Geologic Time Events Key Concepts in Evolution

4.6 to 3.8 BYA Period: Pre-1800s

 Formation of earth and large oceans Andrea Vesalius on Comparative Anatomy

 Heavy asteroid bombardment
 Violent meteorites and volcanic eruptions  Comparative Anatomy – study that looks at the
 Zircon crystal was formed similarities and differences across animals
 People were just one species among many, having a
3.5 BYA few characteristics that set them apart from other
creatures
 Emergence of first life forms in single-celled
organisms (prokaryotes) Nicholas Steno on Paleontology
 First evidence of life appears in the form of
fossilized microbial mats called stromatolites  Fossils belonged to living organisms
 Rock layers evolved gradually over time and that
3 BYA fossils were photographs of life at various points in
history
 Photosynthesis begins with cyanobacteria, a blue-
 These two facts were the cornerstone for
green algae
paleontology and geology
 Oxygen begins to accumulate in earth’s atmosphere
due to photosynthesis, slowly transforming it Carlos Linnaeus on Nomenclature and Classification

2 BYA  Binomial Nomenclature System – each species is

identified by a genus (generic) and specific epithet
 Appearance of the first eukaryotes (cells with a
(specific name)
nucleus)
 Example: the scientific name of tiger is Panthera
1.2 BYA Tigris, where Panthera is the genus name and Tigris
is the specific name
 Influx of multicellular organisms, like colonies of
algae Period: 1800s to 1900
 First sexual reproduction occurs in single-celled
Thomas Maltus on human population
organisms
 Population would grow exponentially while food
500 MYA
production would only grow arithmetically
 Paleozoic era  This imbalance would inevitably lead to
 Trilobites and cephalopods became dominant in the overpopulation, resource scarcity, mass poverty,
ocean, particularly during the Cambrian and and starvation
Ordovician
Georges Cuvier on Extinction
 Cambrian Explosion: rapid diversification of
multicellular life forms  Some fossils remain represented species that no
 Development of first hard-shelled organisms longer exists
 First evidence of predation  This provides evidence for the reality of extinction

200,000 YA Jean Baptiste Lamarck on Evolution

 Cenozoic Era  Organisms could pass on traits to their offspring,

 Homo sapiens first appeared in Africa leading to gradual adaptation over time
 Marks the beginning of human era  Organisms adapted to their environment through
the use of certain body parts
 Discredited in favor of Darwin’s natural selection

Karl Ernst von Baer

 Discovered the mammalian ovum

 Established the key principles of embryology Ernst Mayr on Speciation
 Embryos start with common developmental patterns
 Biological Species Concept – defines species as a
and then begin to differ as development progresses
group of interbreeding natural populations that are
 Early embryonic stages of an organism are more
reproductively isolated from other such groups
similar to the embryonic stages of other organisms
than their adult forms Francis Crick and James Watson on DNA Structure

