Evolution
“From my early youth I have had the strongest desire to
understand or explain whatever I observed -- that is, to group all
facts under some general laws. These causes combined have given
me the patience to reflect or ponder for any number of years over
any unexplained problem.... I have steadily endeavoured to keep
my mind free, so as to give up any hypothesis, however much
beloved (and I cannot resist forming one on every subject), as soon
as facts are shown to be opposed to it. Indeed I have had no choice
but to act in this manner, for with the exception of the Coral Reefs,
I cannot remember a single first-formed hypothesis which had not
after a time to be given up or greatly modified.”
(From The Autobiography of Charles Darwin [New York City: W.W. Norton
and Company, Inc., 1958] p. 141)
What essentials of the scientific process does
Darwin express here?
“Nothing in biology makes
sense except in the light of
evolution.”
Theodosius Dobzhansky, 1973
The definition
Biological evolution is descent with
modification.
This definition encompasses small-scale
evolution (changes in gene frequency in
a population from one generation to the
next) and large-scale evolution (the
descent of different species from a
common ancestor over many
generations).
Biological evolution is not simply a
matter of change over time. Lots of
things change over time: trees lose their
leaves, mountain ranges rise and erode,
but they aren't examples of biological
evolution because they don't involve
descent through genetic inheritance.
VS.
Evolution
The central idea of biological evolution is that all
life on Earth shares a common ancestor, just as
you and your cousins share a common
grandmother.
Charles Darwin
Alfred Wallace Jean Baptiste de Lamarck
Alfred Wallace
1823 - 1913
Alfred Wallace came upon the
theory of evolution based on natural
selection working independently of
Darwin.
Alfred Wallace and Charles Darwin
greatly admired and respected each other
They presented their ideas together to
the Linnean Society in 1858.
Jean Baptiste de Lamarck
1744 - 1829
He was a botanist and naturalist.
He is noted for being the scientist who
first proposed a natural explanation for
evolution rather than a divine cause.
His theory that acquired characteristics
could be passed on to offspring through the
“Law of Use and Disuse” was later proven to
be incorrect.
Jean Baptiste de Lamarck’s theory of:
The Law of “Use and Disuse”
Lamarck’s Law of use and disuse proposed acquired
characteristics. In the example above, the giraffes that wanted
to eat from the trees could not reach so they stretched their
necks continually. Their offspring would then have slightly
longer necks. Over generations, the descendents would all be
long necked.
Charles Darwin’s theory of:
Evolution through Natural Selection
In the example above, the population of giraffes varied in their neck
lengths. The giraffes with the longer necks would be more able to
reach the trees to eat and therefore be more likely to survive and
reproduce. They would pass on their longer neck genes. Over
generations, their descendents would all be long necked. The short-
necked giraffes will have died off. The population has evolved.
Charles Darwin
1809 - 1882
Charles Darwin was an English
naturalist in the 19th century. His
theories of natural selection and
descent with modification laid the
foundations of the modern study of
evolution.
His book “On the Origin of
Species” published in 1859 is
considered a milestone
event.
Charles Darwin’s Voyage of Discovery
Darwin was hired as a naturalist on board the H.M.S. Beagle
and set sail in 1831. For five years he traveled up and down the
Atlantic and Antarctic coasts.
[Link]
[Link]
[Link]/englishL/life/[Link]
[Link]/englishL/life/[Link]
Used by permission of Darwin Day
Celebration (at [Link]), 2006
I have called this principle, by which
each slight variation, if useful, is preserved,
by the term Natural Selection.
—Charles Darwin from "The Origin of Species"
[Link]
Life Sciences-HHMI Outreach. Copyright 2006 President and Fellows of Harvard College.
The Origin of Species
• Darwin developed two main ideas:
– Descent with modification explains life’s unity and
diversity
– Natural selection is a cause of adaptive evolution
Copyright © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Pearson Benjamin Cummings
Descent with Modification
• Darwin never used the word evolution in the first
edition of The Origin of Species
• The phrase descent with modification summarized
Darwin’s perception of the unity of life
• The phrase refers to the view that all organisms are
related through descent from an ancestor that lived
in the remote past
Copyright © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Pearson Benjamin Cummings
Fig. 22-7
Fig. 22-8
Hyracoidea
(Hyraxes)
Sirenia
(Manatees
and relatives)
Moeritherium
Barytherium
Deinotherium
Mammut
Platybelodon
Stegodon
Mammuthus
Elephas maximus
(Asia)
Loxodonta
africana
(Africa)
Loxodonta cyclotis
(Africa)
34 24 5.5 2 104 0
Millions of years ago Years ago
Artificial Selection, Natural
Selection, and Adaptation
• Darwin noted that humans have modified other
species by selecting and breeding individuals with
desired traits, a process called artificial selection
• Darwin then described four observations of nature
and from these drew two inferences
Copyright © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Pearson Benjamin Cummings
Fig. 22-9
Terminal
bud
Lateral
buds
Cabbage Brussels sprouts
Flower
clusters
Leaves
Kale
Cauliflower
Stem
Wild mustard
Flowers
and stems
Broccoli Kohlrabi
Dog breeding
• Observation #1: Members of a population often
vary greatly in their traits
Copyright © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Pearson Benjamin Cummings
Fig. 22-10
• Observation #2: Traits are inherited from parents to
offspring
• Observation #3: All species are capable of
producing more offspring than the environment
can support
Copyright © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Pearson Benjamin Cummings
Fig. 22-11
Spore
cloud
• Observation #4: Owing to lack of food or other
resources, many of these offspring do not survive
Copyright © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Pearson Benjamin Cummings
• Inference #1: Individuals whose inherited traits give
them a higher probability of surviving and
reproducing in a given environment tend to leave
more offspring than other individuals
Copyright © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Pearson Benjamin Cummings
• Inference #2: This unequal ability of individuals to
survive and reproduce will lead to the accumulation
of favorable traits in the population over
generations
Copyright © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Pearson Benjamin Cummings
• Darwin was influenced by Thomas Malthus who
noted the potential for human population to
increase faster than food supplies and other
resources
• If some heritable traits are advantageous, these will
accumulate in the population, and this will increase
the frequency of individuals with adaptations
• This process explains the match between organisms
and their environment
Copyright © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Pearson Benjamin Cummings
Natural Selection: A Summary
• Individuals with certain heritable characteristics
survive and reproduce at a higher rate than other
individuals
• Natural selection increases the adaptation of
organisms to their environment over time
• If an environment changes over time, natural
selection may result in adaptation to these new
conditions and may give rise to new species
Copyright © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Pearson Benjamin Cummings
Fig. 22-12a
(a) A flower mantid
in Malaysia
Fig. 22-12b
(b) A stick mantid
in Africa
• Note that individuals do not evolve; populations
evolve over time
• Natural selection can only increase or decrease
heritable traits in a population
• Adaptations vary with different environments
Copyright © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Pearson Benjamin Cummings
“Survival of the Fittest” - Fitness
Fitness is a measure of reproductive success. Those individuals
who pass on their genes (leave the largest number of mature
offspring) are considered the fittest.
