FSC 111

EVOLUTION OF LIVING THINGS (ORGANISMS)

BY

DR. ADEBAYO OGUNKANMI.

(Cell Biology and Genetics Department)

Lecture 1
1
What is evolution?

• Evolution is the development of life in

geological time.

• It happens when the genetic composition

of a population changes over successive
generations.

2
 What is Geological time
scale?
• Record of the life forms and geological events in
Earth’s history.

• Scientists (GEOLOGISTS) developed the time scale

by studying rock layers and fossils world wide.
What are Fossils
Preserved remains or traces of an
organism that
lived in the past.
•Fossils are formed when organisms die and
are buried in sediment.

•Sediments are pieces of solid material that

have been deposited on Earth’s surface by
wind, ice, gravity, or chemical precipitation.

•Paleontologist-scientist who study the

remains of organisms in the rock record.
 Kinds of fossils
• Petrified - when minerals replace the remains and
they become rock things like wood.

• Mold - when the shell remains and the contents

dissolve (hollow) like in art class you use a mold to
get the correct shape of a bowl.

• Cast - when the mold becomes filled with

minerals that are not a part of the original
organism.
PETRIFIED MOLD

CAST
• Preserved animal intact. If an organism
is surrounded by ice or tar they might
be discovered looking much the same
as they did when they died. E.g.
AETOSAUR
FOUND IN
THE
NATIONAL
PETRIFIED
FOREST
Geologic time scale divisions
• The geologic history of the Earth is broken up into
hierarchical chunks of time.

• From largest to smallest, this hierarchy includes

• EONS, ERAS, PERIODS, AND EPOCHS. All of these

are displayed in the portion of the geologic time
scale as shown below
Geological Time Chart

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• The Phanerozoic Eon is subdivided into three major
divisions: the PALEOZOIC, MESOZOIC, AND
CENOZOIC Eras. The "-zoic" suffix comes from the
root "zoo," which means animal.
•
• ‘’Cen-" means RECENT
• "Meso-" means MIDDLE
• "Paleo-" means ANCIENT
• The geologic time scale divides Earth’s long history
into units of time: There are 4 major subdivisions
of Geologic Time
• Eons which subdivides into eras
• Eras which subdivides into periods
• Periods which subdivides into epochs
Eons
Eras
Periods
Epochs
Pre-
Cambrian
• Began with
the formation
of the Earth
4.6 billion
years ago.
• Bacteria
appeared 3.5
billion years
ago, followed
by algae and
fungi.
Precambrian Timeframe & Facts
• 4.5 billion to 544 million years ago

• Is the longest part of Earth’s history

 Precambrian Era Events?

• Earth formed
• Life arose
• First tectonic plates arose and began to
move
• Eukaryotic cells evolved
• Atmosphere became enriched in oxygen
• And, just before the end of the
Precambrian, complex multicellular
organisms, including the first animals,
evolved.
Precambrian Animals
• Most organisms had soft bodies which looked like
modern jellyfish and worms

• Invertebrates (animals with no backbone)

appeared near the end of the Precambrian Time
MASS EXTINCTION
• MASS EXTINCTION IS THE EVENT THAT ENDED
PRECAMBRIAN TIME.

• * glaciation event
• Precambrian time were marked by a prolonged
global ice age.

• This may have led to widespread extinctions.

