Repeaters-2021-Medical-Biology

CHAPTER - 00
EVOLUTION

• A gradual process in which something changes into a different and usually more complex or better
form.
• The fact that animals and plants change and do not remain static during the course of time is the
backbone of evolutionary reasoning.
• Result of evolution is biodiversity
• Concept of Evolution – Empedocles
• Term “Evolution” was coined by Herbert Spencer

ORIGIN OF LIFE

ORIGIN OF UNIVERSE AND EARTH

• Before the universe existed in its present form, all matter was concentrated in one mass.
• The universe was formed 20 bya when this mass of matter was blown apart with a ‘big bang’. (Big
Bang theory – Georges Lemaitre)
• The explosion gave rise to clouds of gases and dust known as the nebula
• The gases present in the nebula were He and H2.
• The nebula condensed under gravitation to form the numerous galaxies, eg. like our Milky way
(Nebular hypothesis- Kant)
• The Nebular hypothesis suggests that the solar system and other stellar systems were developed
from primeval Nebula.
• The earth was formed 4.5 bya (4500mya) from a vast swirling cloud of dust that surrounded the
young sun.

CONDITIONS ON EARLY EARTH

• Extreme heat (due to impact of meteorites and compaction by gravity)
• Young planet earth probably began as a molten mass.
• The mass then sorted into layers of varying densities, with the least dense material on the surface
forming the crust.
• The molten mass (which also came due to volcanic eruptions, covered the earth’s surface)
released gases like CH4, NH3, CO2, H2O vapour, etc.
• The uv rays from the sun acted upon water vapour to form H2 and O2
• Lighter H2 escaped and the O2 combined with other gases like CH4 and NH3 to form more CO2 and

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water vapour.
(H2 was highly reactive and it combined with other gases to form CH4, NH3 and water vapour)
• Thus primitive atmosphere had water vapour, CO2, NH3, CH4, H2, H2S (released from volcanoes)
and was a reducing one.
• As the earth cooled it developed a solid crust.
• Water vapour condensed and came down as rains.
• The water dissolved minerals, accumulated in the depressions and formed large oceans

THEORIES ON THE ORIGIN OF LIFE

1. Theory of special creation ([Link])
• According to this theory life was created as it is now, only 4000 years ago by a supernatural
power.
• Diversity was always the same since creation and will be the same in future.
2. Spontaneous generation theory (Abiogenesis)
• Thales, Anaximander and Aristotle believed that life originated from the non-living organic matter
and still continues to evolve by this method.
• For example, worms and frogs can appear spontaneously from mud and fly larvae can appear
in rotten meat. In ancient Egypt, it was believed that frogs, snakes, crocodiles, etc., came from the
mud of the Nile River warmed with sun.
• Van Helmont claimed that he could produce mice from sweat and handful of wheat grains kept in
a dark cupboard, in 3 weeks.

EVIDENCES AGAINST THE THEORY OF SPONTANEOUS GENERATION

• Francesco Redi (1668) was the first scientist to refute this theory experimentally. He tested the
idea that flies arose spontaneously from rotting meat. He hypothesized that flies—not meat—pro
duced other flies. In his experiment, Redi observed that maggots appeared only in flasks that were
open to flies. Closed flasks had no flies and no maggots. However, the results of his experiments
failed to convince everyone.

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• Spallanzani (1767) boiled and sealed broth in flasks and found that no micro-organisms appeared
spontaneously.

• Later, Louis Pasteur (1864) conducted a more sophisticated experiment in which flasks whose
neck was drawn like a swan’s neck were used to trap micro-organisms and dust. The flask with a
curved but open neck prevented microorganisms from [Link] broth boiled in the flask
became contaminated only when the curve necks were removed from the flasks.
3. Theory of Biogenesis: (Louis Pasteur):
• The idea of spontaneous generation was not completely rejected until the mid-1800s.
• It was replaced by the theory of biogenesis, which states that only living organisms can produce
other living organisms.
4. Cosmozoic theory (Richter, 1865):
• According to this theory spores or cosmozoa reached the earth from some unknown part of the
universe with the cosmic dust and subsequently evolved into various forms of life.

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• Helmholtz (1884) speculated that life in some form reached the earth with falling meteorites.
5. Theory of Panspermia (Arrhenius):
• Stated that organisms existed throughout the universe and their spores, etc, could freely travel
through space from one star to the others. (Panspermia means – “seeds everywhere”)
6. Theory of catastrophism (Georges Cuvier):
• This theory assumes that life was originated by creation and it is followed by catastrophes due to
geographical disturbances.
• Each catastrophe destroyed the life completely whereas each creation formed life different from
the previous one.
• Hence, each round of catastrophe & creation is responsible for evolvement of different types of
organisms on earth.
7. Theory of eternity of life (Preyer):
• This theory assumes that life had no beginning or end.
• It believes that life has always been in existence and it will continue to be so forever.
8. Biochemical origin of life /Chemogeny/Biopoiesis / Theory of Chemical evolution of life /
Abiogenesis / Protobiogenesis / Naturalistic theory / Artificial synthesis theory - [Link]
(1923) and [Link] (1928):
• Conditions of early earth (reducing environment, high energy radiations, high temperature, etc)
were conducive to the formation of life.
• According to Oparin and Haldane, formation of life was preceded by chemical evolution, ie,
formation of diverse organic molecules from inorganic constituents
• Experimental Evidence in support of chemical theory: (Urey – Miller’s expt / Miller’s
simulation experiment, 1953)

• Miller conducted an experiment in mimicking primitive earth environment.