Types of Natural Selection
• Directional Selection
• Stabilizing Selection
• Disruptive Selection
Number of individuals
Directional
in the population
Selection
• Shift in the variation in a Range of values for the trait at time 1
consistent direction within
the phenotypic range
Number of individuals
in the population
• Examples:
– Pesticide resistance in
insects Range of values for the trait at time 2
– Antibiotic resistance in
bacteria Number of individuals
in the population
Range of values for the trait at time 3
Stabilizing
Number of individuals
selection
in the population
• Loss of extreme
forms with Range of values for the trait at time 1
stabilization of an
intermediate form
• Example: Infants
greater or less than Range of values for the trait at time 2
7.5 lbs have
increased mortality
Range of values for the trait at time 3
Disruptive
Number of individuals
in the population
Selection
• favors individuals at
the extremes with a
Range of values for the trait at time 1
Number of individuals
in the population
reduction of
intermediate forms
• Example: African Range of values for the trait at time 2
Finches selection
Number of individuals
in the population
favors small or large
beak size
Range of values for the trait at time 3
Macroevolution:
Evidence for evolution
• Biogeography
• Fossil Record
• Comparative anatomy
• Comparative embryology
• Molecular Biology
Evolution evidence: Biogeography
• Geographical distribution of species
• Indicates that populations that are isolated from one
another geographically evolve separately
Evolution evidence:
The Fossil Record
• Fossils are created when
organisms become buried in
sediment, bone and other
hard tissue is converted to
rock
• The fossils contained in
sedimentary rock layers
reveal a history of life on
earth
Fossil Record
• Hard parts of animal may be
fossilized if covered by
sediments.
• Fossils are relatively rare.
Only about 1 species out of
10,000 is represented in the
fossil record, so the fossil
record is incomplete.
Observations Based on Fossil Record
1. The older the rocks, the more
organisms are different from
present life-forms.
2. Fossils display general trend
toward increasing complexity.
3. Fossil record shows how different
animals changed over time. Good
example is horse
[Link]
htm
4. Most species that have lived on
earth are now extinct (for every
one, 999 extinct)
Fossil Record:
Whale Evolution
[Link]
Evolution evidence:
Comparative Anatomy
• Comparing body forms and structures of major
lineages
• By studying homology or how similarly derived
body parts have evolved, we can put together
an evolutionary tree and find common ancestors
even if the body parts no longer serve the same
function
Evolution evidence:
Comparative anatomy
• Homolgous structures
– Similar anatomy,
different functions
– Indicate divergent
evolution
Evolution evidence:
Comparative anatomy
• Analogous structures
– Similar function,
different anatomy
– Indicated Convergent
Evolution
– Example: bird’s wing vs.
fly’s wing
Do you think that sharks' and dolphins' similarities (body
shape, fin, and flippers) are homologies or analogies?
skeleton made of skeleton made of
cartilage bone
go to the surface and
use gills to get oxygen
breathe atmospheric
from the water in
air in through their
which they swim
blowholes
don't nurse their
do nurse their young
young
do have hair — they
don't have hair are born with hair
around their "noses"
[Link]
Evolution evidence:
Comparative anatomy
• Vestigial Organs
– Remnants of
evolution
– Organs that were
required in ancestor
that are not needed in
present-day organism
– Examples: appendix,
tailbone
Snakes with legs !
Pythons and boa constrictors have tiny hind leg bones buried in muscles
toward their tail ends. Such features, either useless or poorly suited to
performing specific tasks, are described as vestigial.
[Link]/.../gallery/md/[Link]
Evolution evidence:
Comparative Embryology
• Development of early
embryos of resemble each
other due to a common
developmental plan
• During later embryonic
development this plan
becomes modified to create
the different body types we
see
Evolution evidence:
Molecular Biology
• Tracking mutations in
sequences of DNA
and/or proteins can trace
the evolutionary history
of organisms
• The more nucleotides/
amino acids in common,
the more closely related
the species