MS. BETTY JANE D.

PANZO, LPT, MAEd

University of St. La Salle
Liceo De La Salle Senior High School
 OBJECTIVES
1. Describe the contributions to evolutionary theory made by Linnaeus,
Cuvier, Lyell, Lamarck, Malthus, and Wallace.
2. Describe Lamarck’s theories, and explain why they have been rejected.
3. Explain what Darwin meant by “descent with modification.”
4. Explain Darwin’s observations and inferences.
5. Explain why an individual organism cannot evolve.
6. Describe evidence for evolution by natural selection.
KEY CONCEPTS
• The Darwinian revolution challenged traditional views of a young
Earth inhabited by unchanging species.
• Descent with modification by natural selection explains the
adaptations of organisms and the unity and diversity of life.
• Evolution is supported by an overwhelming amount of scientific
evidence.
Onymacris unguicularis
How did there come to be so
many beetles, and what
causes their similarities and
differences?
OBSERVATIONS
1. The striking ways in which organisms are suited for life in their environments.
2. The many shared characteristics (unity) of life.
3. The rich diversity of life.
• published the Origin of Species
• ushered scientific revolution –
evolutionary biology
• Evolution can be defined by
Darwin’s phrase “descent with
modification”
• Evolution can be viewed as both
pattern and a process
THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES
1. Today’s organisms descended from
ancestral species that were different from
modern species.
2. Natural selection provided a mechanism
for this evolutionary change.
• a population can change over time if
individuals that possess certain heritable
traits leave more offspring than other
individuals
• natural selection results in evolutionary
adaptation
• The pattern of evolutionary change is revealed by data from a
range of scientific disciplines, including biology, geology, physics
and chemistry.
• The process of evolution consists of the mechanisms that
produce the observed pattern of change.
The Darwinian revolution challenged traditional views of a young
Earth inhabited by unchanging species.
o Greek philosophers suggested that life might
have changed gradually over time

Aristotle (384 – 322 BCE)

- viewed species as fixed (unchanging)
- recognized certain “affinities” among
organisms
- life-forms could be arranged on a ladder or scale of increasing complexity
called scala naturae (scale of nature)
- each form of life perfect and permanent
- consistent with the Old Testament (species were individually designed by
God and therefore perfect)
Carolus Linnaeus (1707–1778)
- Swedish physician and botanist
- founded taxonomy - system for naming species and classifying species into a
hierarchy of increasingly complex categories
- Linnaeus developed the binomial system of naming organisms according to genus
and species
- In contrast to the linear
hierarchy of the scala
naturae, Linnaeus adopted a
nested classification system,
grouping similar species into
increasingly general
categories
- For Linnaeus, similarity
between species did not imply
evolutionary kinship but rather
the pattern of their creation
Darwin’s views were influenced by fossils,
remains or traces of organisms from the
past mineralized in sedimentary rocks.
• Sedimentary rocks form
when mud and sand settle
to the bottom of seas,
lakes, and marshes.
• New layers of sediment
cover older ones, creating
layers of rock called
strata.
• Erosion may later carve
through sedimentary rock to
expose older strata at the
surface.
• Fossils within layers of
sedimentary rock show that
a succession of organisms
have populated Earth
throughout time.
 Paleontology, the study of fossils, was
largely developed by the French anatomist
Georges Cuvier.
• In examining rock strata in the
Paris Basin, Cuvier noted that the
older the strata, the more
dissimilar the fossils from modern
life.
• Observed that from one layer to
the next, some new species
appeared while others disappeared
• Cuvier recognized that extinction had been a common occurrence in the history
of life.
• Instead of evolution, Cuvier advocated catastrophism, speculating that
boundaries between strata were due to local floods or droughts that destroyed
the species
• Proposed that periodic catastrophes were confined to local regions which
were later repopulated by different species immigrating from other areas.
Theories of geologic gradualism prepared the
path for evolutionary biologists.