Charles Lyell on Uniformitarianism  Discovered the double-helix structure of DNA

 This reveled the molecular basis for the storage,
 Uniformitarianism - the geological processes
replication, and transmission of genetic information
occurring today have been operating throughout
earth’s history 1970-2000 Evolutionary Paths, Horizontal Gene
 The power of slow, gradual changes over time scales Transfer, Endosymbiosis, and Developmental Biology
to shape the earth’s surface
 Evolutionary biology greatly evolved, focusing on
Gregor Mendel on Genetics understanding the complex paths life has taken
 Horizontal Gene Transfer – non-hereditary
 Discovered the fundamental laws of inheritance
transfer of genetic material between different
through his experiment with pea plants
species
 Genes are inherited in pairs and as separate units,
 Endosymbiosis – certain organelles in eukaryotic
one from each parent (Independent Assortment)
cells originated as symbiotic bacteria
 Studied the segregation of parental genes
 Developmental Biology – demonstrates how gene
(Segregation) and their presentation as dominant or
regulation can lead to vast diversity in organisms
recessive traits (Dominance)
from similar genetic blueprints
Charles Darwin on Natural Selection
21st Century Macro and Micro-evolution and
 Species evolve over time through the differential Epigenetic Inheritance
survival and reproduction of individuals with
 Macro-evolution – large-scale evolutionary changes
advantageous traits
that occur over long periods, leading to
Ernst Haeckel on Embryology diversification and emergence of new species
 Micro-evolution – small-scale changes in gene
 Biogenetic Law – the development of an organism
frequencies within a population over time
mirrors the evolutionary history of its species
 Epigenetic Inheritance – refers to gene expression
Wallace and Wegener on Biogeography or cellular phenotype, passed from parent to
offspring without alteration to the underlying DNA
 Wallace developed the theory of natural selection sequence
 Wegener proposed the theory of continental drift
 Both of which helped explain the distribution of Evidences of Evolution
species across continents
Paleontology
Thomas Morgan on Modern Genetics
 Fossils present a record of life through time,
 His work on fruit flies established the chromosome showing changes and extinctions of species
theory of inheritance
Biogeography
 Links with Mendelian genetic, with chromosomal
behavior during meiosis and fertilization  The distribution of species across the planet aligns
with their evolutionary history
1920-1940 Population Genetics and Modern
 Example: marsupials are predominantly found in
Evolutionary Synthesis
Australia due to continental drift and evolution in
 Unification of Mendelian Genetics, Darwinian isolation
Evolution, and Population Genetics
 Creates the framework for the modern
understanding of evolution
Comparative Anatomy The Mechanism of Evolution

 Homologous Structures (same origin, different Mutation

function) - suggest common ancestry
 Example: the structure of mammalian limbs  Mutations - changes in the DNA sequence of an
 Vestigial Structures - are remnants of features organism's genome
that served important functions in the organism's  Mutations introduce new genetic variations into a
ancestors but are no longer needed in the current population, some of which may be beneficial,
form neutral, or harmful
 Analogous Structures (different origin, same  Beneficial mutations increase an organism's fitness,
function) - show how different species have evolved or its ability to survive and reproduce, and are more
separately to cope with similar environments or likely to be passed on to future generations
issues Gene Flow
Embryology  Gene flow - also known as gene migration, the
 Similarities in the early developmental stages of transfer of genetic variation from one population to
different organisms suggest common ancestry another
 The presence of seemingly unnecessary stages in  This can occur through the movement of individuals
embryonic development can be explained as between populations, or the exchange of gametes
remnants from evolutionary ancestors, like the tail-  Gene flow can introduce new alleles into a
like structure in human embryos population, increasing genetic diversity