 Paleozoic
Era
• Divided into 6
periods:
• Cambrian period -
Sponges, snails,
clams and worms
evolve
• Ordovician period -
First fishes evolved
and other species
become extinct
• Silurian period - Land
plants, insects and
spiders appear
• Devonian period -
Amphibians evolve
and cone-bearing
plants start to appear.
• Carboniferous period
- Tropical forests
appear and reptiles
evolve.
• Permian period -
Seed plants become
common and insects
and reptiles become
widespread. Sea
animals and some
amphibians begin to
disappear.
 Major a Events during
Paleozoic Era
• “Age of the Trilobites” (Invertebrates were
dominate)
• Explosion of life in the oceans began during
this era.
• Most of the continents were covered in
warm, shallow seas.
• Fish emerged during this time
• Fish led to the arrival of amphibians
• The end of the Paleozoic era is called the “Age of
Amphibians”
• Early land plants including mosses, ferns and
cone-bearing plants.
Major a Events during
Paleozoic Era
• The Cambrian (beginning) opened with
the breakup of the world-continent
Rodinia and closed with the formation
of Pangaea, as the Earth's continents
came together once again.
• This event is thought to have caused the
climate changes that led to mass
extinction event.
Major a Events during Paleozoic
Era
• At the end of the Paleozoic, the largest mass
extinction in history wiped out approximately 90%
of all marine animal species and 70% of land
animals.
• Possible causes of this Mass Extinction Event
• Lowering of sea levels when the continents were rejoined as Pangaea (convergent boundary)
• Increased volcanic activity (ash and dust)
• Climate changes – cooler climate
 Trilobites

• Extinct before the dinosaurs came

into existence
Early Fish

Early fish did not have

jaws.
Some species of sharks
were in existence at this
time.
Frilled Shark that was found in Japan in January 2007. This shark was
considered a “living fossil”
 Early Land Plants

Mosse
s

Cone bearing plants

Ferns
Mesozoic
Era
• Divided into 3 periods:
• Triassic period - Turtles
and crocodiles evolve
and dinosaurs appear.
• Jurassic period - Large
dinosaurs roam the
world. First mammals
and birds appear.
• Cretaceous period -
Flowering plants appear,
mammals become more
common, dinosaurs
• become extinct.
Mesozoic Era – Middle Life
• At the beginning of this era the
continents were joined as Pangaea.
• Pangaea broke up around the middle of
this era.
• Reptiles became the most abundant
animals because of their ability to
adapt to the drier climate of the
Mesozoic Era.
Major events during Mesozoic Era
• At the beginning of this era Pangaea formed and during
the Triassic Period, Pangaea began to break up (
Pangaea _split__ into 2)
•
• Ended when most of the land and ocean species
became extinct when an asteroid collided with Earth

• Known as the Age of _Dinosaurs____ or the Age of

_Reptiles___
Major events during Mesozoic Era
• During the Triassic Period, a tiny, mouse like animal
was the first _mammal____ to appear (Small
mammals and birds appeared during this era)

• Modern _bird_ appeared

• Gymnosperms dominated the land.

Dinosaurs
Mesozoic Reptiles
Mesozoic Mammals
Mesozoic
Plants
Flowering plants evolved
towards the end of the
Mesozoic Era.
Mesozoic Era – Mass Extinction
Event
• Asteroid or Comet collides with Earth.
• Huge cloud of smoke and dust fills the air
• Blocks out sunlight
• Plants die
• Animals that eat plants die
• Animals that eat plant-eaters die.

• However, not all forms of life died during

this event. Many animals that you see
today are descendants from the survivors
of this extinction event.
Cenozoic
Era
• Divided into 2
periods:
• Tertiary period - First
primates appear and
flowering plants
become the most
common.
• Quaternary period -
Humans evolve and
large mammals like
woolly mammoths
become extinct.
 Cenozoic Era – Recent Life
• Began about 65 million years ago and continues
today!!!!!
• Climate was warm and mild.
• Marine animals such as whales and dolphins
evolved.

• Mammals began to increase and evolve

adaptations that allowed them to live in many
different environments – land, air and the sea.
• Grasses increased and provided a food source for
grazing animals

• Many mountain ranges formed during the

Cenozoic Era
• Alps in Europe and Himalayas in India; Rocky
Mountains in the USA
Cenozoic Era
• Growth of these mountains may have
helped to cool down the climate
• Ice Ages occurred late in the Cenozoic Era
(Quaternary Period).

• As the climate changed, the animals had to

adapt to the rise and fall of the oceans
caused by melting glaciers.

• This era is sometimes called the “Age of

Mammals”
Cenozoic Era
• Marine animal examples:
• Algae, Mollusks, Fish and Mammals

• Land animal examples:

• Bats, Cats, Dogs, Cattle and Humans
• Humans are thought to have appeared around
3.5 million years ago (during the most recent
period – Quaternary).

