h2 biology

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NOTES
 H2 BIOLOGY NOTES

CORE IDEA 4

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biological evolution
BIOLOGICAL EVOLUTION ................................................................................................................................... 2

THEORIES OF EVOLUTION ............................................................................................................................ 2

MICROEVOLUTION ........................................................................................................................................... 3

SPECIATION AND MACROEVOLUTION ................................................................................................... 6

PHYLOGENY ......................................................................................................................................................... 9
H2 Biology Notes
Core Idea 4: Biological Evolution

Theories of Evolution
Essential Features of Neo-Darwinism
(1) Organisms have great potential to reproduce
(2) Constancy in numbers due to limited resources
(3) Struggle for existence based on (1) and (2)
(4) Variation within a population due to spontaneous mutations
(5) Survival of the fittest by natural selection
(6) Differential reproduction which leads to changes in allele frequencies
(7) Formation of a new species through reproductive/genetic isolation

Evidence for Darwin’s Theory of Evolution

(1) Molecular Homologies – Biochemical Data
EVIDENCE HOW IT SUPPORTS DARWIN’S THEORY EXAMPLE

DNA/RNA and Species that are more closely related share a Similar DNA sequences,
amino acid greater portion of their DNA/RNA and sequence identical haemoglobin β
sequences of amino acids chain in humans and
chimpanzees

(2) Anatomical Homologies – The Fossil Record

EVIDENCE HOW IT SUPPORTS DARWIN’S THEORY EXAMPLE

Homologous Structural/anatomical similarities in homologous Pentadactyl limbs in

structures structures between species suggest that they all vertebrates
descended form a common ancestor i.e.
divergent evolution

Early embryonic Vertebrates bear striking anatomical similarities Pharyngeal pouches, long
development in early stages of development i.e. developmental bony tail in vertebrates
homologies

Vestigial Structures that have no apparent function but Vestigial hindlimbs in

structures resemble those present in ancestors whales

Fossil / Progressive changes and increase in complexity Evolution of horses

Paleontological of organisms in younger rocks than oldest rocks (change in body size, toe
evidence show descent with modification through changes reduction, tooth size and
in homologous structures shape)

Discovery of transitional fossils support the idea Fossils of Archaeopteryx as

that diversity of life arose from shared ancestry an intermediate between
dinosaurs and birds

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H2 Biology Notes
Core Idea 4: Biological Evolution

(3) Biogeography
EVIDENCE HOW IT SUPPORTS DARWIN’S THEORY EXAMPLE

Island Species on islands tend to resemble species of Galapagos finches

biogeography the nearest mainland, even if the environment is
different

Continent Species from different evolutionary branches Marsupials and placentals

biogeography evolve to resemble each other in different, are highly similar despite
isolated areas because of similar environmental different ancestry
selection pressures that shape similar
adaptations i.e. convergent evolution

Microevolution
Microevolution: Small-scale evolutionary change within the species level – changes in allele or
genotype frequencies in a gene pool over time

Sources of Genetic Variation

Mutation
(1) Gene mutation: Beneficial (random) mutations are a source of new alleles on which other
evolutionary processes can act
→ Results in changes in allele frequency in the gene pool of a population
(2) Chromosomal aberration: Gene duplications that do not have severe effects can persist over
generations
→ Results in an expanded genome with new genes that may take on new functions
Meiosis and Sexual Reproduction
(1) Crossing over between non-sister chromatids of homologous chromosomes at prophase I
(2) Independent assortment of homologous chromosomes at metaphase I
(3) Random fertilisation of gametes
→ Results in new combinations of existing alleles

A population is the smallest unit that can evolve as it is the smallest unit for which
changes in allelic frequencies can be maintained independently from other units

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H2 Biology Notes
Core Idea 4: Biological Evolution

Processes Leading to Microevolution

Natural Selection
= The process by which the environment selects for well-adapted individuals with inherited traits
that are best suited to the local environment
STABILISING SELECTION DIRECTIONAL SELECTION DISRUPTIVE SELECTION

Favours intermediates and Favours one extreme and Favours both extremes and
eliminates both extremes eliminates the other eliminates intermediates
→ reduces the variance → shifts the mean → maintains high overall
variance

Typical of an unchanging Follows a changing The gene pool may become

environment where environment split into two distinct
competition is not severe populations i.e. speciation

Examples Examples Examples

- Birth weight in humans: - Industrial melanism in - Beak size in black-bellied
Infants with intermediate peppered moth: Black seedcracker: Small and large
birth weight at a selective melanic form at a selective beaks at a selective
advantage advantage in polluted areas advantage for small and
- Sickle-cell anaemia: due to predation by birds large seeds respectively
Heterozygous (HbAHbS) - Antibiotic resistance in
individuals at a selective Staphylococcus aureus:
advantage Individuals able to synthesise
cell walls from a protein not
deactivated by methicillin at
a selective advantage
- Galapagos finches: Each
species has a particular beak
size and shape adapted to
the food source on each
respective island

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H2 Biology Notes
Core Idea 4: Biological Evolution

Genetic Drift
= The random change of allele and genotype frequencies, as a result of chance alone, from
generation to generation in a small gene pool / population

FOUNDER EFFECT BOTTLENECK EFFECT

Occurs when one or a few individuals colonise a Occurs when an event (natural disaster,
habitat isolated from their place of origin diseases or habitat destruction) drastically
reduces the size of a population

Alleles will be a significant fraction of the new Alleles represent a small portion of the original
gene pool → reduced genetic variation gene pool → reduced genetic variation
(even when the population increases to its
original size, a portion of its original genetic
diversity remains lost)

