Evolution Summary (Similarities in Embryology)

Contributed by:
Sharp Tutor
We will be giving an overview of evolution with different evolution theories and the similarities in Embryology. Evolution is a change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. These characteristics are the expressions of genes that are passed on from parent to offspring during reproduction.
1. Chapter 15
honors
2. 15-1 The Puzzle of Life's Diversity
Evolution is the process by which modern organisms
have descended from ancient organisms.
A scientific theory is a well-supported testable
explanation of phenomena that have occurred in the
natural world.
Know the difference:
The fact of evolution.
The Theory of Natural Selection.
Copyright Pearson Prentice Hall
3. Voyage of the Beagle
In 1831, Darwin set sail from England aboard the H.M.S.
Beagle for a voyage around the world.
Copyright Pearson Prentice Hall
4. Voyage of the Beagle
During his travels, Darwin made numerous
observations and collected evidence that led him to
propose a hypothesis about the way life changes
over time.
That hypothesis has become the theory of evolution
(aka theory of natural selection).
Copyright Pearson Prentice Hall
5. Darwin's Observations
• He observed many plants and animals were well suited to
the environments they inhabited.
• He was impressed by the ways in which organisms
survived and produced offspring.
• Darwin was puzzled by where different species lived and
did not live.
Copyright Pearson Prentice Hall
6. Living Organisms and Fossils
Darwin collected the preserved remains of ancient
organisms, called fossils.
Some of those fossils resembled organisms that were still
alive.
Others looked completely unlike any creature he had ever
seen.
Copyright Pearson Prentice Hall
7. The Galápagos Islands
Darwin observed that the Galápagos Islands were close
together but had very different climates.
Copyright Pearson Prentice Hall
8. The Journey Home
Darwin observed that the characteristics of many
animals and plants varied noticeably among the
different islands of the Galápagos.
Copyright Pearson Prentice Hall
9. Darwin wondered if animals living on different
islands had once been members of the same
These separate species would have evolved
from an original South American ancestor
Copyright Pearson Prentice Hall
10. An Ancient, Changing Earth
How did Hutton and Lyell describe geological
change?
Hutton and Lyell helped scientists
recognize that Earth is many millions of
years old, and the processes that changed
Earth in the past are the same processes
that operate in the present
11. Lyell's Principles of Geology
Lyell stressed that scientists must explain past events in
terms of processes that they can actually observe.
The processes that shaped the Earth millions of years
earlier continue in the present.
Copyright Pearson Prentice Hall
12. This understanding of geology influenced Darwin:
• If the Earth could change over time, life might change as
well.
• It would have taken many years for life to change in the
way Lyell suggested.
This would have been possible only if the Earth were
extremely old.
Copyright Pearson Prentice Hall
13. Lamarck's Evolution Hypotheses
Lamarck's Evolution Hypotheses
Jean-Baptiste Lamarck recognized that:
– living things have changed over time.
– all species were descended from other species.
– organisms were adapted to their environments.
Copyright Pearson Prentice Hall
14. Lamarck’s Theory of Use and Disuse
Lamarck proposed that by selective use or disuse
of organs, organisms acquired or lost certain traits
during their lifetime.
These traits could then be passed on to their
Over time, this process led to change in a species.
Flaws: Tendency toward perfection
Use and Disuse
Copyright Pearson Prentice Hall
15. Copyright Pearson Prentice Hall
16. A male fiddler crab uses its Lamarck's Hypothesis
front claw to ward off
predators and to attract mates.
Copyright Pearson Prentice Hall
17. Because the front claw is used
repeatedly, it becomes larger.
Lamarck's Hypothesis
This characteristic (large claw) is
passed onto its offspring.
Copyright Pearson Prentice Hall
18. Evaluating Lamarck's Hypotheses
Lamarck’s hypotheses of evolution are incorrect in several
ways.
Lamarck did not know:
– how traits are inherited.
– that an organism’s behavior has no effect on its heritable
characteristics.
However, he paved the way for the work of later biologists.
Copyright Pearson Prentice Hall
19. Malthus reasoned that if the human population
continued to grow unchecked, sooner or later
there would be insufficient living space and food
for everyone.
Copyright Pearson Prentice Hall
20. Publication of On the Origin of Species
He shelved his manuscript for years and told his wife to
publish it in case he died.