• Flowering plants were now the most

common plant life.
Cenozoic Mammals
Flowering Plants were common
during the Cenozoic Era
Darwin & Natural
Selection
Evolution

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Charles Darwin
▪Father of Evolution
▪Proposed a mechanism for
evolution, natural selection
▪Darwin went on a 5-year
trip around the world on
the ship, the HMS Beagle
As the ship’s naturalist, he
made observations of
organisms in South America
and the Galapagos Islands
•Wrote a book, “Origin of the Species”

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Charles Darwin
▪ Natural Selection: Organisms that are best
adapted to an environment survive and reproduce
more than others

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Natural Selection
▪ Darwin’s Theory of Natural Selection occurs in
four steps:
1. Overproduction
2. Variation
3. Competition
4. Selection

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1. Overproduction
▪ Each species produces more offspring that can
survive

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2. Variation

▪Each individual has a

unique combination of
inherited traits.
▪ Adaptation: an inherited
trait that increases an
organism’s chances of
survival

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Why is Variation Important?
▪Because the environment changes.
▪The more variation within a species, the more
likely it will survive
EX: If everyone is the same, they are all vulnerable to
the same environmental changes or diseases
▪The more variation of types of species in an
habitat, the more likely at least some will survive
EX: Dinosaurs replaced by mammals

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Which community has a better chance of
surviving a natural disaster?

Community A Community B

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3. Competition

▪Individuals COMPETE for limited

resources:
Food, water, space, mates
▪Natural selection occurs through
“Survival of the fittest”
▪ Fitness: the ability to survive and reproduce
▪Not all individuals survive to adulthood

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4. Selection
▪The individuals with the best traits /
adaptations will survive and have the
opportunity to pass on it’s traits to
offspring.
Natural selection acts on the phenotype
(physical appearance), not the genotype
(genetic makeup)
Ex: When a predator finds its prey, it is
due to the prey’s physical characteristics,
like color or slow speed, not the alleles
(BB, Bb)

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Selection
▪Individuals with traits that are not well suited to
their environment either die or leave few
offspring.
▪Evolution occurs when good traits build up in a
population over many generations and bad traits
are eliminated by the death of the individuals.

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60
Selection
▪ Good Trait Bad Trait

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Good traits build up in a population

▪ Good Trait Bad Trait

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Good traits build up in a population

▪ Good Trait Bad Trait

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Bad traits are eliminated by the death of the individuals.

▪ Good Trait Bad Trait

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 EVOLUTION OF HUMAN

The human evolution story begins in Africa

about 6 million years ago.

Our ape-like ancestors evolved into

upright walking, tool using and cultural
modern humans, spreading out across the
globe.
In 1871 Charles Darwin proposed in his
book “The Descent of Man” that humans
evolved in Africa and shared a common
ancestor with great apes.
Old-World monkeys Gibbon Orangutan Gorilla Chimpanzee Human

We now know, from genetic and fossil

evidence, that our closest relative is the
chimpanzee.
It means that we share a common
ancestor.
 Molecular differences show that humans
diverged from chimpanzees 5-6 million years ago

Monkey Chimp Human

0

10

20

30

Time
(million yrs ago)
Allan Wilson 1934 - 1991
Our earliest ancestors lived in
Africa

The earliest human-like fossils have been

found in Africa and date back to 4-8 million
years ago. They show that our earliest
ancestors walked upright, but had much
smaller brains and did not yet use
sophisticated tools or use fire.
Homo erectus was the first
to migrate out of Africa 1.8
Evolution of man
• Many of the hominins around 4 and 2 mya were
collectively called Australopiths.

