyage on HMS Beagle and arrived in
structure and function Galapagos Islands where he made a lot of
observations
CATASTROPHISM - violent and sudden catastrophes
- Published his book entitled "On the Origin of
resulted in the extinction of most plants and animals
Species by Means of Natural Selection”
GEORGES CUVIER (1769-1832)
ALFRED RUSEEL WALLACE (1823-1913)
- French zoologist and paleontologist
- Traveled the Amazon and the Malay
- First scientist to document animals and was
Archipelago
respected expert on dinosaurs
- His paper dealt with the 1st part of evolutions,
UNIFORMITARIANISM-There us gradual geological which describes how the characteristics of
change over a long period of time species change over time (descent with
modification)
CHARLES LYELL (1797-1875) JAMES HUTTON
(1726-1797) MAJOR ARGUMENTS FOR NATURAL SELECTION
-they thought that the Earth’s physical landscape - Organisms produce more offspring than the
underwent long, narrow and continuous change. environment can provide
- Lack of resources and space result to
competition (struggle for existence)
“STRUGGLE FOR EXISTENCE” - All organisms vary genetically
- Organisms best adapted to the environment
-populations had the potential to grow faster than
are most likely to survive
food supply
- Variations are inherited Occurs when: Individuals join new populations and
- Variation may lead to speciation reproduce-migrate
(accumulated from succeeding generation)
-Increase genetic variation in the receiving
population
NICOLAUS STENO (1638-1686)
-gene flow moves alleles from one population to
-First to realize that the Earth’s crust contains a another
chronological history of geologic events, and that the
2. GENETIC DRIFT
history may be deciphered by careful study of the
strata and fossils -a random change in allele frequencies due to
chance. It causes a loss of genetic diversity in a
SERIAL ENDOSYMBIOTIC THEORY
population
-Eukaryotic cells evolved from the symbiosis of
Ex 1: BOTTLENECK EFFECT
smaller aerobic and autotrophic prokaryotic cells
living within larger prokaryotic cells Ex 2: FOUNDER EFFECT
LYNN MARGULIS (1938-2011) 3. MUTATIONS
- another symbiotic merger of cells with bacteria-this - selects for traits that improve mating success.
time spirochetes, a type of bacterium that undulates
4. SEXUAL SELECTION
rapidly developed into the internal transportation
system of the nucleated cell - selects for traits that improve mating success.
JAMES WATSON (1928- PRESENT) It can result in SEXUAL DIMORPHISM
-discovered the molecular structure of (a difference in secondary characteristics between
deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), the substance that is males and females of the same species)
the basis of heredity.
TWO TYPES
-conducted research on the role of nucleic acids in
INTRASEXUAL SELECTION
protein synthesis.
-Selection within the same sex, individuals of one sex
compete directly for mates of the opposite sex
INTERSEXUAL SELECTION
FRANCIS CRICK (1916-2004)
- (MATE CHOICE) individuals of one sex (USUALLY
-worked with James Watson and Maurice Wilkins, THE FEMALES) are choosy in selecting their mates
received the 1962 Nobel Prize for Physiology or from the other sex
Medicine for their determination of the molecular
5. NATURAL SELECTION
structure of DNA
- selects for traits advantageous for survival
OTHER MECHANISMS OF EVOLUTION
FIVE FACTORS THAT CAN LEAD TO EVOLUTION.
1. GENE FLOW
-is the movement of alleles (gene) in and out of
populations.