• The experimental setup consists of a glass flask, a condenser, and a liquid flask interconnected
with tubes and a source of electric spark to provide energy.
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• He introduced a mixture of methane (CH ), ammonia (NH ), hydrogen (H ); and water (H O) vapour
4 3 2 2
at 800 C. He allowed the mixture to circulate into this closed glass apparatus for 18 days continu
0

ously.
• He provided energy in the form of an electric spark by supplying electricity of 75000 volts through
two Tungsten electrodes.
• The electric sparks mimic the lightning in the primitive earth atmosphere.
• The mixture was collected and analyzed regularly.
• The analysis of mixture finally indicated the presence of amino acids such as glycine, alanine,
and aspartic acid.
• This experiment showed that organic molecules could be formed under conditions thought to
simulate the primitive earth.
• Using other combinations like uv rays, later workers got sugars like ribose, hexose, nitrogenous
bases, pigments and fats

STEPS IN THE ORIGIN OF LIFE:

1. Formation of Inorganic molecules:
• The high temperature of primitive earth didn’t allow the condensation of atoms to form inorganic
molecules.
• As temperature of earth went down, condensation of different atoms gave rise to simpler
molecules.
• The elements most abundant on the primitive earth were hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen and carbon.
• The reaction of these molecules gave rise to the different gases such as hydrogen, nitrogen,
ammonia, methane, carbon dioxide and water vapour.
2. Formation of simple organic compounds:
• The simple inorganic molecules interacted with each other to form simple monomeric organic
compounds.
• These molecules were simple sugars, fatty acids, glycerol, amino acids and organic bases
(purine/pyrimidine).
• The reactions between the inorganic molecules to give simple organic molecules occurred in a
reducing environment inside the ocean.
• The energy for these reactions was provided by sunlight, lightning or volcanic eruptions.
3. Spontaneous formation of complex organic compounds: Origin of life, 4000mya
• The simpler organic compounds reacted and rereacted to form complex organic compounds
(biomolecules/macromolecules) such as polypeptides, carbohydrates, lipids, nucleic acids, etc.
4. Spontaneous formation of molecular aggregates: Origin of non-cellular life, 3000mya
• Large organic molecules came together to form large colloidal cell-like aggregates.

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• These were created independently in the laboratory by Oparin who called them coacervates
(made of protein and polysaccharides) and by [Link] who called them microspheres (made of
many protein molecules that were organized as a membrane).
• The colloidal aggregates could fuse to form protobionts or self-replicating metabolic capsules
having various types of chemicals like proteins, nucleic acids, carbohydrates, etc, enclosed inside a
lipid membrane.
• These non-cellular aggregates were able to:
 Grow
 Partially isolate from their surroundings
 Maintain an internal environment
 Separate combinations of molecules from the environment
 Reproduce (coacervates could not)
5. Formation of Eobionts / protocells: Origin of cellular life, 2000mya:
• Proteins got associated with the lipid membrane of protobionts.
• RNA was the first genetic material (it could function as both enzyme and genetic material)
• Later on DNA evolved as genetic material thus producing the first pre-living system or ptotocell
or Eubionts (having the machinery to perform several reactions, grow and reproduce.
6. Earliest cell: Origin of Prokaryotes:
• Scientists hypothesized that the first cells were prokaryotes.
• Archaebacteria type (living in extreme environments)
• They were non-green, anaerobes and chemoheterotrophs (engulfed the organic compounds avail
able in the water as their source of Energy)
7. Origin of Chemoautotrophs:
• Energy was obtained from various inorganic substances such as S, Fe, etc.
• Organisms performing chemosynthesis (in chemosynthesis CO serves as a C source for the
2
assembly of organic molecules) are nutritionally independent and are thus called chemoautotrophs.
8. Origin of Photoautotrophs (Photosynthetic prokaryotes):
• Photosynthesis evolved with the evolution of light harvesting pigment chlorophyll.
• The first photoautotrophs performed anoxygenic photosynthesis, where reducing power was
obtained from sources other than water like H2S.
• No oxygen was produced
9. Oxygen formation, 1800mya:
• Oxygenic photosynthesis evolved later on in cyanobacteria like organisms
• They used water for obtaining reducing power.
• As a result oxygen accumulated in the seas and began to appear in the atmosphere for the first
time.
10. Origin of Aerobic prokaryotes:
• Due to the oxygen revolution, many prokaryotes died, while some survived in anaerobic spaces.
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• Evolution of cellular respiration allowed other prokaryotes to flourish. Thus giving rise to aerobic
prokaryotes.
11. Origin of Eukaryotes, 1500mya:
• Based on the ‘Theory of Endosymbiosis”, by Lynn Margulis (1966)
• According to the theory large prokaryotes engulfed smaller aerobic and photosynthetic prokary
otes.
• The engulfed prokaryotes eventually gave rise to modern mitochondria and chloroplast respec
tively.
• Infolding of the plasmamembrane created the nuclear envelope and the endomembrane systems,
thus forming a eukaryotic cell.
12. Origin of Multicellularity:
• After the first eukaryotes appeared, a great range of unicellular forms evolved, giving rise to the
diversity of single-celled eukaryotes that continue to flourish today.
• Another wave of diversification also occurred: Some single-celled eukaryotes gave rise to multicel
lular forms, whose descendants include a variety of algae, plants, fungi, and animals.

EVIDENCE OF EVOLUTION

PALAEONTOLOGICAL EVIDENCE:
• Paleontology is the study of past life based on the fossil record.
• The fossils are the remains or impression of ancient organisms preserved by natural means in
some medium.
• The medium found with fossils are sedimentary rocks, amber, volcanic ash, ice, sand, mud, etc.
• Father of Paleontology : Leonardo da Vinci
• Founder of Modern Paleontology : Georges Cuvier
• Different aged rock sediments contain fossils of different life forms which probably died during the
formation of the particular sediments.
• Fossils found in the lower sediments of the rocks are older than those in the upper strata

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Types of fossils

Fossils Model of formation Examples

Entrire Organism / Frozen in ice

W oolly mammoths
Actual remains / Encased in amber
Insects Exoskeleton
Complete fossils Trapped in volcanic ash

