EVOLUTION

o Evolutionary biology is the study of history of life forms on earth.

o The process of gradual modification of simpler forms of life into the present complex
forms over millions of years is called evolution.
ORIGIN OF LIFE
o The universe is almost 20 billion years old. (20 x 109 years old)
o Huge clusters of galaxies comprise the universe.
o Galaxies contain stars and clouds of gas and dust.
o A scientific theory called big bang theory explains that, the unimaginable large explosion
created the universe.
o As the universe expanded and cooled, the temperature came down and materials
condensed under the influence of gravitation to form present day galaxy.
o Our galaxy is called Milky Way formed 4.5 billion years back.
o There was no atmosphere on early earth.
o Water vapour, methane, carbon dioxide and ammonia released from molten mass covered
the surface.
o The UV rays from the sun broke up water into Hydrogen and Oxygen and the lighter H2
escaped.
o Oxygen combined with ammonia and methane to form water, CO2 and others.
o The ozone layer was formed, as it cooled, the water vapor fell as rain, to fill all the
depressions and form oceans.
o Life appeared 500 million years after the formation of earth, i.e., almost four billion years
back.
o Different scientists had put different views about the origin of life.
Some scientists believe that it came from outside. Early Greek thinkers thought units of life
called spores were transferred to different planets including earth (Panspermia).

For a long time it was also believed that life came out of decaying and rotting matter like
straw, mud, etc. This was the theory of spontaneous generation.

Louis Pasteur by careful experimentation demonstrated that life comes only from pre-existing
life. He showed that in pre-sterilised flasks, life did not come from killed yeast while in another
flask open to air, new living organisms arose from ‘killed yeast’. Spontaneous generation
theory was dismissed once and for all.
Oparin of Russia and Haldane of England proposed that the first form of life could have come
from pre-existing non-living organic molecules (e.g. RNA, protein, etc.) and that formation of
life was preceded by chemical evolution, i.e., formation of diverse organic molecules from
inorganic constituents.
The conditions on earth were – high temperature, volcanic storms, reducing atmosphere
containing CH4, NH3, etc.
In 1953, S.L. Miller, an American scientist created similar conditions in a laboratory scale. He
created electric discharge in a closed flask containing CH4, H2, NH3 and water vapour at
8000C. He observed formation of amino acids. In similar experiments others observed,
formation of sugars, nitrogen bases, pigment and fats.

Analysis of meteorite content also revealed similar compounds indicating that similar
processes are occurring elsewhere in space. With this limited evidence, chemical evolution
was more or less accepted. The first non-cellular forms of life could have originated
3 billion years back. They would have been giant molecules (RNA, Protein, Polysaccharides,
etc.). These were probably single-cells. All life forms were in water environment only. This
version of a biogenesis, i.e., the first form of life arose slowly through evolutionary forces from
non-living molecules is accepted by majority.
 EVOLUTION OF LIFE FORMS - A THEORY
o Conventional religious literature reveals about the theory of special creation based on
three connotations -
1. All living organisms that we see today were created as such.
2. The diversity in all organisms was always the same since creation and will be the same in
future.
3. Earth is about 4000 years old.
All the ideas were challenged during the nineteenth century. Based on observations
made during a sea voyage in a sail ship called H.M.S. Beagle round the world.
o Charles Darwin concluded that existing living forms share similarities to varying degrees
not only among themselves but also life forms that existed millions of years ago.
o Many life forms do not exist anymore because of extinctions of different life forms and
there has been gradual evolution of life forms.
o Darwin’s theory of natural selection is based on the fact that those who are better fit in an
environment, leaves more progeny than others and the progenies will survive more hence
are selected by the nature which he implied as mechanism of evolution.
o Alfred Wallace stated that all the existing life forms share similarities and shares some
common ancestors which are present at different periods in the history of earth.
o The geological history of earth closely correlates with the biological history of earth and a
final conclusion is that earth is not thousand years old as was thought, but billions of years
old.
EVIDENCES FOR EVOLUTION
Paleontological evidence: -
o Paleontology is the study of fossils.
o Fossils are the dead remaining of organisms (lived in past) deep buried in earth for long
time.
o Rocks from sediments and a cross section of earth’s crust indicates the arrangement of
sediments one over the other during the long history of earth.
o Different aged rock sediments contain fossils of different life forms that probably died
during the formation of the particular sediment which represent extinct organisms.
o A study of fossils in different sedimentary layers indicates the geological period in which
the organisms existed.
o The study showed that life forms varied over time and certain life forms are restricted to
certain geological time spans.
o New forms of life have arisen at different times in the history of earth.
Embryological support for evolution: -
It was proposed by Ernst Heckel based upon the observation of certain features during
embryonic stage common to all vertebrates that are absent in adult. For example, the
embryos of all vertebrates including human develop a row of vestigial gill slit just behind the
head but it is a functional organ only in fish and not found in any other adult vertebrates.
However, this proposal was disapproved on careful study performed by Karl Ernst von Baer.
He noted that embryos never pass through the adult stages of other animals.
Comparative anatomy and morphology: -
o Comparative anatomy and morphology shows similarities and differences among
organisms of today and those that existed years ago.
Homologous organs:-
o The organs whose structure or origin is same but perform different functions are called
homologous organs. Example- (i) Vertebrate hearts or brains. (ii) In plants, the thorns and
tendrils of Bougainvillea and Cucurbita. (iii) The fore limbs of whale, bats, cat and human
share similarities in the pattern of bones of forelimb.
All these animals have similar anatomical structure in their fore limb bones such as
humerus, radius, ulna, carpals, metacarpals and phalanges. Though the forelimbs have
similar anatomical structure but they perform different functions.
o The same structure developed along different directions due to adaptations to different
needs.
o Homology is based on divergent evolution. Homology indicates common ancestry.

