Darwinian View of Life

The lowest and most level land areas show us, especially when we dig there to
very great depths, nothing but horizontal layers of material more or less varied,
which almost all contain innumerable products of the sea.
- Georges Cuvier
 Introduction
Scientific theories are often comprised by:
A natural pattern and
A process that explains that pattern
Patterns summarize observations about
the world
Processes are the mechanisms producing
patterns

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 Introduction
Pattern: brown algae grow higher in the
intertidal than red algae
Process: desiccation stress excludes red
algae from growing higher

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 Introduction
1858: Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel
Wallace proposed a theory of evolution
i.e. species have changed through time

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 Introduction
1858: Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel
Wallace proposed a theory of evolution
i.e. species have changed through time
They proposed natural selection as a process
to explain the pattern of evolution
Evolution by natural selection has become
one of the best-supported and most important
theories in the history of scientific research

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 Introduction
Darwin and Wallaces theory
revolutionized scientific thought by
overturning the idea that species were
specially (rather than naturally) created
This idea had dominated organismal thinking
for over 2000 years

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 Aristotle and the Great Chain of Being

Aristotle ordered the

types of organisms into
a linear scheme = great
chain of being (scala
naturae)
Species were organized
into a fixed sequence
Based on increasing size
and complexity
Humans at the top
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 Linnaeus the Father of Taxonomy

Hierarchical classification = each level of

classification is nested within a higher level
Similar species are grouped together in a
genus. Similar genera are grouped together in
a family, etc.
Binomial nomenclature =
two word species designation
composed of a genus and
species epithet (ex: Homo
sapiens)
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 Cuvier, Hutton and Lyell, and Paleontology

Cuvier is largely responsible for developing the field of

paleontology
Observed that fossil species changed within rock layers
Some disappear, others appear
Was opposed to evolution

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 Cuvier, Hutton and Lyell, and Paleontology

Hutton proposed geologic features could be explained

through gradual mechanisms
Lyell expanded on Hutton the same geologic processes
are acting today as were in the past
These ideas strongly influenced Darwin

10 James Hutton Charles Lyell

 Lamarck and Evolution as
Change through Time

1809: Jean-Baptiste de Lamarck was the first to

propose a mechanism for evolution

Inheritance of acquired
characters
Individuals change in response
to their environment through
the use and disuse of
anatomical structures. These
are passed on to their offspring
 Lamarck and Evolution as
Change through Time

Inheritance of acquired characters

Individuals change in response to their
environment and then pass those changes
onto their offspring

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 Enter Darwin:

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 Review Activity: Lamarck or Darwin?

1. Insecticide is applied to a population of mosquitoes, most of

which are initially killed upon exposure to the chemical; but a
few survive and reproduce.
2. A man spends many hours in the gym exercising and increases
his body weight, muscle mass, and strength, giving him an
advantage in physical confrontations. His offspring may also
inherit his higher muscle mass.
3. Some male individuals in a population of kangaroos are born
with larger front paws and longer forearms. This gives them an
advantage when boxing other males to compete with them for
mating with females.

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 Darwin/Wallace
Evolution by Natural Selection

Change in species through time does not

follow a linear, progressive pattern but
instead is based on variation among
individuals in populations
Population = individuals of the same species
that are living in the same area at the same
time

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 Darwin/Wallace
Evolution by Natural Selection

Natural selection: individuals with

adaptations will survive better and leave
more offspring

Adaptation = a heritable trait that increases

an individual's biological fitness in a particular
environment relative to individuals lacking
that trait

Biological fitness = ability of an individual to

survive and produce offspring
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 The Pattern of Evolution
Darwin described evolution as descent with
modification = change over time produced
modern, modified species from ancestral
species

Therefore, the pattern component of the

theory of evolution by natural selection
makes two claims about the nature of
species:
Species change through time
Species are related by common ancestry

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 Darwins Two Observations
Observations:
(1) Individuals in a population vary in their traits

(2) Some of these differences are heritable; they are passed on to

offspring

Inferences:
(1) In each generation, many more offspring are produced than can
survive; of these, only some will survive long enough to reproduce,
and some will produce more offspring than others

(2) Individuals with certain heritable traits are more likely to survive and
reproduce. Natural selection occurs when individuals with certain traits
produce more offspring than do individuals without those traits
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 Darwins Observations

Through these steps, selected traits increase in frequency in the

population from one generation to the next, causing evolution a
change in the genetic characteristics of a population over time

Modern biologists condense Darwins four steps into the following:

Evolution by natural selection occurs when heritable variation leads
to differential success in survival and reproduction

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 Darwins Observations
Observed during artificial selection = species modification
over generations by selective breeding for desired traits
Leads to the domestication of plants and animals (i.e.
crops and pets)

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 Evolution by Natural Selection

Based on evolution by natural selection: How do giraffes

get a longer neck?