Hard parts trapped in soil get

completely dissolved over time
Moulds and casts to leave behind a hollow area (mould) Gastropods
Casts are formed by the accumulation
of minerals in the moulds

Organic material of hard parts

(bone and teeth) replaced by
Petrified fossils Bones and Teeth of animals
mineral deposits. Found in
sedimentary rocks

Prints of organisms in soft and Archaeopteryx feathers,

Impressions
which later became fossilized leaf impressions

Palynofossils Fossils of microorganisms Microbes, pollen

Coprolites Faecal pellets buried in sediments Of Coenozoic mammals

 Age of fossils:
• Carbon dating ([Link]) : Based on the degree of decay of C 14

• Electron spin resonance method (Zellar) : Modern method

 Mass extinctions:
• Death and disappearance of large groups of plants and animals over a short period of time.
• Five extinctions have occurred so far
 Geological Time Scale: (Giovanni Arduino)
• The geological time scale divides the history of the earth based on life-forms that have existed
during specific times since the creation of the planet.
• Most of these life forms were found as fossils.

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GEOLOGICAL TIME SCALE

MILLIONS
ERA PERIOD EPOCH OF YEARS BIOLOGICAL IMPORTANCE
AGO
Holocene
0 - 0.01 Golden age of modern man
(Recent)
Quarternary Origin of man - First hominid is homo
Pleistocene 0.01 - 1.8 [Link] erectus and Homo sapiens
appeared
Coenozoic era
(golden age of Pliocene Australopithecus
mammals, birds Miocene Dryopithecus - Ramapithecus
and
Angiosperms) Oligocene Monkey and apes
Tertiary

Eocene Ancestral horse

Palaeocene 65

Extinction of Dinosaurs. Origin of

cretaceous 65 - 140
Angiosperms.
Mesozoic era
(Golden age of Golden age of dinosaurs. Origin of snake
jurassic 140 - 200
reptiles) and bird. First bird was Archaeppteryx

Triassic 200 - 245 Origin of dinosaur and mammals.

Origin of mammal like reptiles or

Permian
Therapsids
Golden age of amphibia. Origin of reptiles.
Carboniferous
Orign of seed plants.

Devonian Golden age of fish. Origin of amphibia

Palaeozoic
Silurian Origin of fish and vascular plants

Ordovician Origin of vertebrates (Agnatha)

Cambrian 500 - 550 Origin of all invertebrates.

700 First animals

1,500 Eukaryotes

1800 Oxygen accumulation

Precambrian 2000 Cellular life

3000 Non cellular life

4000 Origin of life

4500 Origin of earth

• The geological history of the earth closely correlated with the biological history of the earth.

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• Missing links:
• They are fossil forms transitional between two present day groups of organisms.
 Examples:
i. Archaeopteryx – Link between Reptile and Aves
ii. Seymoria - Link between Reptile and Amphibia
iii. Therapsida - Link between Reptile and mammals
iv. Progymnosperm - Link between Pteridophytes and Gymnosperms
• Evolution of animals:
• Invertebrates:
- 500 mya
- Ordovician  Age of Invertebrates
• Vertebrates : – 1st to evolve belonged to Agnatha
- Around 350 mya
• Pisces (Fishes):
- About 350 mya lobe-finned fish or Coelecanths evolved
- They were fish with stout and strong fins, could move on land and go back to water.
- Believed to be extinct, they were rediscovered from South Africa in 1938.
- Evolved into the first Amphibians
- Devonian  Age of Fishes
• Amphibia:
- Carboniferous  Age of Amphibia
- Dual life
- Laid unprotected eggs in water
• Reptilia:
- Evolved from Amphibia
- Laid shelled eggs, adapted for terrestrial life
- Next 200 million years reptiles of different shapes and sizes dominated the earth.
- Mesozoic era - Age of Reptiles
- 200 mya some of them went back to water to evolve as fish-like reptiles – Ichthyosaurs
- Land reptiles were mostly present
- Large land reptiles called Dinosaurs (meaning ‘terrible lizards’) existed.
• Example:
i. Tyrannosaurus rex - 20ft tall, large dagger-like teeth, ferocious
ii. Brachyosaurus - Long neck, herbivorous
iii. Stegosaurus - Hornified plates on the body and spines on the tail
iv. Triceratops - 3 horned dinosaur
v. Pteranadon - Flying dinosaur
- Small sized reptiles of that era exist even today (turtles, lizards, tuatara lizard, snakes, etc)
- 65 mya dinosaurs disappeared
- Reasons for the extinction of Dinosaurs :
a) Climatic changes killed them
b) Most of them evolved into birds
(Real reason still unknown)
- Reptiles gave rise to birds and mammals

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• Birds:
- 1 st birds were toothed birds (eg. Archaepteryx)
- They arose during the Jurassic and became extinct in the cretaceous.
- Arose from some ancient reptiles
- The modern birds (toothless birds) arose in the Cretaceous from Dinosaurs.
- Coenozoic era  Age of Birds
• Mammals:
- Arose from reptiles (Therapsids)
- The 1st mammals were like shrews
- Mammals took over the earth when the dinosaurs disappeared.
- Coenozoic era  Age of Mammals
- Continental drift distributed mammals in various ways, some disappeared from certain continents
(disappearance of horse, rabbits, bears ,etc, from [Link]), while some got restricted to certain
continents only (marsupials in Australia)
- Some mammals lived wholly in water like whales, dolphins, seals and sea cows.