• Australopithecus anamensis links the

australopiths to older hominins such as
Ardipithecus ramidus

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Migration of human
4500
15,000
25,000
40,000

100,000
12,000

70,000

3000
200,000
1500
50,000

800
Homo sapiens
Neanderthals
Early hominids
Evidence of Evolution
Evidence of Evolution

• Fossils
• Comparative Anatomy
• Vestigial Structures
• Embryology
• Biochemistry (Proteins & DNA)
Fossils showed that
• Organisms have appeared and
disappeared, and have changed over
time
• Extinction of species
• Reveals ancient climate &
environmental conditions
• Indicates development of life from
simple to complex
• Indicates life began in water
Comparative Anatomy
• Study of anatomical structures to find
similarities and differences
• HOMOLOGOUS STRUCTURES – parts with
similar basic structure (derived from same
structures in embryo—same common
descent), but may vary in function
VESTIGAL STRUCTURES
• – Reduced body parts (in comparison to
the same complex structure in other
organisms) that have little to no
function; remnant of an ancestor
• Example:
• Human tailbone (coccyx)
 Embryology
• Patterns of
embryological
development
can indicate a
common
ancestry
• Fish, birds, mammals &
reptiles all have gills;
only fish retain theirs
• Fish, birds, humans &
reptiles all have tails;
ALL but humans retain
theirs
Biochemical Similarities

• Similarity of proteins, RNA & DNA

molecules
• The more closely related organisms are,
the more similar is the biochemical
makeup
• Indicates common ancestor
Religious view
1 Biblical View (Genesis Chapter 1 Verses 1-26)
In the beginning God created the heaven and the
earth.

The earth was without form and full of darkness

and the spirit of God was moving on the sea
surface.

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Day 1
• God said: “Let there be Light and there was Light”

He separated Light from the Darkness because he

saw it was good.

He called Light – Day and Darkness- Night

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Day 2
• God Said: Let there be a firmament in the midst of
the waters

He called the firmament Heaven

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Day 3
• God Said: Let the waters under the heavens
gathered into one place and let the dry land appear.

He called the dry land –Earth and waters that

gathered – Seas

He said Let the earth put forth vegetation.

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Day 4
• Creation of Moon and Stars

• Day 5: Creation of Birds and Fish

• Day 6: Creation of Animals and Man

• Day 7: Sabbath and He rested

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What happened thereafter?
• Man placed in Garden of Eden

• The Forbidden Tree

• The Creation of Woman

• Man sent out of the Garden Eden after disobedient

caused by the serpent

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2 Quranic View
• Book of Tefsir: The power of Almighty Allah is
whatever He wanted to be , will instantly be.

• Meaning: “Inamo amuru isaradaseha anyahu lalahu

kunfayakun”

• Quran 54 v 7, Q32 v 5, Q41 v 11, Q21 v 30, etc.

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Facts about quranic creation
• God created Heaven and earth in 6 days- Q 54 v7

• First creation – Sea (water)

• Later – Land and vegetation

• Next – Gins (Malaika) on the land

• First Man – Ibrahim (Lived in Heaven –Aljaina)

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3 Yoruba version of
Creation
• In the beginning Sky was above, Water
and marshland were below

• Chief god olorun ruled the sky while

Olokun ruled the below

• Another god Obatala went to olorun for

permission to create dry land for other
creatures and was granted

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Yoruba version of Creation
• He consulted Orunmila (god of prophecy and
eldest son of olorun.

• Orunmila told him to get

• Long Gold chain
• Snail’s Shell filled with sand
• A white hen
• A black cat
• A palm nut

▪ All to be carried in a bag

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Yoruba version of Creation
• Obatala hung the chain from a corner in the sky

• Placed the bag over his shoulder and started the

downward climb

• Got to a place the chain could not get down

• He heard Orunmila telling him to pour the sand

from the snail’s shell and release the hen
immediately.

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Yoruba version of Creation
• Eventually the hen landed on the sand and
began scattering it around

• Where the sand landed formed the dry land

• Bigger piles form Hills, smaller piles Valley

• Obatala jumped to the hill and named it Ile-Ife

• Which now extended everywhere

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 Yoruba version of Creation
• Dug hole and planted palm nut which grew

• Obatala settled down with the Cat and live

•
• After long period, he wanted more creature like himself

• Dug hole and found clay

• Mold figures like himself.

