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Evolution
1 Origin of Life Theory by A.I. Oparin (1924) – The Chemical Evolution Theory
• Proposed by Alexander Ivanovich Oparin in 1924 and supported by J.B.S. Haldane in 1929.
• Suggests that life originated through a gradual process of chemical evolution under early Earth's conditions.
• The early Earth had a reducing atmosphere with gases like methane (CH₄), ammonia (NH₃), hydrogen (H₂), and
water vapor (H₂O).
• Volcanic eruptions, lightning, and UV radiation provided energy for chemical reactions, leading to the formation
of simple organic molecules (primordial soup).
• Over time, these molecules combined to form more complex structures, eventually leading to the first simple life
forms (protocells).

2 Miller & Urey Experiment (1953) – Proof of Chemical Evolution

• Conducted by Stanley Miller and Harold Urey to test Oparin’s hypothesis.
• Created a closed setup with a mixture of CH₄, NH₃, H₂, and H₂O, along with electric sparks to simulate lightning.
• After a few days, they found amino acids and other organic compounds in the liquid.
• Provided experimental evidence that organic molecules essential for life could be formed naturally under early
Earth-like conditions.

3 Lamarckism – Theory of Inheritance of Acquired Traits (1809)

• Proposed by Jean-Baptiste Lamarck, a French biologist.
• States that organisms change due to use and disuse of organs, and these traits are passed on to their offspring.
• Example: Giraffes originally had short necks but stretched them to reach higher leaves, leading to longer necks in
future generations.
• Disproved because acquired traits do not change genetic material (DNA) and are not inherited.

4 Darwinism – Theory of Natural Selection (1859)

• Proposed by Charles Darwin in his book 'On the Origin of Species'.
• Suggests that evolution occurs through natural selection, where organisms with favorable traits survive and
reproduce.
• Key principles: Overproduction, Variation, Struggle for Existence, Survival of the Fittest, and Inheritance of
Favorable Traits.
• Example: Giraffes with naturally longer necks survived better and passed on their genes, while short-necked ones
perished.
• Supported by fossil records, genetics, and comparative anatomy.

Comparison of Lamarckism and Darwinism

Feature Lamarckism Darwinism
Main Idea Organisms change due to Organisms with favorable
use and disuse of organs. traits survive and
reproduce.
Inheritance Acquired traits are passed Only genetic traits are
to offspring. passed to offspring.
Example Giraffes stretched their Giraffes with naturally
necks, leading to longer longer necks survived and
necks in offspring. reproduced.
Scientific Validity Disproved by modern Accepted and supported by
genetics. evidence.
Evolution

The process by which living things change over time is called an evolution.

Let us understand how variations accumulate to produce an organism more evolved than
his ancestors?

Consider the following example:

 A small population of beetles live in a bushy area with green leaves. Crows eat these
beetles. As a result, variation occurs in these beetles due to sexual reproduction.

Case I: Due to the occurrence of variation, the colour of one progeny beetle changes from red to
green.

What is the advantage of this variation to green beetles?

The green beetle can hide itself in leaves to escape from being eaten by crows. Thus, the variation
provides a survival advantage to the beetle.

Hence, the red beetles are rendered more vulnerable. Their chances of survival to reproduce are
lesser in comparison to green beetles. This leads to an increase in the population of green beetles.

Variation in population by natural selection

This type of variation, which increases the survival value of an organism, is naturally selected.

Natural selection: It may be defined as a process that results in the increased survival and
reproductive success of individuals, who are well adjusted to the environment.

Therefore (as seen above), the population of green beetles increases because the red ones are
eaten by the crows. Thus, because of natural selection, the beetle population evolved from red to
green colour to fit better in their environment.

Case II: Due to variation, the colour of one progeny beetle changes from red to blue.
 This blue coloured beetle is also able to reproduce and form a small population among the
red beetles.

 These blue beetles are equally vulnerable to crows. They are as easily visible as the red
beetles.

 Let us assume that one day an elephant tramples the bushes where the red beetles live.
Most of the beetles are killed, but those that were able to survive are mostly blue beetles.
Now, the beetle population is mostly blue.