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 Evolution by Natural Selection
Longer neck = adaptation
Fitness advantage because they can reach more leaves more
food better survival more offspring
Those offspring then have the genes for a longer neck

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 Evolution by Natural Selection

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 Evolution by Natural Selection

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 Evolution by Natural Selection

Which moth is more fit?

Why?

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 Evolution by Natural Selection

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 Evolution by Natural Selection

Which moth is
more fit?

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 Evolution by Natural Selection

Which moth is
more fit?

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 Darwin/Wallace
Evolution by Natural Selection

The theory of evolution by natural selection

was revolutionary because:
1.It overturned the idea that species are static and
unchanging
2. It was also scientific. It proposed a mechanism
that could account for change through time and
made predictions that could be tested through
observation and experimentation
Lamarcks was also scientific how could it be
tested?

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 Important Points About Natural Selection

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 Important Points About Natural Selection

Individuals do not change only the population

does
Contrasts with Lamarcks hypothesis about the
inheritance of acquired characteristics

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 Important Points About Natural Selection

Acclimation Is Not Adaptation

Acclimation = an individuals phenotype changes in
response to changes in the environment, but the
genotype remains fixed. These changes are not
passed on to offspring
Phenotype = observable morphological and
physiological traits of an organism

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 Important Points About Natural Selection

Evolution is not goal directed

Evolution favors individuals that happen to be
better adapted to the environment at the time
A trait that is useful in one environment may
be detrimental if that environment changes

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 Important Points About Natural Selection

Evolution is not progressive

Evolution does not produce better or higher
organisms
Complex traits are frequently lost through natural
selection

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 Darwin/Wallace
Evolution by Natural Selection

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/05/opinio
n/the-animated-life-of-ar-
wallace.html?_r=0

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There are four types of data that document the
pattern of evolution:
The fossil record
Biogeography
Homology
Direct observations

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 Evidence for Evolution: Fossils
Fossils = any traces of organisms that lived in the past
Bones, branches, shells, leaves
Tracks, impressions
Dung

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 Evidence for Evolution: Fossils

Fossils = any traces of organisms

that lived in the past
Bones, branches, shells, leaves
Tracks, impressions
Dung
Animals preserved in amber
(fossilized tree sap)
Mammals frozen in ice

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 Evidence for Evolution: Fossils

Most fossils are found in sedimentary rocks,

which form from layers of sand or mud

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 Evidence for Evolution: Fossils
Fossil order in sedimentary strata gives a relative age
for the fossils (older/newer)
This sequence reveals changes in the history of life
on Earth over billions of years

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 Evidence for Evolution: Fossils
Fossil order in sedimentary strata gives a relative age
for the fossils (older/newer)
Absolute age can be calculated with radiometric
dating gives an estimate in years (with a small
degree of error)
Radioactive parent isotopes decay to
daughter isotopes at a characteristic rate
The rate of decay is expressed as the half-life =
the amount of time needed for 50% of the parent
isotope to decay
All isotopes have a characteristic half-life
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 Evidence for Evolution: Fossils

Accumulating
Fraction of parent
isotope remaining

daughter
1
isotope
2

Remaining 1
4
parent 1
8
isotope 1
16

1 2 3 4
Time (half-lives)
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 Evidence for Evolution: Fossils
The fossil record documents the pattern of evolution
Past organisms differ from those in the present
Species go extinct
Past organisms Present organisms

The extinct Irish elk

(extant = living today)

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 Evidence for Evolution: Fossils

Transitional forms = contain traits that are intermediate

between earlier and later species
Provide strong evidence for change through time

Consistent with predictions from the theory of evolution:

If the traits observed in more recent species evolved
from traits in more ancient species, then intermediate
forms are expected to occur

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 Fossils: The Evolution of Cetaceans
Example: evidence supporting the hypothesis that
whales evolved from a terrestrial ancestor
Some fossil cetaceans resemble extant terrestrial
mammals, others resemble extant aquatic mammals,
and others are intermediate
A phylogeny, supported by relative and absolute
dating, of fossil cetaceans indicates a gradual
transition between terrestrial and aquatic, whale-like
forms
Molecular comparisons indicate hippos are the
closest living relative of cetaceans
Some cetaceans have vestigial limbs as adults or
embryos
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 Fossils: The Evolution of Cetaceans