In 1858, Alfred Wallace sent an essay to Darwin for review.
Wallace’s ideas summarized Darwin’s work.
In 1859, Darwin published his book, On the Origin of
Species.
Copyright Pearson Prentice Hall
21. In his book, Darwin:
• proposed a mechanism for evolution called natural
selection.
• presented evidence that evolution has been taking
place for millions of years—and continues in all living
things.
Copyright Pearson Prentice Hall
22. Inherited Variation and Artificial Selection
Members of each species vary from one another in
important ways.
Darwin noted that plant and animal breeders would
breed only the largest hogs, the fastest horses, or the
cows that produced the most milk.
Darwin termed this process artificial selection.
Copyright Pearson Prentice Hall
23. Artificial selection is the selection by humans for
breeding of useful traits from the natural variation
among different organisms.
Copyright Pearson Prentice Hall
24. Inherited Variation and Artificial Selection
Cauliflower
Brussels Sprouts
Broccoli
Ancestral Species
Kale
Copyright Pearson Prentice Hall
25. Evolution by Natural Selection
Darwin compared processes in nature to artificial
selection.
By doing so, he developed a scientific hypothesis to
explain how evolution occurs.
Copyright Pearson Prentice Hall
26. The Struggle for Existence
Darwin realized that high birth rates and a shortage of
life's basic needs would force organisms to compete for
resources.
Copyright Pearson Prentice Hall
27. How is natural selection related to a species'
Copyright Pearson Prentice Hall
28. How is natural selection related to a
species' fitness?
Survival of the Fittest
The ability of an individual to survive and reproduce in its
specific environment is fitness.
Darwin proposed that fitness is the result of adaptations.
An adaptation is any inherited characteristic that increases
an organism's chance of survival.
Copyright Pearson Prentice Hall
29. Because of its similarities to artificial selection,
Darwin referred to the survival of the fittest as
natural selection.
In natural selection, the traits being selected
contribute to an organism's fitness in its
Copyright Pearson Prentice Hall
30. Over time, natural selection results in changes in
the inherited characteristics of a population.
These changes increase a species' fitness in its
Copyright Pearson Prentice Hall
31. Descent With Modification
Natural selection produces organisms that have different
structures, establish different niches, or occupy
different habitats.
Each living species has descended, with changes, from
other species over time.
Darwin referred to this principle as descent with
modification.
Copyright Pearson Prentice Hall
32. What evidence of evolution did Darwin
present?
Evidence of Evolution
Darwin argued that living things have been evolving on
Earth for millions of years. Evidence for this process
include:
•the fossil record
•geographical distribution
•homologous structures
•similarities in early development, or embryology.
Copyright Pearson Prentice Hall
33. The Fossil Record
Darwin saw fossils as a record of the history of life on
Earth.
By comparing fossils from older rock layers with fossils
from younger layers, scientists could document that life
on Earth has changed over time.
Copyright Pearson Prentice Hall
34. Copyright Pearson Prentice Hall
35. Geographical Distribution
Similar, But Unrelated
and and
Copyright Pearson Prentice Hall
36. Homologous Body Structures
Structures that have different mature forms but develop
from the same embryonic tissues are called
homologous structures.
Copyright Pearson Prentice Hall
37. Homologous Structures
Turtle Alligator Bird Mammal
Ancient, lobe-
finned fish
Copyright Pearson Prentice Hall
38. Copyright Pearson Prentice Hall
39. Not all homologous structures serve important
The organs of many animals are so reduced in size
that they are just vestiges, or traces, of
homologous organs in other species.
These organs are called vestigial organs.
Copyright Pearson Prentice Hall
40. Similarities in Embryology
The early stages, or embryos, of many animals with
backbones are very similar.
The same groups of embryonic cells develop in the same
order and in similar patterns to produce the tissues and
organs of all vertebrates.
Pharyngeal
pouches
Post-anal
tail
Chick embryo (LM) Copyright Pearson PrenticeHuman
Hall embryo
41. Evolutionary Theory
Scientific advances in many fields of biology, geology,
and physics have confirmed and expanded most of
Darwin’s hypotheses.
Evolutionary theory continues to change as new data are
gathered and new ways of thinking arise.
Copyright Pearson Prentice Hall