James Hutton (1726–1797)

• proposed a theory of
gradualism
• profound geological changes
took place through the
cumulative effect of slow but
continuous processes identical
to those currently operating
Charles Lyell (1797–1875)
• proposed a theory of uniformitarianism
• geological processes had not changed
throughout Earth’s history
 Two Principles of Lamarck
1. Use and disuse of parts
2. Inheritance of acquired characteristics

• Use and disuse was the concept that body

parts that are used extensively become
larger and stronger, while those that are not
used deteriorate.
• The inheritance of acquired
characteristics stated that modifications
acquired during the life of an organism could
Jean-Baptiste de Lamarck be passed to offspring.
Lamarck thought that evolutionary
change was driven by the innate
drive of organisms to increasing
complexity.
 Descent with modification by natural selection explains the
adaptations of organisms and the unity and diversity of life.

Charles Darwin (1809–1882)

• As a boy, he developed a
consuming interest in nature
• When Darwin was 16, his father
sent him to the University of
Edinburgh to study medicine
• Darwin left Edinburgh without a
degree and enrolled at Cambridge
University with the intent of
becoming a clergyman
• At Cambridge, Darwin
became the protégé of the
Reverend John Henslow
(botany professor)
• Joined the survey ship HMS
Beagle as ship naturalist and
conversation companion to
Captain Robert FitzRoy
• FitzRoy chose Darwin
because of his education, age
and social class
Darwin’s Voyage on the Beagle
The Voyage of the Beagle

• The primary mission of the

five-year voyage of the
Beagle was to chart poorly
known stretches of the South
American coastline
• Darwin had the freedom to
explore extensively on shore
while the crew surveyed the
coast
The Voyage of the Beagle
• Darwin noted that the plants and animals of South America were very distinct from
those of Europe.
- Organisms from temperate regions of South America more closely resembled
those from the tropics of South America than those from temperate regions of
Europe
- Further, South American fossils, though different from modern species, more
closely resembled modern species from South America than those from Europe
The Voyage of the Beagle

• While on the Beagle, Darwin read Lyell’s

Principles of Geology
• He experienced geological change first hand
when a violent earthquake rocked the coast of
Chile, causing the coastline to rise by several
feet.
• These observations reinforced Darwin’s
acceptance of Lyell’s ideas and led him to
doubt the traditional view of a young and
static Earth.
The Voyage of the Beagle
• Darwin's interest in the geographic distribution of species was further stimulated by
the Beagle's stop at the Galapagos (group of volcanic islands located near the
equator about 900 km west of South America)
The Voyage of the Beagle

• The birds he collected on

the Galapagos included
several kinds of
mockingbirds that,
although similar, seemed to
be different species
• Some were unique to
individual islands, while
others lived on two or more
adjacent islands
The Voyage of the Beagle

• Furthermore, although the animals on the Galapagos resembled species living on the
South American mainland, most of the Galapagos species were not known from
anywhere else in the world.
• Darwin hypothesized that the Galapagos had been colonized by organisms that had
strayed from South America and then diversified, giving rise to new species on the
various islands
Darwin's Focus on Adaptation

• During the voyage of the Beagle, Darwin

observed many examples of adaptation
(characteristics of organisms that enhance their
survival and reproduction in specific
environments)
• Darwin perceived adaptation to the environment
and the origin of new species as closely related
processes

Could a new species arise from an ancestral form by the

gradual accumulation of adaptations to a different
environment?
Biologists have concluded that speciation is indeed what
happened to the Galápagos finches.
• Adaptations arise because of natural selection (process in which individuals with
certain inherited traits leave more offspring than individuals with other traits)
• He set these ideas on paper in 1844, wrote a long essay on descent with modification
and its underlying mechanism, natural selection
• By the mid-1850s, he had described his ideas to Lyell (urged Darwin to publish on
the subject before someone else came to the same conclusions and published first)
• Darwin received a manuscript from Alfred Russell Wallace (1823-1913), (British
naturalist working in the East Indies who had developed a hypothesis of natural
selection similar to Darwin's)
“Your words have come true with a vengeance.... I never saw a more striking
coincidence... so all my originality, whatever it may amount to, will be smashed”
• Lyell presented Wallace's paper, along with extracts from Darwin's unpublished 1844 essay,
to the Linnean Society of London
• July I, 1858. Darwin quickly finished his book, titled On the Origin of Species by Means of
Natural Selection (commonly referred to as The Origin Of Species), and published it the next
year
 The Origin of Species