• Early reptile  Sauropsida  Thecodonta  Crocodilia

• Early reptile  Sauropsida  Thecodonta  Dinosaurs  Birds
• Early reptile  Synapsida  Pelycosaur  Therapsida  Mammal
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• Evolution of plants:
• 320 mya sea weeds and few plants existed.
• Chlorophyte ancestors (aquatic green algae) gave rise to bryophytes and tracheophytes.
• Bryophytes were the 1 organisms to invade land
st

• Tracheophyte ancestors (ancestors of vascular plants) gave rise to zosterophyllum (extinct vas
cular land plants)
• This in turn gave rise to lycopods (club mosses) namely:
i. Arborescent lycopods (tree-like club mosses) – extinct in the Permian
ii. Herbaceous lycopods – exist even today
• Rhynia type plants (extinct Devonian vascular plants) gave rise to Psilophyton (primitive Pterido
phytes)
• Psilophyton gave rise to most of the modern plants except algae, bryophytes and lycopods.
• Giant ferns existed which fell to form the present day coal deposits.
• Psilophyton  Progymnosperms (missing link between Pteridophytes and Gymnosperms
• Progymnosperms  Seed ferns (ancestors of gymnosperms and angiosperms). They were the
first plants to show seed habit.
• Gymnosperms dominated the Jurassic period
• Angiosperms arose during the Cretaceous, dominated the Eocene and continue to do so even
today.
• Dicots evolved before the Monocots

• Algae  Bryophytes  Pteridophytes  Gymnosperms  Angiosperms

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EVIDENCE FROM BIOGEOGRAPHY

• Biogeography is the geographic distribution of plants and animals
• It’s believed that the entire landmass was one piece called Pangea which split into a Northern
Laurasia and a Southern Gondwana land
• These two regions further split into the different continents and drifted apart (with the coming of
oceans between these landmasses) in what is known as the Continental Drift and finally got placed
in the present day Continental positions.
• On the basis of presence and absence of several organisms, the earth was divided into some
regions or realms by Wallace. They are:
i. Palaearctic Realm - Northern Asia, Northern Africa, Europe
ii. Nearctic Realm - North America
iii. Neotropical Realm - Central and South America
iv. Oriental Realm - India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines
v. Ethiopian Realm - Southern Africa
vi. Australian Realm - Australia, New Zealand and nearby islands
• Restricted Distribution:
• Due to Continental drift and lack of competition animals have been restricted to certain parts of the
world.
• Eg; Marsupials and Egg laying mammals of Australia, Opossums of South America, etc
• Marsupials had no competition in Australia so they survived and evolved independently from
placental mammals ever since.
• A number of marsupials each different from the other evolved from an ancestral stock, but all
within the Australian island continent.
• Discontinuous distribution:
• It is the occurrence of similar species in widely separated areas without any representatives in the
intervening territories.
• This shows that the land masses were connected at one time but separated later on due to
Continental drift.
• Examples:
i. Alligators in U.S.A and China
ii. Lung fishes in Southern Africa, S. America and Australia
• Mammals of South America:
• South America had mammals resembling horse, hippopotamus, bear, rabbit, etc. (and even
marsupials).
• Due to continental drift, when South America joined with North America, these animals were
overridden by the North American fauna and are not seen in the wild in South America now.

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• Adaptive radiation in Darwin’s finches:

• Darwin’s finches are a group of birds (about 13 sps) in the Galapagos which resemble the main
land ([Link]) seed eating ground finch in general body pattern, but differed in beak pattern, food
habits, etc., so as to appear as a distinct species.
• (Although the animals on the Galapagos resembled the species living on the [Link] main
land,most of the Galapagos species were not known from anywhere else in the world)
• Thus Darwin hypothesized that the Galapagos have been colonized by organisms that had strayed
from [Link] and then diversified giving rise to new species on the various islands.
• An evolutionary process which forms new species adapted to new life patterns and habitats is
known as Adaptive radiation.
• Convergence- Marsupials and Placentals:
• Marsupials and Placentals in Australia have adapted in similar ways to food supply, climate, etc.
• They separated from same ancestor more than 100mya and each lineage continued to evolve
independently making similar evolutionary changes due to similar requirements. Thus showing
parallel evolution.
• Both produced a variety of species thus each showed adaptive radiation, ie, separate adaptive
radiation of marsupials and adaptive radiation of placental mammals are seen in Australia.
• When more than one adaptive radiation occur in a geographical area or in similar geographical
areas, it can result in convergent evolution.
• The structural and behavioural parallels of marsupials with placental mammals are quite striking.
• Such resemblances are examples of convergent evolution, ie, a tendency for organisms to adapt
in similar ways to similar habitats
• Examples:
Marsupials Placentals
i. Tasmanian wolf - Wolf
ii. Tasmanian tiger cat - Bobcat
iii. Numbat - Pangolin (Ant eater)
iv. Marsupial mouse / Bandicoot - Mouse
v. Flying phallanger / Sugar glider - Flying squirrel
vi. Spotted cuscus - Lemur
vii. Marsupial mole - Mole
MORPHOLOGICAL AND ANATOMICAL EVIDENCES
• Study of individual organs:
• Organs and organ systems show that there has been gradual evolution towards increased
elaboration and efficiency
• Eg. Heart in vertebrates shows an increase in complexity and elaboration from fish to mammals.

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• Homologous organs:
• When organs of similar origin and ancestry are found to perform different functions they are
called homologous organs.
• Homology indicates common ancestry.
• Homologous structures show Divergent evolution, ie, some structures develop along different
directions due to adaptation to different needs.
• For example:
i. Fore limbs of mammals such as man, whale, bat and cheetah
ii. Legs of all insects
iii. Mouth parts of all insects
iv. Vertebrate heart, brain and kidneys (show similarity in the basic plan and structure but have
varied degree of specialization and show progressive complexity from fish to mammals).
v. Thorns in Bougainvillea and tendrils in Cucurbita (both originated from axillary bud)
• Analogous organs:
• Analogous organs are those which perform the same function but have not evolved from the
identical ancestral form and have independent origin.
• Different structures evolving for the same function for the same habitat
• Least useful in determining relationships among species
• Analogous structures show Convergent evolution, in which unrelated organisms start resembling
each other due to common environmental influence and similar habitats.
• For example:
i. Wings of insects, bats and birds
ii. Eyes of octopus and mammals
iii. Flippers in Dolphins/Whales and Penguins
iv. Sting of honey bees and scorpions
v. Tendrils in plants
vi. Tubers of sweet potato and potato
Wings of birds and bat
- Analogous as wings since they have same function and they didn’t inherit it from a common
ancestor with wings
- Homologous as fore-limbs since they inherited the fore-limbs from a common ancestor with
fore-limbs.
• Vestigial organs:
• They are those organs which were functional in the ancestors but have lost their significance and
functionality due to changing circumstances.
• Examples:
i. Ear muscles or Auricular muscles in man
ii. Plica semilunaris or rudiment of nictitating membrane in man
iii. Rudimentary tail vertebrae called coccyx in man
iv. Third molar or wisdom teeth in man