In this case, the colour blue offered no survival advantage to the beetles. However, the
major population of beetles now consists of only blue beetles (or genes governing this
colour). This is because of the accidental survival of blue beetles. However, had the beetle
population been large, the elephant could not have destroyed the entire population of the
red beetles. Thus, this accidental change in the frequency of genes in small population is
referred to as genetic drift.

Therefore, it can be concluded that variations can lead to evolution.

Heredity, as we know, maintains a common basic body design (a new born child has all the
basic features of a human being). However, variation brings about changes in the basic
body design (to ensure that all human beings are not identical).

With subsequent generations, these variations keep on accumulating. Thus, they produce
organisms that are more evolved than his ancestors.

Speciation

Speciation may be defined as an evolutionary process, which involves the formation

of one or more species from an existing species.

Evidences of Evolution

There is a diversity of living organisms on Earth, yet different types of organisms have
some features in common.

1. Homologous organs:
The homologous organs are similar in form (or are embryologically similar), but perform
different functions in different organisms. The bone structure observed in wings of birds,
flippers of dolphins and arms of human beings is similar, but perform different functions.
They belong to the same group of animals, the vertebrates, and therefore, exhibit
homology.
 2. Analogous organs:

The organs that perform similar functions in

different organisms of different origins
are analogous. For example, wings of birds
and wings of insects; fins of fishes and
flippers of whales; wings of birds and wings
of bats (bird wings are made of feathers, while bat wings are folds of skin) all exhibit
analogy. Both are used for flight, but they are structurally different. Also, they are found in
organisms which are not related.

3. Fossils

They are the remains of organisms that once existed on Earth. They represent the
ancestors of plants and animals, which are alive even today.

Fossils provide evidences of

evolution by revealing the
characteristics of the past
organisms, and the changes
that have occurred in these
organisms to give rise to a
present organism.

Appearance of fossils

Fossils have the same shape

as that of the original animal, but their colour and texture may vary widely. The colour of a
fossil depends upon the type of minerals that form it.

For example, the fossil of a bone will not have some constituents of the bone in it. It has the
same shape as the bone, but it is chemically more like a rock.

The science dealing with the study of fossils is called Palaeontology.

Importance of Fossils

(i) They inform us about the types of living things that existed in the past.

(ii) They inform us about the extent to which living things have changed over time.

(iii) The most recent fossil is found in a rock nearest to earth’s surface. Therefore, they
inform us about the time when a particular life form existed.
4. Vestigial organs

There are some organs in the human body, which are present in the reduced form and do
not perform any function. For example, the nictitating membrane of the eye, third pair of
molars, vermiform appendix, body hair, nipples in males etc. Such organs, which are
present in a reduced form and do not play any role in the normal body functions, are
known as vestigial organs. These organs are remnants of the organs, which were once
complete and functional in the ancestors, but disappeared gradually either because of a
change in the mode of life or because they became non-functional.

5. Connecting Link

Archaeopteryx is a type of fossil, discovered in the rocks of the Jurassic period? It had teeth
in jaws, claws on fingers, long reptile-like tail, feathers, beak, jaws, and bird-like wings. It is
considered as a connecting link between the reptiles and birds.

Human Evolution

All human beings regardless of their skin, colour, place of origin, and other features belong
to a single species. They are known as Homo sapiens.

Human evolution is studied using radioactive carbon-dating methods with the study of
fossils and DNA sequences. It has been discovered that both human beings and
chimpanzees have evolved from a common ancestor (i.e. from primates).

Human beings (Homo sapiens) evolved from

primates in Africa between 100,000 and 200,000
years ago.

Human beings are sociable (i.e. society forming)

and upright walking species. The earliest
member of the human species (Homo
sapiens) can be traced back to Africa.

Evolution of Homo sapiens

From Africa, humans moved to West Asia, Europe, central Asia, and so on. They then moved
to Indonesia, Philippines, and Australia. At last, they moved to America.

Human evolution began around 4 - 5 million years ago? Those ancestors had a brain
capacity of about 450 cc. Homo sapiensare modern humans, which appeared around
120,000 years ago.