Science Quarter 2 – Module 8-9: The Process of Evolution Lesson The Process of Evolution 1 Charles Darwin formulated the theory of evolution by natural selection in his book “On the Origin of Species” in 1859. According to Darwin, Theory of Evolution refers to a change over time and the process by which modern organisms have descended from ancient organisms. The basis for the modern theory of evolution was laid during 1700s and 1800s. Charles Darwin sets sail on the H.M.S. Beagle, a voyage that would provide him with vast amounts of evidence that led to his theory of evolution. Alfred Wallace writes Darwin, speculating on evolution by natural selection, based on his studies of the distribution of plants and animals. The French naturalist Jean-Baptiste Lamarck was among the first scientists to recognize that living things have changed over time and that all species were descended from other species. Other scientists who contributed to evolutionary thought were Carolus Linnaeus who formalized the binomial nomenclature and Thomas Malthus who believed that populations grow geometrically while resources slowly decrease, leading to competition.
Activity 2 The Who?
Identify the scientists who contributed to the historical developments of evolutionary thoughts by arranging the letters inside the box.
A H M U T L S
1._____________________________________Believed that populations grow
geometrically while resources slowly increase or not at all, leading to competition 4. _____________________________________ Realized that species evolved because fittest individuals survived and reproduced passing their advantageous characters
A A C R L K M
5. _____________________________________ Proposed the Theory of
Inheritance of Acquired Traits and Theory of Use and Disuse
What is It
Mechanisms of Evolutionary Changes
Mechanisms of evolutionary changes include genetic drift, migration or gene flow, mutation, natural selection, and nonrandom mating. Genetic drift is a change in the gene pool of a population due to chance. Examples of genetic drift are bottleneck effect and founder effect. Bottleneck effect takes place when population decreases due to various environmental factors such as fires, earthquakes, and floods. The founder effect happens when a small population of organisms separates from the larger group to invade a new area. Gene flow is described as the movement of genes from one population to another. When this happens, there is a tendency to increase the gene diversity in the populations. Mutation occurs when there is a change in the genetic makeup caused by environmental stressors. This process expands the diversity of organisms. Natural selection explains the difference in survival of an individual and reproduction in a particular environment. Nonrandom mating increases the frequency of animals with desirable traits. It causes evolution because it intrudes the natural pool of gene variations. Lamarckian vs. Darwinian Evolution According to Lamarck’s Theory of Evolution, organisms change during their lifetime to survive then pass these changes to their offspring. On the other hand, Darwin’s theory involves natural selection and struggle for existence. When an organism is fit and can adapt to its environment, it has a better chance to survive and more chance to reproduce.
Lesson The Process of Evolution
9 In 1835, when Darwin visited the Galapagos Islands, evidence has been found to indicate that living things have changed gradually during their natural history. The study of fossils as well as biogeography, embryology, molecular evidence, and comparative anatomy such as homologous structure, analogous structure and vestigial structure provide evidence for evolution.
The evolutionary history of a group of organisms is called phylogeny from
the Greek word phylon which means “tribe” and genesis which means “origin”. Biologists traditionally represent the genealogy or an organism’s line of evolutionary development in phylogenetic trees, which are diagrams that trace evolutionary relationships and connections among organisms. A phylogenetic tree can be read like a map of evolutionary history. Rooted phylogenetic trees have single lineage at the base representing a common ancestor.
There are four groups of evolutionary tree namely monophyletic,
paraphyletic, polyphyletic and soft polytomy. Monophyletic group is also called clade, which shows one common ancestor and the all the descendants share a common characteristic, including their most recent ancestors. Paraphyletic group refers to a group of organisms with similar characteristics and originated from one recent common ancestor, but shows different characteristics from the other descendants of the recent ancestor. Polyphyletic group includes organisms that originated from the same ancient ancestors but not related at all in terms of their most recent ancestors. Soft polytomy indicates more than two immediate descendants.