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 Yoruba version of Creation
• After long period, he got tired and took a break
• Made wine from the palm tree he planted

• Drank bowl after bowl and got drunk

• Because of the drunkenness he fashioned imperfect
figures unknowingly

• Called on olorun to breathe live into his creatures

• When he realized what he has done he swore never to
drink again and take care of deformed ones.

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Yoruba version of Creation
• Becoming Protector of the Deformed
• Others gods were happy and visited obatala
except Olokun

• Olokun was angry that Obatala had occupied

her kingdom.

• When Obatala went to visit Olokun in the sky,

Olokun summoned great waves surging across
the land.

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Yoruba version of Creation
• Much of the land were under water
and many people drowned.

• When Orunmila heard of the news, he

climbed the golden chain to the earth,
commanded the flood waters to retreat
and the dry land reappear.

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1 Which part of the name Homo sapiens identifies the genus? A. Homo B.
sapiens C. any of the above D. all of the above
2 In taxonomy, each level of classification is referred to as ______ A. taxon B.
category C. hierarchy D. level
3 The group of organisms that can be larger than a kingdom is the ______ A.
Domain B. Species C. Phylum D. Class
4 Pick the ODD one out. A. Plantae B. Fungi C. Protista D. Animalia
5 The five-kingdom system of classification was proposed by _______ in ______
A. Linnaeus, 1753 B. Woese, 1980 C. Myer, 1924 D. Whittaker, 1968
6 The ______ study intraspecific variation. A. α-taxonomists B. β-taxonomists C.
γ-taxonomistsD. tool makers
7 Which one is correct? A. Solanum lycopersicum B. SolanumLycopersicum C.
Solanum Lycopersicum D. Solanumlycopersicum
8 The ______ is the basic unit of classification. A. Kingdom B. Phylum C. Genus
D. Species
9‘ Species Plantarum’ written by Linnaeus contains of ______ A. 7300 species of
animals B. 7300 species of plants C. 4200 species of animalsD. 4200 species of
plants
10 α-taxonomy deals _______ A. descriptive taxonomy B. phylogeny C.
chemotaxonomy D. experimental taxonomy

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11 The term ‘systematics’ refers to: A. Different kinds of organisms and their classification B. Nomenclature and
classification of orgnaisms C. Diversity of organisms and their relationship D. Identification of plants and animals

12 As we go from kingdom to species in a taxonomic hierarchy, the number of common characteristics A. increases B. decreases
C. remains the same D. either increases or decreases

13 Extinction of dinosaur was in what era? A. Cenozoic B. Mesozoic C. Paleozoic D. Precambrian

14 Origin of jawed fishes was during what era? A. Cenozoic B. Mesozoic C. Paleozoic D. Precambrian

15 In what era was there abundance of mammals? A. Cenozoic B. Mesozoic C. Paleozoic D. Precambrian

16 The longest time period? A. Cenozoic B. Mesozoic C. Paleozoic D. Precambrian

17 The order of human evolution from early to the recent is ______

• A Australopithecus – Homo habilis – Homo erectus – Homo sapiens

• B Ramapithecus – Homo erectus – Homo habilis – Homo sapiens

• C Ramapithecus – Homo habilis – Homo erectus – Homo sapiens

• D Australopithecus – Homo erectus – Homo habilis – Homo sapiens

18 Which of the following features distinguishes Homo sapiensfrom his ancestors? A. walking upright B. hairless body
C. reduced jaws D. increased brain size

19 In relation to evolution, natural selection is the ______ A. outcome B. purpose C.process D. All of the above

20 Natural selection deals with _______ A. species B. population C. Both A and B C. None of the above

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1. A 6. C 11. C 16. D

2. B 7. D 12. B 17 A

3. A 8. D 13. B 18. D

4. C 9. B 14. C 19. C

5. D 10. A 15. A 20. B

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 ITS OK FOR EXAM,
I WISH YOU THE VERY BEST IN YOUR EXAM
SEE YOU IN EXAM HALL.

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