EARTH AND LIFE SCIENCE

The
Process
of
Evolution

GROUP 5 1. Rivera, Rodstein Kleinth

2. Pono, Zhian Clark
3. Syril Torino
4. Diether sabanal
5. Danica Ouano
6. Leslie Joy Pineda
Introduction
What is Evolution?
Biological evolution consists of changes in the hereditary characteristics of
groups of organisms over the course of generations. Groups of organisms,
termed populations and species, are formed by the division of ancestral
populations or species, and the descendant groups then change independently.
Hence, from a long-term perspective, evolution is the descent, with
modification, of different lineages from common ancestors. Thus, the history
of evolution has

two major components: the branching of lineages, and changes within lineages
(including extinction).

Initially, similar species become ever more different, so that over the course
of sufficient time, they may come to differ profoundly.

Evolutionary theory is a body of statements about the processes of evolution

that are believed to have caused the history of evolutionary events. Biological
(or organic) evolution occurs as the consequence of several fundamental
processes. These processes are both random and nonrandom. Variation in the
characteristics of organisms in a population originates through random
mutation of DNA sequences (genes) that affect the characteristics. “Random”
here means that the mutations occur irrespective of their possible
consequences for survival or reproduction. Variant forms of a gene that arise
by mutation are often called alleles. Genetic variation is augmented by
recombination during sexual reproduction, which results in new combinations
of genes. Variation is also augmented by gene flow, the input of new genes
from other populations.
 The process of
Evolution
EVOLUTION AS A GENETIC FUNCTION
THE CONCEPT OF NATURAL SELECTION
The central argument of Darwin’s theory of evolution starts with the existence of
hereditary variation. Experience with animal and plant breeding had demonstrated to
Darwin that variations can be developed that are “useful to man.” So, he reasoned,
variations must occur in nature that are favourable or useful in some way to the
organism itself in the struggle for existence. Favourable variations are ones that
increase chances for survival and procreation. Those advantageous variations are
preserved and multiplied from generation to generation at the expense of less-
advantageous ones. This is the process known as natural selection. The outcome of
the process is an organism that is well adapted to its environment, and evolution
often occurs as a consequence.

Natural selection, then, can be defined as the differential reproduction of alternative

hereditary variants, determined by the fact that some variants increase the likelihood
that the organisms having them will survive and reproduce more successfully than
will organisms carrying alternative variants. Selection may occur as a result of
differences in survival, in fertility, in rate of development, in mating success, or in
any other aspect of the life cycle. All of these differences can be incorporated under
the term differential reproduction because all result in natural selection to the extent
that they affect the number of progeny an organism leaves.

Evolution can be seen as a two-step process. First, hereditary variation takes place;
second, selection is made of those genetic variants that will be passed on most
effectively to the following generations. Hereditary variation also entails two
mechanisms—the spontaneous mutation of one variant into another and the sexual
process that recombines those variants (see recombination) to form a multitude of
variations. The variants that arise by mutation or recombination are not transmitted
equally from one generation to another. Some may appear more frequently because
they are favourable to the organism; the frequency of others may be determined by
accidents of chance, called genetic drift.
 Evidence
THE

OF EVOLUTION
Five types of evidence for evolution:
ancient organism remains, fossil layers, similarities among organisms alive today, similarities in
DNA, and similarities of embryos.

Darwin and other 19th-century biologists found compelling evidence for biological evolution
in the comparative study of living organisms, in their geographic distribution, and the fossil
remains of extinct organisms. Since Darwin’s time, the evidence from these sources has
become considerably stronger and more comprehensive, while biological disciplines that
emerged more recently—genetics, biochemistry, physiology, ecology, animal behavior
(ethology), and especially molecular biology—have supplied powerful additional evidence and
detailed confirmation. The amount of information about evolutionary history stored in the
DNA and proteins of living things is virtually unlimited; scientists can reconstruct any detail
of the evolutionary history of life by investing sufficient time and laboratory resources.

Evolutionists no longer are concerned with obtaining evidence to support the fact of
evolution but rather are concerned with what sorts of knowledge can be obtained from
different sources of evidence. The following sections identify the most productive of these
sources and illustrate the types of information they have provided.

How is Evolution studied?

Because evolutionary biology embraces everything from molecular to paleontological studies,
a catalog of its methods would fill several volumes. We can note only a few of the most
general, commonly used methods.