Fig. forelimbs of human, cat, whale and bat

Analogous organs-
o The organs whose structure or origin is not similar but perform similar functions are called
analogous organs. Example- (i) The wings of bird and butterfly perform similar
 functions. (ii) Eye of octopus and mammals. (iii) The flippers of penguins and
dolphins. (iv) In plants, sweet potato and potato.
o Analogous organs are not anatomically similar structures though they perform similar
functions. Hence, They are a result of convergent evolution.
o Similarities in proteins and genes performing a given function among diverse organisms
give clues to common ancestry.
o It is the similar habitat that has resulted in selection of similar adaptive features in different
groups of organism but towards the same function.

Fig. flippers of Penguin and Dolphin

Natural selection-
Industrial melanism: -
o Before industrialization (in 1850), in England it was observed that there were more white
winged moths on trees than dark or melanised moth.
o After industrialization (in 1920), there were more dark-winged moths than white winged
moths in the same area.
o Before industrialization, almost white-coloured lichen covered the tree trunks and in that
background the white-winged moths survived but the dark coloured moths were eaten by
predators.
o During post industrialization period, the tree trunks became dark due to industrial smoke
and absence of lichens and under such condition the white- winged moths did not survive
due to predators and the dark- winged moths’ survived hence industrial melanism supports
evolution by natural selection.
 Antibiotic resistant bacteria
o By employing antibiotics to bacterial colonies, the colonies sensitive to penicillin died,
whereas the others that were resistant to penicillin survived.
o Probably the bacteria that survived underwent a chance mutation there by possessing a
gene that contributed to their resistance to the penicillin drug and hence selected by the
nature, in course of time was considered as fittest and established as new species.
ADAPTIVE RADIATION
The process of evolution of different species in a given geographical area starting from a point
and literally radiating to other geographical area is called adaptive radiation. Examples-

Finches in Galapagos island-

o During Darwin’s journey to Galapagos Island he observed small black birds called Darwin’s
Finches.
o There were many varieties of finches in the same island. All the varieties, he conjectured,
evolved on the island itself. From the original seed-eating features, many other forms with
altered beaks arose, enabling them to become insectivorous and vegetarian finches.