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v. Splint bones in horses

vi. Wings of flightless birds
vii. Reduced pelvic girdle and rudiments of hind limbs in Python
• Atavism:
• It is the sudden reappearance or refunctioning of certain ancestral organs which have either
completely disappeared or greatly reduced in most descendents.
• Examples:
i. Tail in babies
ii. Dense body hair (Lion man of Russia)
iii. Ability to move the pinna
iv. Additional mammae
• Connecting links:
• Living animals which possess characters of 2 different groups of animals
• Examples:
i. Proterospongia - Protozoa and Porifera
ii. Peripatus - Arthropoda and Annelida
iii. Neopilina - Annelida and Mollusca
iv. Hemichordata - Chordata and Non chordate
v. Petromyzon - Protochordata and Vertebrata
vi. Chimera - Chondrichthyes and Osteichthyes
vii. Lung fish (Dipnoi) - Pisces and Amphibia
viii. Prototheria - Reptilia and Mammalia
EMBRYOLOGICAL EVIDENCE:
• Similar early development: Morula  Blastula  Gastrula (showing common origin)
• Similarity in early vertebrate embryos:
• Embryos of all vertebrates pass through a fish – like state having somites, notochord, nerve cord,
tail, gill slits, etc.
• Baer’s law:
• Von Baer (1828) stated that embryo of an organism will resemble only the embryo of its
ancestors.
• In early development an embryo comes to have general characters of the group then the less
general characters and ultimately specific characters of the organism
• Recapitulation theory / Biogenetic law
• Proposed by Earnst Haeckel (1866).
• He postulated the famous phrase; Ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny (ontogeny repeats phylog
eny), which means that the evolutionary history of an animal is repeated in the
embryological development of the animal concerned.
• Eg: In the development of heart in Mammals it passes through a 2 chambered fish-like heart, a 3
chambered frog/reptile-like heart and finally becomes the 4 chambered heart of a mammal

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• Eg: Protonema of mosses resembles certain green algae.

• The important principle of this theory is that embryonic stages of the individual resemble the adult
stages of ancestors (which was not in accordance with Baer’s Law – which states embryos never
pass through the stages of their ancestors, however they recapitulate embryonic stages of their
ancestors)
PHYSIOLOGICAL AND BIOCHEMICAL EVIDENCES
• The composition of protoplasm and nuclear material is similar in all animals.
• The biochemical reactions and the hormones and enzymes involved in them are also similar. For
instance, all animals have glycolysis, Kreb’s cycle, electron transport chain, urea cycle, etc. that
shows their relationships.
• Physiology of digestion, respiration, excretion, heart beat and endocrine system is similar in all
vertebrates with minor differences.
• Blood and lymph have same composition and function in all vertebrates.
• Enzymes of similar systems are same wherever they occur.
• All forms of life use the same genetic language of RNA / DNA.
• Molecular biology examines the nucleotide and amino acid sequences of DNA and proteins from
different species. Closely related species share higher percentages of sequences than species
distantly related.
• Genetic code is universal
• All proteins are made up of a combination of 20 amino acids.
• Similarities in blood groups, blood proteins, etc., have shown that man is closer to apes (than
monkeys) suggesting their ancestral relationship.
• Similarity in chromosomal bands in chimpanzee and man shows their close evolutionary
relationship. More than 98% of the nucleotide sequences in humans and chimpanzees are identical.
• Thus, similarities among diverse organisms point towards a common ancestry.
• This shows that all animals have evolved from the common primitive ancestral animals and
developed complex physiological processes as they progressed through evolution.
• This data strongly favours evolution of different species through modification of ancestral genetic
information.

THEORIES OF EVOLUTION
LAMARCKISM
• This theory is proposed by French biologist Jean Baptiste de Lemarck in his famous book
“Philosphic zoologique”(1809)
• His theory is often called the “Theory of inheritance of acquired characters” or the “theory of Use
and Disuse”.

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• Lamarck’s propositions are as follows:

• Organisms have an internal need to undergo changes (internal vital force for change) for adapting
themselves to the changes in the environment.
• New needs produce a new movement in the body that brings about modifications of existing
organs and formation of new ones.
• If an organ is constantly used it will tend to become highly developed, whereas disuse results in
degeneration – Use and disuse theory.
• Modifications produced by the above principles during the life time of an individual will be inherited
by the off spring – Inheritance of acquired characters. With the result that changes are
cumulative over a period of time.
• Examples given by Lamarck to support his theory:
1) Long neck and limbs of giraffes due to constant stretching for foliage
2) Aquatic birds stretched their toes to form webbed feet
3) Well-developed biceps in blacksmiths due to constant use of the arm
4) Loss of eyesight in cave animals due to disuse as they lived in constant darkness
5) Loss of limbs in snakes since they crawled (instead of walking) to avoid enemies.
6) Loss of ability to fly in flightless birds due to disuse of wings to fly
• Criticisms of the theory:
• Eyes of a voracious reader do not grow in size nor do they acquire improved eyesight with
increasing age.
• A scientist kept several generations of drosophila in complete darkness and even after that they
had normal vision, thus disproving the use and disuse theory.
• The major criticism was by August Weismann who with the tail cutting experiment done on several
generations of mice showed that mutilations which are acquired cannot be inherited. (Weismann
conducted a conclusive experiment on mice where he cut their tails of several generations but it
didn’t produce rats without tails).
DARWINISM
• Proposed by Charles Darwin (Father of Evolutionary concept)
• The two key concepts of his theory are “Branching descent” with modifications (process by which
new species originate from a single common descent) and “Natural Selection”
• Darwin’s observations were made during his voyage on the HMS Beagle.
• In 1859, Darwin published his famous book, “On the Origin of species by Natural Selection” that
gave details of the theory. Ever since, the theory is known as Darwinism or Darwin’s theory of
Natural Selection.
• The idea of Natural selection was also put forward by Alfred Russel Wallace.
• Darwin was influenced by the work of many scientists and one such scientist was Thomas Malthus.
• In his book titled “An essay on principle of Population” Malthus said that population increases by
geometric progression while food production increases only by arithmetic progression. However,
after a certain level, the population tends to crash caused by factors such as hunger, floods,
epidemics, wars, etc.
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• Salient features of Darwinism:

1) Overproduction:
• Every organism has enormous fecundity or the ability to reproduce.
2) Limited natural resources (food, space, etc.) - keeping the population stable in size.
3) Struggle for existence:
• Due to shortage of food, water and space, there is severe competition among the off springs for
existence. The struggle can be of 3 types:
(i) Intraspecific Struggle
(ii) Interspecific Struggle
(iii) Environmental Struggle
4) Variations:
• No two individuals are alike, even within a species, race, etc.
• Darwin believed that all variations are small, continuous (heritable) and directional (useful). He
believed that continuous and useful variations constituted the raw materials of evolution.
5) Natural Selection (Darwin) or Survival of the fittest (Spencer)
• It is the reproductive fitness of individuals best adapted to the environment.
• Those who are better fit in an environment leave more progeny than others.
• These will therefore survive more and hence will be selected by nature.
6) Inheritence of useful variations:
• The individuals survived due to unique variation, mate and produce their off springs to complete
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their life-cycle. As a result, they transfer the useful variations to the next generations and allow the
individual to multiply.
7) Formation of new Species:
• As a result of struggle and natural selection, only the individual who fits to the environmental
conditions will survive and complete its life-cycle.
• As a result, the number of these individual will increase over the course of time compared to the
less favorable organism.
• In addition, the favourable variation will be inherited to the next generation whereas unfavorable
variation will be discarded.
• Due to continuous selection, a new organism will appear which will be different from their
ancestral form.
• Darwin said that appearance of new life forms is due to accumulation of variations from one
generation to the next.
• Darwin also talked about the rate (speed) of appearance of new forms. He said that the appearance
of the new forms is linked to the life span of that organism.
- Eg: Microbes have shorter life span so they divide faster and become millions of individuals within
hours and hence have more chance to evolve faster. But larger animals like fish, birds, etc, will take
millions of years to evolve because their life spans are much longer than microbes.
• Artificial selection:
• It is the selective breeding of plants and animals done by man, so as to obtain varieties with
desired traits.
• Example:
- Breeds of dogs from wild dog
- Breeds of pigeons from rock pigeon
- Cabbage, Cauliflower, Kohlrabi, Broccoli, Kale, Brussel’s sprouts, etc. from wild Mustard
• Criticisms of Darwinism:
1. Darwinism mentions about survival of the fittest but does not explain about ‘Arrival of the
fittest’. It did not explain the origin of variations and new characters.
2. Darwin believed that all variations are heritable, which is not true. Only genetic variations are
heritable and not the somatic ones.
- During Darwin’s time mechanisms of heredity were not known and hence he tried to explain the
inheritance by his theory of pangenesis.
- This was disproved by the Germplasm theory of Weismann, which states that an animal is made
up of two types of cells; Somatoplasm and germplasm. Transmission of traits occurs only through
germplasm and not somatoplasm which comes to have the acquired traits.
3. The theory was unable to explain how useless, non-adaptive and over-specialized characters
also persist in many animals and are not eliminated.

 Examples of natural selection:

1. Industrial melanism:
• In a collection of insects called peppered moths (Biston betularia) made in the 1850s, i.e., before
industrialization had set in, in England, it was observed that there were more white-winged moths
(typica variety) on trees than dark-winged or melanised moths (carbonaria variety).
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• However, in the collection carried out from the same area, but after industrialisation, i.e., in 1920,
there were more dark-winged moths in the same area, i.e., the proportion was reversed.
• The explanation put forth for this observation was that during post industrialization period, the tree
trunks became dark due to industrial smoke and soot.
• Under this condition the white-winged moth did not survive due to predators, dark-winged or
melanised moth survived.
• Before industrialization set in, thick growth of almost white-coloured lichen covered the trees - in
that background the white winged moth survived but the dark-coloured moth were picked out by
predators.
• Hence, moths that were able to camouflage themselves survived.
• This understanding is supported by the fact that in areas where industrialization did not occur e.g.,
in rural areas, the count of melanic moths was low.
• This showed that in a mixed population, those that can better-adapt, survive and increase in
population size.
• It is to be noted that no variant is completely wiped out.
2. Resistance to pesticides/antibiotics:
• In the absence of pesticides/antibiotics, resistant organisms in a population have no additional
adaptability or survival value over the sensitive ones.
• Natural selection favoured them only when the pesticides/antibiotics were used on a large scale.
• Therefore the resistant genotype becomes more numerous in the population due to man’s action
or anthropogenic action, i.e., over use of the pesticides/antibiotics.
• This happened due to selection of resistant varieties in a much lesser time scale.
• This example also shows that mutations are preadaptive (i.e., they can take place long before the
actual time of need) and can become effective in evolution only by natural selection.
• Thus it also tells us that evolution is not a directed process with any sense of determinism, but is
a stochastic process (random process) based on chance events such as chance mutations.
3. Darwin’s finches:
• New species originating from a single common descent (branching descent) due to natural
selection. [Refer earlier notes]
4. Sickle cell anemia and Malaria:
• Carriers of sickle cell alleles (heterozygotes) neither suffer from Malaria nor from sickle cell
anemia.
• Despite the disease’s lethal symptoms the sickle cell allele protects the carrier from malaria,
which is why sickle cell alleles are most common in places were malaria is prevalent (as in some
parts of Africa).
• Persistence of allele for sickle cell anemia is an example of heterozygote superiority and its
selection in malaria prone areas.