Evidence supporting the hypothesis that whales

evolved from a terrestrial ancestor:

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 Fossils: Limitations

While the fossil record is extensive, it is still incomplete

Not all organisms die in the right place at the right
time to be preserved as a fossil
Fossils that have formed could be destroyed by
geological processes
Not all fossils have
been found

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 Fossils: Limitations

The fossil record is biased in favor of species that:

Existed a long time
Were abundant and widespread in certain
environments
Had hard shells, skeletons,
or other parts that
facilitated fossilization

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 Evidence of Evolution: Biogeography

Biogeography = scientific study of the

geographic distribution of organisms

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 Evidence of Evolution: Biogeography

Geographic relationships
Example: There are often striking similarities among
island species
Darwins mockingbirds from the Galpagos islands
were superficially similar, but different islands had
distinct species

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 Evidence of Evolution: Biogeography

Biogeography, combined with knowledge of

continental drift, allows scientists to predict
where particular fossils should be found

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 Evidence of Evolution: Biogeography

Plate tectonics: Earths crust is composed of plates

floating on Earths mantle
Movements in the mantle cause the plates to move over
time = continental drift
Slow process
Crust
~2 cm/year
Mantle

Outer
core

Inner
core
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 Evidence of Evolution: Biogeography
Oceanic and continental plates can collide, separate, or
slide past each other

North Eurasian Plate

American
Plate
Juan de Fuca Caribbean Philippine
Plate Plate Plate
Arabian
Plate Indian
Cocos Plate Plate
Pacific South
Plate American
Nazca Plate African Australian
Plate
Plate Plate

Antarctic
Scotia Plate
Plate
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 Present
Collision of
45 mya India with
Eurasia

Cenozoic
Eurasia

65.5 mya Africa Present-day

India
South
America Madagascar continents
Antarctica

Laurasia Laurasia and

135 mya Gondwana
Mesozoic

landmasses

251 mya The supercontinent

Paleozoic

Pangaea

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 Evidence of Evolution: Biogeography

The distribution of fossils and living groups reflects the

historic movement of continents

Example: similarity of fossils in

parts of South America and
Africa is consistent with the
idea that these continents were
formerly attached

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 Evidence of Evolution: Homology

Homology = a similarity that exists in species

descended from a common ancestor
Three interacting levels of homology: genetic,
developmental, and structural

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 Evidence of Evolution: Homology

Genetic homology = similarity in the DNA

sequences of different species
Example: the eyeless gene in fruit flies and
the Aniridia gene in humans

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 Evidence of Evolution: Homology

Developmental homology is seen in embryos of

different species
Example: tails and gill pouches are found in the
embryos of all chordates, including chickens,
humans, and cats

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 Evidence of Evolution: Homology

Structural homology = similarity in adult

morphology
Example: most vertebrates have a common
structural plan in the limb bones

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 Evidence of Evolution: Homology

Levels of homology interact: genetic homologies

cause developmental homologies, which lead to
structural homologies

The most fundamental homology is the genetic

code; nearly all living organisms use the same
code for translating the language of DNA into the
language of proteins

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 Evidence of Evolution: Homology

Many hypotheses about homology can be tested

experimentally
Example: insertion of a mouse eyeless gene
into a fruit fly causes a
fruit fly eye to form in the
location where the
mouse gene was
expressed

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 Evidence of Evolution: Homology

Many hypotheses about homology can be tested

experimentally
Example: insertion of a mouse eyeless gene
into a fruit fly causes a
fruit fly eye to form in the
location where the
mouse gene was
expressed
Why did a fly eye form
instead of a mouse eye?
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 Evidence of Evolution: Vestigial Traits

Vestigial trait = a reduced or incompletely

developed structure in an organism that has no
or reduced function, but is clearly homologous
to functioning structures in closely related
species

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 Evidence of Evolution: Vestigial Traits

Vestigial trait = a reduced or incompletely

developed structure in an organism that has no
or reduced function, but is clearly homologous
to functioning structures in closely related
species

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 Homologies and Evolutionary Relationships

By examining the pattern of homologies,

scientists can infer how organisms are related

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 Homologies and Evolutionary Relationships
Branch point
Lungfishes