Australian marsupials
o A number of marsupials, each different from the other evolved from an ancestral stock but
all within the Australian continent.
When more than one adaptive radiation appeared to have occurred in an isolated
geographical area (representing different habitats), it is called convergent evolution.
Placental mammals-
o Placental mammals in Australia also exhibit adaptive radiation in evolving into varieties of
such placental mammals each of which appears to be ‘similar’ to a corresponding marsupial
(e.g., Placental wolf and Tasmanian wolf-marsupial).
BIOLOGICAL EVOLUTION
Darwin’s theory of evolution: -
o The essence of Darwinian Theory about evolution is natural selection.

o Theory of natural selection states that individuals that are less adapted to the environment
are eliminated and selecting those better adapted by the nature.
o The rate of appearance of new forms is linked to the life cycle or the life span.
o There must be a genetic basis for getting selected and to evolve.
o Some organisms are better adapted to survive in an otherwise hostile environment.

o Adaptive ability is inherited and it has genetic basis.

o Nature selects for fitness.

o Fitness is the end result of the ability to adapt and get selected by nature.

o Fitness is based on characteristics which are inherited.

o Branching descent and natural selection are the two key concept of Darwinian Theory of
evolution.
Lamarck’s theory of evolution
o Lamarck had said that evolution of life forms had occurred but driven by use and disuse of
organs.
o Lamarck gave the example of Giraffes who in an attempt to forage leaves on tall trees had
to adapt by elongation of their necks and they passed on this acquired character of
elongated neck to succeeding generations.
o Giraffe, slowly over the years came to acquire long necks.

MECHANISM OF EVOLUTION
o Evolution needs variations.

o Origin of variation and reason for speciation is inheritable factors influencing phenotype.

o Mendel explained the influence of inheritable factors on phenotype.

o Darwin mentioned that natural selection is the reason for evolution

o Hugo de Vries based on his work on evening primrose believe that mutation causes
evolution.
o Evolution for Darwin was gradual while de Vries believed that mutation caused speciation
and hence called it saltation (single step large mutation)
HARDY- WEINBERG PRINCIPLE: -
o Hardy- Weinberg principle is also called genetic equilibrium.

o Allele frequencies in a population are stable and remains constant from generation to
generation. The gene pool (total genes and their alleles in a population) remains a constant
this is called genetic equilibrium.
o Sum total of all the allelic frequencies is 1 and individual frequencies can be named as p,q
etc. hence, p+q = 1, where P and q represent the frequency of allele A and allele a.
2, 2
o In diploids, the frequency of AA is p aa is q and of Aa is 2pq.
Hence, the formula is p2 + 2pq + q2 =1 .which is a binomial expansion of (p+q)2 which can be
applied to any population to find out the gene frequency.
o When frequency measured differs from expected value, the difference indicates the extent
of evolutionary change.
 Factors affecting Hardy- Weinberg principle are-
Gene flow or gene migration: -
o The transfer of section of population to another place resulting in a change in gene
frequencies in both old and new population is called gene flow.
o New genes and alleles are added to new population which are genetically different but can
interbreed.
Genetic drift: -
o The random change in gene frequency occurs by chance is called genetic drift.
o Sometimes, the change in allelic frequency is so different in the new population that they
become a different species and the original drifted population becomes founders hence
the effect is called founder effect.
Mutation: -
o The spontaneous change in the genetic makeup of an individual is called mutation.

o Pre-existing advantageous mutations when selected will result in observation of new

phenotypes and over few generations this would result in speciation.
Genetic recombination: -
o Exchange of genes between non sister chromatids of homologous chromosomes during
gametogenesis is called genetic recombination.
o Variation due to recombination during gametogenesis, or due to gene flow or genetic drift
results in changed frequency of genes and alleles in future generation.
Natural selection: -
o The process by which better adapted individuals with useful variations are selected by
nature and leave greater number of progenies is called natural selection.
o Natural selection can lead to-

o Stabilizing selection - here, more individuals acquire mean character value.

o Directional change – here, more individuals acquire value other than the mean
character value.
o Disruptive selection - here, more individuals acquire peripheral character value at both
ends of the distribution curve.
Problem based on Hardy- Weinberg principle
Question. The frequency of two alleles in a gene pool is 0.25 (A) and 0.75 (a). Assume that the
population is in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium.
Calculate the percentage of heterozygous individuals in the population.

Solution- According to Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium equation, heterozygotes are represented

by the 2pq term. Therefore, the number of heterozygous individuals (Aa) is equal to 2pq which
equals 2x 0.25x 0.75 =0.375 = 37.5 %.

Calculate the percentage of homozygous recessives in the population.