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• Darwinian fitness:
• It’s the genetic contribution of an individual to the next generation’s gene pool.
• Reproductive success is therefore the key element of fitness.
MUTATION THEORY OF HUGO DE VRIES:

• Based on his work on Evening Primrose (Oenothera lamarckiana) De Vries put forth the idea of
Mutations.
• The theory states that new species arise from the pre-existing ones in a single generation by
sudden appearance of new features through a genetic variation known as mutations.
• Contrast to Darwinian theory, De Vries proposed that evolution is a sudden,discontinuous and
jerky process rather than continuous and gradual one.
• He termed the process as Saltation i.e., single step large mutation or sudden large change
from 1 generation to the next.
• In addition, natural selection works on mutation, preserves the useful mutations and eliminates
the harmful mutations.
• Accumulation of variations can produce a new species.
• Evidence for the theory:
• The Ancon sheep was produced from an ordinary sheep in single step in 1891. The mutated
sheep was of short height and was useful for farmers as they were not able to jump over low
stone fences.

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• Criticism:
• The mutations are of rare occurrence. Hence it is difficult to assume that if all animal or plant
species could appear solely by mutation.

NEO DARWINISM OR MODERN SYNTHETIC THEORY OF EVOLUTION

• It is the modern theory of evolution which incorporated Darwinian thinking, Mendelian genetics and
an understanding of genes and genetic change at the molecular level.
• It is the result of the work of a number of scientists who called themselves the Neo Darwinians.
• They were [Link], [Link], J.B.S. Haldane, Sewall Wright, Ernst Mayer, [Link],
[Link], etc.
• The theory includes the following factors:
i. Genetic variations by mutations and recombination
ii. Heredity
iii. Natural selection
iv. Reproductive Isolation
v. Speciation
• Reproductive isolation and speciation:
- An isolated population of a species (reproductively isolated by geographical or physiological barri
ers) independently develops different types of mutations which accumulate in its gene pool.
- After several generations, the isolated population becomes genetically and reproductively different
from the other so as to constitute a new species.
• According to the NeoDarwinians the unit of evolution is not an individual but a population
as a whole.

HARDY-WEINBERG’S PRINCIPLE
• Fundamental ideas about population genetics were published independently in 1908 by G.H. Hardy
in England and W. Weinberg in Germany.
• According to Hardy-Weinberg’s principle— the frequencies of alleles and genotypes of a randomly
mating population tend to remain constant from generation to generation in the absence of mutation
and natural selection (other evolutionary forces).
• The shuffling of alleles that accompanies sexual reproduction does not alter the genetic makeup of
the population. In other words, no matter how many times alleles are segregated into different ga
metes and united in different combinations by fertilization, the frequency of each allele in the gene
pool will remain constant unless other factors are operating.
• Such a gene pool / population is said to be in Hardy Weinberg equilibrium.
• However, the allele and genotype frequencies of a population always do change,
• This change in frequencies suggests the progress of evolution but a deviation from the Hardy-
Weinberg principle.
• Factors that affect the Hardy – Weinberg equilibrium are:

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1. Mutation
2. Recombination
3. Gene flow/ Migration
4. Genetic drift
5. Natural selection
• Random mating does not affect the Hardy – Weinberg equilibrium.
• Letter p and q are often used to represent the allele frequencies.
• Hardy-Weinberg principle states that the combined frequency of all the alleles for a gene in a
population must equal one
p+q=1
(Where p is the frequency of the dominant allele and q is the frequency of the recessive allele)
• And the possible frequencies of genotypes can be written as:
p2+2pq+q2 = 1
(Where p is the frequency of the homozygous dominant alleles, q2 is the frequency of the homozy
2

gous recessive alleles and 2pq is the frequency of the heterozygotes)

We can see that this equation is a binomial expansion of (p + q)2= 1
• The Hardy – Weinberg equation can be used to test whether evolution is occurring in a population.

MECHANISM OF MICRO EVOLUTION or CAUSES OF VARIATIONS

• Microevolution:
• Evolution leading to small changes in population.
• Caused due to mutations, recombinations, gene flow, genetic drift and natural selection

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• MUTATION:
Lederberg’s replica plating experiment:

• By using their replica plating technique, the Lederbergs demonstrated the existence of penicillin-
resistant mutants in a population of bacteria prior to their exposure to the antibiotic.
• Their results showed that the adaptation or resistance against antibiotics was already present as
a variation and it did not develop in response to penicillin.
• Thus showing mutations are preadaptive.
• RECOMBINATION:
• Fresh combination of existing allele arise from every generation from 4 random components of
sexual reproduction namely:
i. Crossing over
ii. Independent orientation of homologous chromosomes at Metaphase I of meiosis
iii. Random fertilization
iv. Dual parentage (2 genetically different parents)
• GENE FLOW & GENE MIGRATION:
• The transfer of alleles or genes from 1 population to another is known as gene migration.
• Migration of individuals from 1 local population to another is an important way for alleles to be
added or removed from a local population.
• It includes immigration and emigration.
• Repeated gene migration is called gene flow.
• Differences between two populations can be minimized by continuous gene flow.