·Paleontological databases.
Evolutionary paleontology is founded on systematics, including phylogenetic inference
because it is necessary to classify and determine the relationships of fossilized organisms
before anything else can be done with them. Once this is done, fossils can be used for two
major kinds of evolutionary study. One is tracing evolutionary changes in the characteristics
of lineages through geologic time, such as those that occurred during the descent of mammals
from reptilian ancestors. The other is determining the times and rates of origination and
extinction of lineages and relating such changes to other events in Earth history. For
instance, each of five great mass extinctions—one of them evidently due to an asteroid impact
—was followed by a great increase in the rate of origination of species and higher taxa,
providing evidence that diversification of species is stimulated by the availability of vacated
resources. Studies of fossil biodiversity rely on computerized databases of the geologic and
geographic occurrence of thousands of fossil taxa, data accumulated by thousands of
paleontologists throughout the world over the course of two centuries.
·Observing evolutionary change.
Some important evolutionary changes happen fast enough to document within one or a few
scientific lifetimes. This is especially likely when, due to human activities or other causes, a
population's environment changes, or a species is introduced into a new environment. For
example, changes in food supply due to drought in the Galápagos Islands caused substantial,
although temporary, evolutionary change in the beak size of a finch, within just a few years;
a virus introduced to control rabbits in Australia evolved to be less virulent in less than a
decade (and the rabbit population became more resistant to it); rats evolved resistance to the
poison warfarin; hundreds of species of cropinfesting and disease-carrying insects have
evolved resistance to DDT and other insecticides since World War II; and the rapid evolution
of resistance to antibiotics in pathogenic microorganisms poses one of the most serious
problems in public health (4, 42).

·Experimentation
Evolutionary studies often involve experiments, such as placing populations in new
environments and monitoring changes or selecting directly on a particular character of
interest. Among the most common experiments are those that analyze evolutionary change in
manipulated populations, either under natural conditions or in the laboratory, using
organisms with short generation times that can evolve rapidly. For example, experimenters
have used laboratory populations of bacteria to monitor the course of adaptation to high
temperatures, novel chemical diets, antibiotics, and bacteriophage (viruses that attack
bacteria), and have characterized the new mutations underlying these adaptations (16). One
group of researchers predicted the evolutionary changes in life history characteristics (e.g.,
rate of maturation) that guppies should undergo if they were subjected to a certain species of
predatory fish. They introduced guppies into a Trinidad stream where this predator lived, and
found that after about six years, the introduced guppies differed from the ancestral
population just as they had predicted (50).
THE
Origin and Extinction of species
In the Origin (1859), Darwin made his view of extinction, and its role in evolution, quite
clear. He saw four essential features.
Extinctions of species have occurred gradually and continuously throughout the history of
life.
species and groups of species gradually disappear, one after another, first from one spot, then
from another, and finally from the world.
Sudden disappearances of many species, now called mass extinctions, did not actually occur.
The extinction of species (and larger groups) is closely tied to the process of natural selection
and is thus a major component of progressive evolution. In some passages of the Origin,
Darwin seems to have seen extinction as part of natural selection; in others, as an inevitable
outcome.
Extinct species, explained
Extinctions happen when a species dies out from cataclysmic events, evolutionary problems,
or human interference.
The truth is, scientists don’t know how many species of plants, animals, fungi, and bacteria
exist on Earth. The most recent estimate put that number at 2 billion, and that will most
likely change at some point.
One thing we do know: The western black rhinoceros, the Tasmanian tiger, and the woolly
mammoth are among the creatures whose populations at one point dwindled to zero, and it’s
possible that species extinction is happening a thousand times more quickly because of
humans.
Extinction happens when environmental factors or evolutionary problems cause a species to
die out. The disappearance of species from Earth is ongoing, and rates have varied over time.
A quarter of mammals is at risk of extinction, according to IUCN Red List estimates.
To some extent, extinction is natural. Changes to habitats and poor reproductive trends are
among the factors that can make a species’ death rate higher than its birth rate for long
enough that eventually, none are left.
Humans also cause other species to become extinct by hunting, overharvesting, introducing
invasive species to the wild, polluting, and changing wetlands and forests to croplands and
urban areas. Even the rapid growth of the human population is causing extinction by ruining
natural habitats.

What can we do about it?

Using fewer fossil fuels by lowering the thermostat, driving less frequently, and recycling is
one good way to slow the rate of extinctions. Eating less meat and avoiding products, like
ivory, that are made from threatened species also can make a difference. At home, securing
garbage in locked cans, reducing water usage, and refraining from using herbicides and
pesticides can protect local wildlife.

Darwin listed the fundamental components (''laws") of the evolutionary process:

reproduction, inheritance, variability, struggle for life, and natural selection , with its
"consequences" divergence of character and the extinction of less-improved forms. Despite
Darwin's obvious concern for the role of extinction, the word does not appear in the Index to
the Origin, nor have biologists paid much attention to the phenomenon until the past decade.