Amphibians

Tetrapods
1

Mammals

Amniotes
2
Digit-bearing
limbs Lizards
3 and snakes
Amnion

4 Crocodiles
Homologous
characteristic 5

Birds
Ostriches
6
Feathers Hawks and
69 other birds
 Homologies and Evolutionary Relationships
Complications to morphological similarity
Sometimes organisms do not resemble each other
due to common ancestry but instead have converged
on a similar phenotype
Convergent evolution = the independent evolution
of similar features in different lineages
Features due to
convergent evolution
are termed analogous
(not homologous)

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 Evidence for Evolution: Direct Observation

Hundreds of contemporary populations have been

documented undergoing evolutionary changes
Examples:
Bacteria have evolved resistance to drugs
Insects have evolved resistance to pesticides
Weedy plants have evolved resistance to herbicides

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 Recent Research on Natural Selection

Examples we will discuss in detail:

Beak size and shape and body size
changes in the Galpagos finches
Drug resistance in bacteria

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 Morphological Changes in Galpagos Finches

Peter and Rosemary

Grant have done long-
term research on the
population of medium
ground finches found
on Isle Daphne Major
of the Galpagos
Islands

Findings: beak form

and body size are
heritable in these birds

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 Selection during Drought Conditions

During the Grants research, a major drought led to 84%

of the finches dying of starvation
= Natural experiment

In one generation, natural selection led to a measurable

change in the characteristics of the population:
Increase in average beak depth
Increased frequency of alleles for the development of
deep beaks

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Environmental Changes, Selection and Evolution

Later, seven months of rain led

to small individuals with small,
pointed beaks
These birds had exceptionally high
reproductive success due to an
abundance of small seeds

Over subsequent decades, the

Grants have documented
continued evolution in response
to continued changes in the
environment

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 Genes Under Selection

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 Recent Research on Natural Selection

Examples we will discuss in detail:

Beak size and shape and body size changes
in the Galpagos finches
Drug resistance in bacteria

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 Resistance to Antibiotics:
M. tuberculosis
The bacterium Mycobacterium tuberculosis
causes tuberculosis (TB)
Sanitation, nutrition, and antibiotics such as
rifampin greatly reduced deaths due to TB in
industrialized nations between 1950 and about
1990
However, in the late 1980s,
rates of TB started to
surge due to the evolution
of drug-resistant strains

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 Resistance to Antibiotics: M. tuberculosis

DNA from rifampin-resistant bacteria has a single

point mutation in the rpoB gene

Rifampin works by
interfering with RNA
polymerase and
transcription, but
the mutation
prevents rifampin
from binding

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 Resistance to Antibiotics: M. tuberculosis
DNA from rifampin-resistant bacteria has a single point
mutation in the rpoB gene
Rifampin works by interfering with RNA polymerase
and transcription, but the mutation prevents rifampin
from binding

Under normal conditions, mutant forms of RNA

polymerase do not work as well as the normal form
However, during antibiotic therapy, cells with normal
RNA polymerase grow more slowly or die, while those
with mutant RNA polymerase proliferate

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 Testing Darwins Observations

Variation existed in the population. Due to mutation,

both resistant and nonresistant strains of TB were
present prior to administration of the drug
The variation was heritable. The variation in the
phenotypes of the two strains was due to variation in
their genotypes
There was variation in reproductive success. Only a
tiny fraction of M. tuberculosis cells survived the first
round of antibiotics long enough to reproduce
Selection occurred. The cells with the drug-resistant
allele had higher reproductive success

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 Resistance to Antibiotics: M. tuberculosis

This example also shows how only populations

(the bacteria) evolve, as allele frequencies
change in populations, not individuals

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 Drug Resistance Is a Widespread Problem

How does improper use of antibiotics increase

drug resistant bacteria?
Taking antibiotics for a viral infection?
Not completing the full course of antibiotics?
How does use of antibiotics in agriculture
contribute to drug resistant bacteria?

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 How is Antibiotic Resistance Obtained?

Random mutations block the action of the antibiotic

These genes are selected for when bacteria are
exposed to antibiotics
More exposure = more selection = more resistant
genes

Bacteria can obtain resistant mutations from:

Conjugation (mating)
Viruses
Acquisition of naked DNA

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 Drug Resistance Is a Widespread Problem

Resistance to a wide variety of insecticides, fungicides,

antibiotics, antiviral drugs, and herbicides has evolved in
hundreds of insects, fungi, bacteria, viruses, and plants

In every case, evolution has occurred because

individuals with the heritable ability to resist some
chemical compound were present in the original
population
As the susceptible individuals die from the pesticide,
herbicide, or drug, the resistance alleles increase in
frequency

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