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• GENETIC DRIFT / SEWALL WRIGHT EFFECT:

• Proposed by the American scientist Sewall Wright (1930).
• Genetic drift is the random change in allele frequencies over time brought about by chance in a
small isolated population.
• Founder effect:
• Genetic drift can occur when a small group of individuals leave the population and find new
settlements and attain changed characteristics , i.e., they become the “founders” of a new popula
tion. This is founder effect.
• Eg. Darwin’s finches in the Galapagos
• Any genetic disorders in the founder can become widespread in the new population.
• Bottle-neck effect:
• Natural calamities may kill large numbers of individuals, leaving a small surviving population that is
unlikely to have the same genetic makeup as the original population. Some genes may even be
eliminated.
• Such a drastic reduction in population size is known as Bottle neck effect.
• Genetic drift can lead to speciation.
• NATURAL SELECTION:
• Natural selection is the only mechanism that consistently leads to adaptive evolution.
• It can cause variations in a population in 3 ways
1) Directional selection / Progressive selection:
• Selection favours one of the two extremes of a trait and not the average.
• After some generations the mean of the trait will change resulting in evolution.
• Examples:
- Industrial melanism
- Resistance to pesticides / antibiotics
- Artificial selection of cows yielding more milk
2) Disruptive selection:
• Typically occurs when environmental conditions vary in a way that favour individuals at
both ends of a phenotypic range over individuals with intermediate phenotypes.
• Example :
- Selection of birds with large beaks (specialized in cracking hard seeds) and small beaks
(used for eating soft seeds) over individuals with intermediate beak size in a population of
African seed cracker finches. The intermediate sized beaks were fairly inefficient at cracking
both types of seeds.

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3) Stabilizing selection / Balancing selection:

• Selection favours intermediate phenotype
• Number of individuals with extremes of the trait remains small.
• This selection operates through differences in breeding potential, thus eliminating
extremes from the population.
• It reduces variation (since it has less rate of evolution) and therefore doesn’t promote
evolutionary change.
• Examples:
- This selection keeps the majority of human birth weight in the range of 3 – 4kg;
- Carriers of sickle cell anemia.

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 Macroevolution:
• It’s defined as the development of new adaptive types by a population leading to the formation of
new groups like species, genera, family and order.

HUMAN EVOLUTION
• It is believed that human evolution took place in Africa.
• Fossils of early man have been collected from Ethiopia and Tanzania
• The important striking features during the evolution of humans are:
• Erect posture
• Development of curves in vertebral column for erect posture.
• Bipedal locomotion:
• Increase in cranial capacity and intelligence.
• Broadening of forehead with vertical elevation.
• Formation of chin.
• Reduction in body hair.
• Increase in height.
• Opposable thumb
• Reduction in snout (orthognathous face)
• Ability to learn and communicate
Human Ancestors

1. Dryopithecus (Proconsul):
• 10 – 15 mya
• Lived in the early Miocene
• Common ancestor of gorilla, chimpanzee and man
• Prognathous face (projecting snout)
• No chin
• Semi-erect posture (knuckle-walkers)
• Legs and hands of approximately same length.
• Hairy body
• Arboreal
• Fruit eaters

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2. Ramapithecus:
• 10 – 15 mya
• Lived in the early Miocene
• Direct ancestor only towards man
• Fossils discovered from Shivalik hills (then in India)
• Prognathous face (projecting snout)
• No chin
• Semi-erect posture (knuckle-walkers)
• Legs and hands of approximately same length.
• Hairy body
• Arboreal
• Fruit eaters
3. Australopithecus: (Southern ape man / African ape man / Taung baby / Lucy)
(Australis – Southern; Pithecos – Ape)
• 2 mya
• Lived in the Pliocene in East Africa
• Cranial capacity : 350 – 600cc
• He walked erect , bipedal
• Prognathous face (projecting snout)
• No chin
• Prominent brow ridges
• Hunted with stone weapons
• Fruit eaters
4. Homo habilis: (Handy man / Tool maker / Skilful man)
• 1.8 mya
• Cranial capacity : 650 – 800cc
• First hominid
• Made chipped stone tools
• Probably did not eat meat
• Prognathous face
• No chin
• Prominent brow ridges
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• He walked erect , bipedal

• He was 1.2 -1.5 meter in height
• Dentition similar to modern man, hence also known as Transition man
5. Homo erectus: (Java man / Peking man)
• 1.5 mya
• Cranial capacity 900cc.
• Had erect posture and bipedal
• Prognathous face
• No chin
• Prominent brow ridges
• Large teeth
• Hunted animals and ate meat
• Knew the use of fire.
• The fossils of Java man (Homo erectus erectus) was discovered in 1891 from Indonesia
• The fossils of Peking man (Homo erectus pekinensis) was discovered from China
6. Homo sapiens neanderthalensis: (Neanderthal man)
• 1,00,000 – 40,000 years ago
• Cranial capacity 1400cc.
• First Homo sapien
• Lived in East and Central Asia, Africa and Europe
• Lived in caves
• Had erect posture and bipedal
• Prognathous face
• Chin present supported by jaws
• Broad and sloping forehead
• 1.5 meter in height
• Buried the dead
• Used animal hide as clothes to escape from cold
• The first fossils were discovered from the Neanderthal valley in Germany

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7. Homo sapiens fossilis: (Cro-Magnon man)

• Extinct 18,000 years ago
• Cranial capacity 1600 - 1650cc.
• Cave painters, known as prehistoric artists. (Prehistoric cave art discovered about 18000 years
ago)
• Domesticated dog
• 1.8m tall
• Had erect posture and bipedal
• Face like that of modern man (Orthrognathous face)
• Chin present with strong jaws
• Broad and arched forehead
• Elevated nose
• Used animal hide as clothes and ornaments
• The fossils discovered from Cro-Magnon cave in France
8. Homo sapiens sapiens: (Modern man)
• Origin 10,000 – 75,000 years ago
• Cranial capacity 1300 - 1600cc.
• He arose during the ice age, hence also known as Ice age man
• Started agriculture 10,000 years ago.
• Had a settled life
• Cultural evolution took place
• Discovered wheel, made metal tools, had language for communication, etc

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