Evolution

 Evolution is an orderly change
from one form to another.

 Evolutionary Biology is the
study of history of life forms on
earth.
The Big Bang theory states that universe originated about 20 billion
years ago by a singular huge explosion.
 The earth was formed about 4.5 billion years ago.
 There was no atmosphere on early earth.
 Water vapour, CH4, CO2 and NH3 released from molten mass covered
the surface.
 The UV rays from the sun broke up water into H2 and O2.
 Oxygen combined with NH3 & CH4 to form water, CO2 etc.
 The ozone layer was formed.
 As it cooled, the water vapour fell as rain to form oceans.
 Life appeared almost four billion years ago.
Theory of Abiogenesis
Theory of Biogenesis
Theory of Panspermia
Theory of Creationism
Theory of Chemical
evolution
1. THEORY OF SPONTANEOUS GENERATION (ABIOGENESIS)
It states that, life came out of decaying

and rotting matter like straw, mud etc.
1. THEORY OF SPONTANEOUS GENERATION (ABIOGENESIS)
Louis Pasteur disproved

Abiogenesis theory.
 He demonstrated that life comes only from pre-existing life.

 He showed that life did not come from killed yeast in a closed pre-sterilized
flask. But in an opened flask, life (microbes) appeared.
2. THEORY OF BIOGENESIS
 It is proposed by Francisco Redi,
Spallanzani and Louis Pasteur.
 It states that, life originates from
pre-existing life.
 But it does not explain origin of
Louis Pasteur first life.
3. COSMIC THEORY (THEORY OF PANSPERMIA)
It states that, the units of life (spores) were

transferred to different planets including earth.
4. THEORY OF SPECIAL CREATION
It states that living and non-living was created

by some supernatural power (God).
5. THEORY OF CHEMICAL EVOLUTION
 Proposed by Oparin & Haldane.

 It states that, the first form of life was
originated from non-living inorganic
and organic molecules such as CH4,
NH3, H2O, sugars, proteins, nucleic
acids etc.
 i.e. “Abiogenesis first, but biogenesis
ever since”.
UREY-MILLER EXPERIMENT
 Harold Urey and Stanley Miller
experimentally proved theory of
chemical evolution.
 They created a condition like
that of primitive earth (i.e. high
temperature, volcanic storms,
reducing atmosphere with CH4,
Experimental setup of Urey & Miller NH3, H2O, H2 etc.).
UREY-MILLER EXPERIMENT
 They made electric discharge in a
closed flask containing CH4, NH3,
H2 and water vapour at 800o C.
 As a result, some amino acids are
formed.
 In similar experiments, others
observed formation of sugars,
nitrogen bases, pigment and fats.
 The first non-cellular forms of life originated 3 billion years ago.
 They were self replicating metabolic capsule containing macromolecules
like RNA, proteins, Polysaccharides etc.
 Palaeontology is the study of fossils.
 Fossils are remnants of life forms found in
rocks (earth crust).
 Fossils are written documents of evolution.
SIGNIFICANCE OF FOSSILS
 To study phylogeny (evolutionary history
or race history). E.g. Horse evolution.
 To study the connecting link between two
groups of organisms. E.g. Archaeopteryx.
Archaeopteryx:
Connecting link between reptiles and birds
 To study about extinct animals. E.g.
Dinosaurs.
 To study about extinct animals. E.g.
Dinosaurs.
 To study about geological period by
analysing fossils in sedimentary rock
layers. The study showed that life forms
varied over time and certain life forms are
restricted to certain geological time spans.
• Comparative anatomy and morphology shows that different forms of animals
have some common structural features.
• This can be explained as follows:
Homologous organs &