• Darwin developed two main ideas:

• Descent with modification explains
life’s unity and diversity.
• Natural selection is a cause of adaptive
evolution.
 Artificial Selection, Natural Selection,
and Adaptation
• Darwin noted that humans have modified other species by selecting
and breeding individuals with desired traits, a process called
artificial selection.
• Darwin then described four observations of nature and from these
drew two inferences.
OBSERVATION #1: Members of a population often vary greatly
in their traits.
OBSERVATION #2: Traits are inherited from parents to offspring.
OBSERVATION #3: All species are capable of producing more
offspring than the environment can support.
OBSERVATION #4: Overproduction leads to competition for food
or other resources.
• Theindividuals best adapted to their environment will survive and
reproduce.
 Descent With Modification
INFERENCE #1: Individuals whose
inherited traits give them a higher
probability of surviving and
reproducing in a given environment
tend to leave more offspring than
other individuals.
INFERENCE #2: This unequal
ability of individuals to survive and
reproduce will lead to the
accumulation of favorable traits in the
population over generations.
• Darwin was influenced by Thomas
Malthus who noted the potential
for human population to increase
faster than food supplies and other
resources.
• If
some heritable traits are
advantageous, these will
accumulate in the population, and
this will increase the frequency of
individuals with those adaptations.
• Thisprocess explains the match
between organisms and their
environment.
Natural Selection: A Summary
• Survivalof the Fittest: Individuals with certain heritable adaptive
characteristics survive and reproduce at a higher rate than other
individuals.
• Naturalselection increases the adaptation of organisms to their
environment over time.
• Speciation: If an environment changes over time, natural selection
may result in adaptation to these new conditions and may give rise to
new species.
• The ability of bacteria and viruses
to evolve rapidly poses a
challenge to our society.
• Natural selection does not create
new traits, but edits or selects for
traits already present in the
population.
• The local environment
determines which traits will be
selected for or selected against in
any specific population.
 Anatomical and Molecular Homologies
• Homology is similarity resulting from common ancestry.
• Homologous structures are anatomical resemblances that represent
variations on a structural theme present in a common ancestor.

Homologous
Structures
Comparative embryology reveals anatomical homologies
not visible in adult organisms.

Vestigial
structures are
remnants of
features that served
important
functions in the
organism’s
ancestors.
 HOMOLOGIES AND “TREE THINKING”

• The
Darwinian concept of an evolutionary tree of life can explain
homologies.
• Evolutionary trees are hypotheses about the relationships among
different groups.
• Evolutionarytrees can be made using different types of data, for
example, anatomical and DNA sequence data.
 Branch point
(common ancestor)
Lungfishes

1 Amphibians

Tetrapods
Mammals

Amniotes
2
Tetrapod limbs

3 Lizards
Amnion and snakes
Homologies and
4 Crocodiles
“Evolutionary Tree”Homologous
characteristic 5
Ostriches

Birds
6
Feathers Hawks and
other birds
 CONVERGENT EVOLUTION

• Convergent evolution is the

evolution of similar, or
analogous, features in distantly
related groups.
• Analogous traits arise when
groups independently adapt to
similar environments in similar
ways.
 BIOGEOGRAPHY
• Darwin’s observations of biogeography, the geographic
distribution of species, formed an important part of his theory of
evolution.
• Islandshave many endemic species (found only in that part of the
world and nowhere else). Darwin postulated that endemic species are
often closely to species on the nearest mainland or island.
SUMMARY