Aquatic Organisms Recombination

 Evolution of aquatic organisms is supported by the  Recombination - crossing over, the process that
presence of vestigial structures and fossils showing happens during meiosis where paternal and maternal
transitional forms chromosomes pair up and exchange segments of
 Diverse adaptations to aquatic life among separate their DNA
lineages demonstrate convergent evolution  This leads to offspring having a unique combination
 Example: fins in fish and flippers in seals of traits from their parents, increasing genetic
diversity
Imperfect Adaptation
Genetic Drift
 Not all traits are perfectly suited to their function,
suggesting a history of incremental modifications  Genetic drift - change in the frequency of an
rather than intelligent design existing gene variant (allele) in a population due to
 Example: the human appendix may have been useful random sampling of organisms
in our evolutionary past but are less so now  It can lead to random fluctuations in allele
frequencies over generations, which can result in
Physiology and Embryology some alleles disappearing from a population or
becoming dominant
 At a molecular level, similarities in protein and DNA
 It has a larger effect in smaller populations and can
sequences across different species indicate
reduce genetic variation in a population over time
common ancestry
 Evolution can be seen in action in the physiological Artificial and Natural Selection
response to the environment, such as the
development of antibiotic resistance in bacteria  Natural Selection - process where organisms
better adapted to their environment tend to
Natural Selection survive and produce more offspring
 Traits that enhance survival and reproduction will
 Traits that enhance survival and reproduction
increase in frequency over time, while less
become more common in successive generations
beneficial traits will become less common
 Different traits and behaviors are favored in
different environments, leading to diversity
 Artificial Selection – selective breeding, when  The early Earth's atmosphere, which lacked
humans selectively breed organisms with desirable oxygen, allowed for the formation of organic
traits molecules from simple molecules, such as methane
 This can lead to dramatic changes in traits over a and ammonia, with energy from sunlight and
relatively small number of generations lightning
 These molecules could have eventually formed more
Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium
complex molecules, such as proteins and nucleic
 Both allele and genotype frequencies in a population acids, which are the building blocks of life
will remain constant from generation to generation
The Clay Theory
in the absence of other evolutionary influences
 These influences include mutation, gene flow,  By Graham Cairns-Smith
selection, genetic drift, and non-random mating  Proposes that complex organic molecules arose
 If a population is not in Hardy-Weinberg gradually on pre-existing, non-organic replication
equilibrium, it suggests that evolution is occurring platforms, namely, mineral surfaces such as clay
because one or more of these evolutionary forces  Clays are catalysts and can replicate. They evolved
are at work up to Metabolism and thus the Origin of Life began
 Thus, it provides a baseline to identify if evolution in the Clay world and not in the RNA world
is happening in a population  Over time, these complex molecules could form the
basis for life
Theories about the Origin of Life
Deep Hot Biosphere Hypothesis
Panspermia
 By Thomas Gold
 By Anaxagoras  Suggests that life originated deep within the
 Suggests that life on Earth may have originated earth's crust, in an environment of extreme heat
from biological entities or precursors of life and pressure
present in outer space, which might have been  The energy required for life in this hypothesis is
brought to Earth via a comet or some other type of derived from the earth's mantle rather than the
celestial body sun
 Radiopanspermia – radio pressure from stars  Methane, rather than water, might have been the
propelled microorganisms through space basis for the earliest life forms
 Lithopanspermia – microorganisms were present in  Some extremophiles, organisms that can live in
asteroids, comets, and other planetoids extremely harsh conditions, provide some evidence
 Ballistic Panspermia – rocks from planets’ surface for this hypothesis
were transfer vehicles from one planet to another
School of Thoughts on Evolution
Spontaneous Generation Theory
Lamarck’s Theory of Adaptation
 By Aristotle
 Suggested that life could spontaneously arise from  By Jean-Baptiste Lamarck
non-living matter  Suggested that an organism can change during its
 Example: it was thought that maggots could lifetime in response to its environment, and that
spontaneously appear from rotting meat those changes are then passed on to its offspring
 This theory has been thoroughly debunked with  Example: the long necks of giraffes evolved
experiments by Francesco Redi and Louis Pasteur, because giraffes had to stretch their necks to
and is not supported by modern science reach leaves higher up in trees, and that this
characteristic was passed on to their offspring
Primordial Soup Theory
 This concept is not supported by modern genetics
 By Alexander Oparin and John Haldane
Charles Darwin on Natural Selection
 Proposes that life on Earth originated from
complex organic molecules
 Organisms that are better adapted to their
environment are more likely to survive and
reproduce
 Over generations, this process leads to changes
within a population, and can result in the evolution
of new species

Alfred Russel Wallace’s Thoughts

 ambot lng d mi close eme

 Suggested that species evolved over time in
response to environmental factors
 These adaptive changes in species' characteristics,
caused by variations in individual organisms' traits
that affect survival and reproduction, would
become more common in the population over
generations
 Similar to Darwin’s theory

Mendel’s Key to the Missing Link

 By Gregor Mendel
 The concept of missing link refers to the gap in
understanding how heredity works – how traits are
passed and how variations are maintained
 Mendel’s work filled this gap with his discovery of
the laws of inheritance
 He explain how traits are passed from generation
to generation, which was a key missing piece in
understanding how evolution could work at a genetic
level