Homology
Analogous organs &

Analogy
o Homologous organs: The organs having fundamental
Homologous organs and
similarity in structure and origin but different
Homology functions. This phenomenon is called Homology.
o E.g. Human hand, Whale’s flippers, Bat’s wing &
Cheetah’s foot. These forelimbs have different
Homology functions but similar anatomical structures such as
bones (e.g. humerus, radius, ulna, carpals,
metacarpals & phalanges).
o Homology is also seen in heart, brain etc.
Homologous organs and Homology in plants: Thorns and tendrils of
Homology Bougainvillea and Cucurbita.
Bougainvillea Cucurbita
 Origin of homologous organs is due to Divergent evolution.
 Divergent evolution is the evolution by which related
Homology
species become less similar to survive and adapt in
different environmental condition.
Homology
indicates
common
ancestry.
 Analogous organs: The organs having similar function
Analogous organs and but different structure and origin. This phenomenon
Analogy is called Analogy.
Analogous organs and Examples
Analogy  Wings of insects (formed of a thin flap of chitin) and
wings of birds (modified forelimbs).
Analogy  Eyes of Octopus (retina from skin) and mammals
(retina from embryonic brain).
Analogy  Flipper of Penguins and Dolphins.
Flipper
Analogy  Sweet potato (modified root) & Potato (modified
stem).
Analogy  Trachea of insects (from ectoderm) and lungs of
vertebrates (from endoderm).
Analogous organs and  Origin of analogous organs is due to Convergent
evolution.
Analogy
 Convergent evolution is the evolution by which
unrelated species become more similar to survive
and adapt in similar environmental condition.
Example for
Convergent evolution:
Fish, land reptile and land
mammal are unrelated.
But they evolved to more
similar forms.
 Organisms show similarities in proteins, genes, other biomolecules &
metabolism.
 It indicates common ancestry.
• Adaptive radiation (evolution by
adaptation) is the evolution of different
species in a geographical area starting from
a point.
• E.g.
 Darwin’s finches in Galapagos islands.
a point.
• E.g.
 Australian marsupials (Marsupial
radiation).
a point.
• E.g.
 Australian marsupials (Marsupial
radiation).
 Placental mammals in Australia.
 When more than one adaptive radiation is appeared in an
isolated geographical area, it results in convergent evolution.
 E.g. Australian Marsupials and Placental mammals.
Placental mammals Australian Marsupials

Mole Marsupial mole
Ant eater Numbat (Ant eater)
Mouse Marsupial mouse
Lemur Spotted cuscus
Flying squirrel Flying phalanger
Bobcat Tasmanian tiger cat
Wolf Tasmanian wolf
 Proposed by Ernst Haeckel.
 He observed that all vertebrate embryos have some common features
that are absent in adult.
 E.g. all vertebrate embryos (including human) develop vestigial gill slits
just behind the head. But it is functional only in fish and not found in
other adult vertebrates.
Vestigial gill slit

 However, Karl Ernst von Baer rejected this proposal.
 He noted that embryos never pass through the adult stages of other
animals.
Vestigial gill slit

• Natural selection is the process by which the organisms that are best suited for
their environment survive and reproduce.
• Some examples are given below:
Industrial melanism These are the

examples for natural
selection by
Development of resistant anthropogenic action
varieties in organisms against (evolution due to
herbicides, pesticides, human activities).
antibiotics or drugs etc.
o In England, before industrialization (1850s): There were more white
winged moths (Biston betularia) on trees than dark winged or
melanised moths (Biston carbonaria).
o After industrialization (1920): More dark winged moths and less
white winged moths.
B. betularia
Industrial
melanism
B. carbonaria
Before industrialization After industrialization

REASON
Before industrialization:
o There was thick growth of white coloured lichen covering the trees.
o In that background, the white winged moths survived but the dark
coloured moths were picked out by predators.
Industrial
melanism
REASON
After industrialization:
o Tree trunks became dark due to industrial smoke & soots. No lichens.
o Under this condition, white winged moth did not survive because the
predators identified them easily.
o Dark winged moth survived because of suitable dark background, i.e.
Industrial predators could not identify them.
melanism
Theory of Lamarck (Lamarckism
1 or Theory of Inheritance of
Acquired characters)
Darwinian Theory (Darwinism or

2 Theory of Natural selection)
3 Mutation Theory of de Vries

o It is proposed by Lamarck.
o It states that evolution of life forms

occurred by the inheritance of
acquired characters.
o Acquired characters are developed by use and disuse of organs.
 Evolution by use of organs: E.g. Long neck of giraffe is due to continuous
elongation to forage leaves on trees. This acquired character was inherited to
succeeding generations.
 Evolution by disuse: E.g. Disappearance of limbs in snakes.
This theory was eliminated out because it is
proved that the characters are inherited only
through genes.
 Proposed by Charles Darwin.
 It was based on observations during a sea voyage in a sail ship called H.M.S. Beagle.
 Alfred Wallace (a naturalist worked in Malay Archepelago) had also come to similar
conclusions.
 Work of Thomas Malthus on populations influenced Darwin.
H.M.S. Beagle Alfred Wallace Thomas Malthus

Darwinism is based on 2 key concepts:
1. Branching descent:
It explains that all organisms are modified
descendants of previous life forms.
Darwinism is based on 2 key concepts: Resistant bacteria
1. Branching descent:
It explains that all organisms are modified
Change in medium composition
descendants of previous life forms. (e.g. Addition of antibiotic)
2. Natural selection: Colony A
Consider a bacterial colony A growing on a Resistant bacteria
given medium. If the medium composition outgrows
is changed, only a part of the population
can survive under new condition. This
variant population (B) outgrows the others
and appears as new species, i.e. B is better
than A under new condition. Thus, nature Colony B
selects for fitness.
Natural selection is based on the
following facts:
Heritable minor variations
Overproduction
Limited natural resources
Struggle for existence
Survival of the fittest

1. Heritable minor variations:
It is either beneficial or harmful to the organisms.
2. Overproduction:
Population size grows exponentially due to maximum reproduction (E.g. bacterial
population).
3. Limited natural resources:
Resources are not increased in accordance with the population size.
4. Struggle for existence:
It is the competition among organisms for resources so that population size is limited.
5. Survival of the fittest:
In struggle for existence, organisms with beneficial variations can utilize resources
better. Hence, they survive and reproduce. This is called Survival of the fittest. It leads to
a change in population characteristics and new forms appear.
Darwin ignored about origin of variation and mechanism of evolution or speciation.