 Solution- The homozygous recessive individuals (aa) are represented by the q2 term which
equals 0.75x 0.75= 0.562 = 56.25 %
Calculate the percentage of homozygous dominant in the population.
Solution- The homozygous dominant individuals (AA) are represented by the P2 term which
equals 0.25 x 0.25 = 0.0625 = 6.25%
A BRIEF ACCOUNT OF EVOLUTION
o About 2000 million years ago (mya) the first cellular forms of life appeared on earth.

o Some cellular forms had the ability to release O2 and slowly single cell organisms became
multicellular organisms.
o By the time of 500 mya, invertebrates were formed and active.

o Jawless fish probably evolved around 350 mya.

o Sea weeds and few plants existed probably around 320 mya.

o First organisms that invaded land were plants.

o Fish with stout and strong fins could move on land and go back to water was about 350
mya.
o In 1938, a lobe finned fish caught in South Africa happened to be a Coelacanth which
evolved into first amphibians that lived on both land and water and these were the
ancestors of modern day frogs and salamanders.

Fig. Coelacanth

o The amphibians evolved into reptiles which lay thick shelled eggs which do not dry up in
sun.
o The modern day descendants of reptiles are the turtles, tortoises and crocodiles.
o In the next 200 million years or so, reptiles of different shapes and sizes dominated on
earth.
o Giant ferns (pteridophytes) were present but they all fell to form coal deposits slowly.
o Some of the reptiles went back into water to evolve into fish like reptiles around 200 mya.
(e.g. Ichthyosaurs)
o The land reptiles were the dinosaurs and the biggest of them is Tyrannosaurus rex was
about 20 feet in height and had huge fearsome dagger like teeth.
o About 65 mya, the dinosaurs suddenly disappeared from the earth, some of them evolved
into birds or might be killed by the climatic changes.
o The first mammals were like shrews and their fossils were small sized.
o Mammals were viviparous and protected their unborn young inside the mother’s body.
o Mammals dominated the earth when the population of reptiles came down.
o In South America there were mammals resembling horse, hippopotamus, bear, rabbit, etc.
o Due to continental drift, when South America joined North America, these animals were
overridden by North America.
o Due to the same continental drift pouched mammals of Australia survived because of lack
of competition from any other mammal.
o Some mammals live wholly in water.
Examples- Whales, dolphins, seals and sea cows.

ORIGIN AND EVOLUTION OF MAN

The stages of evolution of man are-
1. Dryopithecus and Ramapithecus-
o About 15 mya, primates called Dryopithecus and Ramapithecus were existing.

o They were hairy and walked like gorillas and chimpanzees.

o Ramapithecus was more man-like while Dryopithecus was more ape-like.

o Few fossils of man-like bones have been discovered in Ethiopia and Tanzania.

o These revealed hominid features leading to the belief that about 3-4 mya, man-like
primates walked in eastern Africa.
o They were probably not taller than 4 feet but walked up right.

Fig. Dryopithecus Fig. Ramapithecus

2. Australopithecus-
o About two mya, Australopithecines probably lived in East African grasslands.

o They hunted with stone weapons but essentially ate fruit.

o Some of the bones among the bones discovered were different.

o They were intermediate between apes and man.

 Fig. Australopithecus Fig. Homo habilis

3. Homo habilis-
They were the first human-like being the hominid and was called Homo habilis.
o The brain capacities were between 650-800cc.

o They probably did not eat meat.

o They were the makers of stone tools.

4. Homo erectus-
o About 1.5 mya, Homo erectus arose. Their fossils discovered in java in 1891.

o Homo erectus had a large brain around 900cc.

o Homo erectus probably ate meat.

Fig. Homo erectus Fig. Neanderthal man

5. Neanderthal man-
o The Neanderthal man with a brain size of 1400cc lived in near east and central Asia
between 1, 00,000-40,000 years back.
o They used hides to protect their body and buried their dead.

6. Homo sapiens or modern man-

o Arose in Africa and moved across continents.

o During ice age between 75,000-10,000 years ago modern Homo sapiens arose.
o Pre-historic cave art developed about 18,000 years ago.
o One such cave paintings by Pre-historic humans can be seen at Bhimbetka rock shelter in
Raisen district of Madhya Pradesh.
o Agriculture came around 10,000 years back and human settlements started.