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Evidence For Evolution

The document provides evidence for the theory of evolution including the fossil record, homologous structures, vestigial structures, embryological development, and biochemical evidence. It discusses Charles Darwin's 1859 book "On the Origin of Species" which argued that species descended from ancestral species and proposed natural selection as the mechanism of evolution. The theory of evolution by natural selection proposes that individuals within a species vary slightly, some variations are advantageous for survival in the environment, and those individuals reproduce more, passing on the beneficial variation.

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12 views

Evidence For Evolution

The document provides evidence for the theory of evolution including the fossil record, homologous structures, vestigial structures, embryological development, and biochemical evidence. It discusses Charles Darwin's 1859 book "On the Origin of Species" which argued that species descended from ancestral species and proposed natural selection as the mechanism of evolution. The theory of evolution by natural selection proposes that individuals within a species vary slightly, some variations are advantageous for survival in the environment, and those individuals reproduce more, passing on the beneficial variation.

Uploaded by

ROQUE Xander
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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EVIDENCE FOR

EVOLUTION
AYRA PATRICIA S. ALVERO
MAJOR EVIDENCE FOR
EVOLUTION
• FOSSIL RECORD
• HOMOLOGOUS STRUCTURES
• VESTIGIAL STRUCTURES
• BIOCHEMICAL EVIDENCE
• EMBRYOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT
CHARLES DARWIN
• 1859 – “ORIGIN OF SPECIES”
PUBLISHED
1. Argued from evidence that species
inhabiting earth today descended
from ancestral species
2. Proposed a mechanism for evolution
→ natural selection

• Many scientists helped pave the way


for Darwin’s theory
THEORY OF EVOLUTION BY NATURAL SELECTION

• In each generation of a species, individuals


have slight differences.
• Sometimes these variations make an individual
more successful in its environment
• (More food, live longer, reproduce more,
attract better mates). Then individual may
then reproduce and pass this variation on to its
offspring.
NATURAL SELECTION

•Variations in individuals are


controlled by genes.
•Individuals have no control over
what variations they will have.
•Useful variations are NOT
ALWAYS passed on.
•Variations that are not useful
may also be passed on.
JEAN BAPTISTE LAMARCK
1. FOSSIL RECORD
•What does the fossil record tell us
about organisms?
• Looks (size, shape, etc.)
• Where or how they lived
• What other organisms they lived with
• What time period they
lived in (based on
location in rock layers)
• What order living things
came in (based on
location in rock layers)
• Transitional forms
• Organisms that were
intermediate (between)
two other major
organisms
EXAMPLE: HORSE
2. HOMOLOGOUS STRUCTURES
•HOMOLOGOUS STRUCTURES
Bodily structures that are similar in
structure, but different in function,
due to sharing a common ancestor
ANALOGOUS STRUCTURES
•Bodily structures that are similar in
function, but not in structure. Not
evidence of common ancestry.
•Example: wings of a bee and
wings of a bird
TYPES OF EVOLUTION
CONVERGENT EVOLUTION
• DEFINITION: UNRELATED SPECIES BECOME SIMILAR
AS THEY ADAPT TO SIMILAR ENVIRONMENTS
TYPES OF EVOLUTION
DIVERGENT EVOLUTION
• DEFINITION: NEW SPECIES EVOLVES FROM A
COMMON ANCESTOR
TYPES OF EVOLUTION
PARALLEL EVOLUTION
• DEFINITION: DEVELOPMENT OF A SIMILAR TRAIT IN
RELATED, BUT DISTINCT, SPECIES DESCENDING FROM
A COMMON ANCESTOR
3. VESTIGIAL STRUCTURES
•Structures that serve no function but
useful structures in earlier ancestors
•Examples: ear muscles
•Human tailbone
•Appendix
VESTIGIAL ORGANS
4. EMBRYOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT
• Embryo- fertilized egg that will/is in
the process of growing into a new
individual
• Closely related organisms go through
similar developmental stages early in
development
• All vertebrates have gill pouches sometime
during their early development
5. MOLECULAR/BIOCHEMICAL EVIDENCE
• DNA used to translate
nucleotide sequences into
amino acid is essentially the
same in all organisms
• Proteins in all organisms are
composed of the same set of
20 amino acids
• Powerful argument in favor of
the common descent of the
most diverse organisms.
BIOCHEMICAL COMPOUND EXAMPLES

• DNA
• CYTOCHROME C
• 20 AMINO ACIDS
• SOME ENZYMES
MOLECULAR/BIOCHEMICAL EVIDENCE
CYTOCHROME C
• An ancient protein common to all
aerobic (oxygen breathing)
organisms
• Amino acid sequence to make
cytochrome c differs increasingly
the more distantly related two
organisms are (very similar amino
acid sequence = closely related)
• The cytochrome c of humans and
chimpanzees is identical
UNIVERSAL CODE

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