 Hugo de Vries proposed Mutation Theory of evolution.
 He conducted some experiments on evening primrose
(Oenothera lamarckiana) and believed that evolution
takes place through mutation and not by minor
variation.
 Darwinian variation is minor, slow & directional. It results in gradual evolution.
 Mutational variation is sudden, random and directionless. Here, speciation is by
saltation (single step, large mutation).
 Mutation is the origin of variation for evolution.
o It says that allele frequencies* in a population are stable and is constant from
generation to generation in the absence of disturbing factors.
o The gene pool (total genes and their alleles in a population) remains a constant.
This is called genetic equilibrium (Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium).
o Sum total of all the allelic frequencies = 1
A population of 20 beetles.
Each beetle is a gene pool.
Their totality is the gene
pool of that population.
* Allele frequency refers to how frequently a particular allele appears in a population.

o E.g. Consider, in a diploid, p & q
are the frequencies of alleles A
and a respectively. AA AA AA AA AA AA AA AA AA AA
– Frequency of AA = p2
– Frequency of aa = q2
– Frequency of Aa = 2pq Aa Aa Aa Aa Aa Aa aa aa aa aa
– Hence p2 + 2pq + q2 = 1
[binomial expansion of (p+q)2]
Total allelic frequency (p+q) = 1
Change of frequency of alleles in

a population disturbs Hardy-
Weinberg equilibrium.
This change is due to evolution.
FACTORS AFFECTING HARDY-WEINBERG EQUILIBRIUM
Gene migration (gene flow)
Genetic drift
Mutation
Genetic recombination
Natural selection
1  It is the gene flow from one population to another.
 Here gene frequencies change in both populations.
 Gene flow occurs if migration happens multiple times.
GENE
MIGRATION
2  Gene flow by chance causing change in frequency.
 Sometimes, change in frequency is so different in the new
sample of population that they become a different species.
 The original drifted population becomes founders and the
effect is called founder effect.
GENETIC DRIFT
3  It results in formation of new phenotypes.
 Over few generations, this leads to speciation.
MUTATION
4  It is the reshuffling of gene combinations during
crossing over resulting in genetic variation.
GENETIC
RECOMBINATION
5
3 types of natural selection
Stabilizing Directional Disruptive

NATURAL selection selection selection
SELECTION
5 1. Stabilizing selection
• Here, more individuals acquire mean character value

and variation is reduced.
NATURAL
SELECTION
5 2. Directional selection
• Here, Individuals of one extreme (value other than
mean character value) are more favoured.
NATURAL
SELECTION
5 3. Disruptive selection
• Here, Individuals of both extremes (peripheral
character value at both ends of the distribution
curve) are more favoured.
NATURAL
SELECTION
Natural selection
E.g. Body size E.g. Fur colour
of rat
The geological time scale
includes 4 eras:
 Proterozoic
 Palaeozoic
 Mesozoic
 Cenozoic
 First cellular forms of life appeared
(2000 mya).
 Some of the cells had the ability to
release O2 as the light reaction in
photosynthesis.
 Single celled organisms became
Multicellular organisms.
It has 6 periods:
 Cambrian (540 - 490 mya)
 Ordovician (490 - 443 mya)
 Silurian (425 mya)
 Devonian (405 mya)
 Carboniferous (360 mya)
 Permian (285 mya)
 500 mya: Invertebrates were formed. Trilobites
 450 mya: First land organisms (plants)

appeared.
Moss, the most primitive of plants

 500 mya: Invertebrates were formed. Trilobites
appeared.
 400 mya: Arthropods invaded the land.
 350 mya: Jawless fishes were evolved.
A jawless fish
b a n k o f b i o l o g y . c o m
 500 mya: Invertebrates were formed.

appeared.

Lobefins (stout & strong finned fishes) could
move on land and go back to water. They
evolved to first amphibians (ancestors of
modern day frogs & salamanders).
 500 mya: Invertebrates were formed. Fossil of Coelacanth (A lobefin fish)
appeared.

appeared.

In 1938, a lobe-fin called coelacanth fish was caught in South Africa which was
thought to be extinct.
appeared.

appeared.

 320 mya: Sea weeds and few plants

were existed.
 Amphibians evolved to reptiles.
They lay thick-shelled eggs (do not
dry up in sun).
 Giant ferns (Pteridophytes) were
present but they all fell to form
coal deposits slowly.
 Age of reptiles & gymnosperms.
 It has 3 periods:
 Triassic (230 mya)
 Jurassic (208 mya)
 Cretaceous (144 mya)
 200 mya: Some of the land reptiles went
back into water to evolve into fish-like
reptiles (E.g. Ichthyosaurs).
 The land reptiles were dinosaurs.
(Tyrannosaurus rex, Triceratops,
Stegosaurus, Brachiosaurus etc.).
 T. rex was the largest dinosaur (20 feet in
height, huge fearsome dagger-like teeth).
 Toothed birds were emerged.
 Age of Mammals & Angiosperms.
 It has 2 periods:
 Tertiary (66 mya)
 Quaternary (2 mya - Age of man).
 65 mya: Dinosaurs suddenly

disappeared. Some say climatic
changes killed them. Some say most
of them evolved into birds.
 65 mya: Dinosaurs suddenly
disappeared. Some say climatic
changes killed them. Some say most
of them evolved into birds.
 First mammals were shrew-like. Their
fossils are small sized.
 In South America, there were mammals
NORTH
resembling horse, hippopotamus, bear, AMERICA
rabbit etc.
 Due to continental drift, when South
America joined North America, these
animals were overridden by North
American fauna.
SOUTH
AMERICA
 In South America, there were mammals
resembling horse, hippopotamus, bear,
rabbit etc.
 Due to continental drift, when South
America joined North America, these
animals were overridden by North
American fauna.
 Due to continental drift, Australian
Marsupials survived because of lack of
competition from any other mammals.
 15 mya.
 Hairy.
 Walked like gorillas and chimpanzee.
 Dryopithecus: More ape-like.
 Ramapithecus: More man-like.
 3-4 mya, there were man-like

primates in eastern Africa.
 They had height up to 4 feet and
walked up right.
 This belief is based on fossils of
man-like bones found in Ethiopia
& Tanzania.
 2 mya.
 Lived in East African grass lands.
 Hunted with stone weapons.
 Ate fruits.
 2 mya.
 First human-like being (hominid).
 Brain capacity: 650-800 cc.
 Did not eat meat.
 1.5 mya.
 Brain capacity: 900 cc.
 Ate meat.
 1 lakh - 40,000 years ago.
 Brain capacity: 1400 cc.
 Lived in East and Central Asia.
 Used hides to protect their body.
 Buried their dead.
 75,000 to 10,000 years ago (Ice age).
 Pre-historic cave art developed about
18,000 years ago.
 Agriculture and human settlements:
10,000 years ago.
Dryopithecus
Ramapithecus
Australopithecus
Homo habilis
Homo erectus
Homo neanderthalensis
Homo sapiens
HOMINID FAMILY
A comparison of the skulls of
a. Adult modern human being
b. Baby chimpanzee
c. Adult chimpanzee
The skull of baby chimpanzee is more like

adult human skull than adult chimpanzee
skull. c.

Evolution

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 Evolution is an orderly change

from one form to another.

It states that, life came out of decaying

Louis Pasteur disproved

 He demonstrated that life comes only from pre-existing life.

It states that, the units of life (spores) were

It states that living and non-living was created

 Proposed by Oparin & Haldane.

Homologous organs &

Analogous organs &

Placental mammals Australian Marsupials

Vestigial gill slit

Vestigial gill slit

Industrial melanism These are the

Before industrialization After industrialization

Darwinian Theory (Darwinism or

3 Mutation Theory of de Vries

o It states that evolution of life forms

H.M.S. Beagle Alfred Wallace Thomas Malthus

Limited natural resources

Struggle for existence

Survival of the fittest

Darwin ignored about origin of variation and mechanism of evolution or speciation.

* Allele frequency refers to how frequently a particular allele appears in a population.

Change of frequency of alleles in

Gene migration (gene flow)

Stabilizing Directional Disruptive

• Here, more individuals acquire mean character value

 450 mya: First land organisms (plants)

Moss, the most primitive of plants

 350 mya: Jawless fishes were evolved.

 500 mya: Invertebrates were formed.

 350 mya: Jawless fishes were evolved.

 350 mya: Jawless fishes were evolved.

 350 mya: Jawless fishes were evolved.

 350 mya: Jawless fishes were evolved.

 350 mya: Jawless fishes were evolved.

 320 mya: Sea weeds and few plants

 65 mya: Dinosaurs suddenly

 3-4 mya, there were man-like

The skull of baby chimpanzee is more like

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