Examples: Galapagos finches, human Amish Examples: cheetahs, greater prairie chicken,
population Northern elephant seals

Gene Flow
= The movement of genes / alleles from one population to another by migration of fertile individuals
or their gametes
• Reduces differences between populations accumulated due to natural selection or genetic drift
• Can cause distant populations to become more similar, reducing the chances of speciation
Examples
- Human populations: Migration increased mating between once isolated populations
- Mosquito Culex pipiens: Worldwide spread of several insecticide-resistance alleles
- Grass plants: Copper tolerance due to gene flow between mine sites and unpolluted areas

Maintenance of Genetic Variation

Diploidy
Heterozygote Protection
• Less favourable recessive alleles are propagated in heterozygous individuals
• Maintains a pool of alleles that may not be favoured under present conditions but could bring
new benefits when the environment changes

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Core Idea 4: Biological Evolution

Balanced Dimorphism
Heterozygote Advantage
• Heterozygous individuals have greater relative fitness than homozygotes
• Example: Sickle-cell anaemia
Frequency-Dependent Selection
• The relative fitness of a genotype declines if it becomes too common in the population
• Example: Scale-eating cichlids: The frequency of left- and right-jawed fish oscillates over time

Speciation and Macroevolution

Macroevolution: Large-scale evolutionary events over geological times – phenotypic changes in
populations that warrant placement in taxonomic groups at species level or higher

Species Concepts
Genetic Species Concept
= A genetically distinct group of individuals that share a common gene pool
• Advantage: To understand the extent to which the integrity of the gene pool is protected and
the nature of hybridisation
• Limitation: Common gene pool of a species may change due to directional selection or
interbreeding
Biological Species Concept
= A population or group of populations whose members have the potential to interbreed and
produce viable fertile offspring
• Advantage: To study how species originate
• Limitations: No way to evaluate reproductive isolation of fossils
Does not apply to organisms that reproduce asexually e.g. prokaryotes
Gene flow can form rare hybrids between different species e.g. mule, tiglon/liger
Reproductive Isolating Mechanisms
(1) Prezygotic barriers: prevent formation of zygotes by blocking fertilisation
o Habitat isolation: species occupy different habitats
o Temporal isolation: species have different mating or flowering seasons
o Behavioural isolation: species have distinctive courtship behaviours
o Mechanical isolation: species have differences in reproductive structures
o Gametic isolation: gametes of species are chemically incompatible
(2) Postzygotic barriers: prevent the hybrid from developing into a viable fertile adult
o Hybrid instability: hybrid dies at early stage of embryonic development
o Hybrid sterility: hybrid survives to adulthood but is unable to reproduce
o Hybrid breakdown: offspring of hybrid are unable to reproduce
Phylogenetic Species Concept
= The smallest group of individuals that share a common ancestor
• Advantage: Can distinguish groups of individuals sufficiently different to be considered
different species
• Limitation: Difficulty in determining the degree of difference required to establish separate
species

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Core Idea 4: Biological Evolution

Morphological Species Concept

= A group of individuals with similar anatomical traits
• Advantages: Can be applied to all organisms whether they reproduce sexually or asexually
Useful even without information on mating capabilities and extent of gene flow
• Limitations: Difficulty in determining the degree of morphological difference required to
establish separate species
Members of the same species may look different; members of different species
may look similar
Ecological Species Concept
= A group of individuals in similar ecological niches with unique adaptations to particular roles
played in a biological community
• Advantage: To distinguish between bacterial spcies that reperoduce asexually
• Limitation: Does not take into account the species’ morphology and reproductive compatibility

Mechanism of Speciation
1. The ancestral species is a single species where all members can interbreed and are
reproductively isolated from other species
2. Subgroups of the ancestral species become separated by physical or other barriers, preventing
gene flow i.e. geographical or ecological isolation
3. Each population experiences different selection pressures and undergoes independent
evolution due to natural selection
4. Over time, the populations become genetically distinct i.e. reproductive isolation

Modes of Speciation
Allopatric Speciation
A new species evolves in geographically isolated areas
1. (Founder effect occurs)
2. Populations are separated by a physical barrier i.e. geographical isolation
3. Due to different environmental selection pressures, individuals who have a selective advantage
are selected for and pass on their favourable alleles to their offspring
4. Over time, the accumulation of sufficient reproductive isolating mechanisms, adaptations and
genetic diversity results in the formation of a new species
Sympatric Speciation
A new species evolves within the same geographic region as the parental species
1. An error in cell division (nondisjunction) occurs and self-fertilisation will double the
chromosome number
o An autopolyploid contains more than two sets of chromosomes from the same species
o An allopolyploid contains more than two sets of chromosomes from two or more species
2. The autopolyploid / allopolyploid is reproductively isolated from its parent species

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H2 Biology Notes
Core Idea 4: Biological Evolution

Macroevolution
Adaptive Radiation
= Evolutionary diversification of many related species from one or a few ancestral species in a
relatively short period of time
(1) Ecological opportunities: The availability of new or novel types of resources
o 1. An adaptive zone is unoccupied
2. A colonising species encounters no competitors and rapidly diversifies
3. The species develops adaptations that enable efficient use of available resources
4. Succeeding generations diversify into a new species
o Examples: Anolis lizards in the Caribbean, Hawaiian honeycreepers
(2) Evolutionary novelties: The evolution of a key morphological trait (modification of a pre-
existing structure) that allows new ways to exploit resources
o Examples: insect body plan, angiosperm flowers, cichlid “throat jaws”, dinosaur feathers
Extinction
= The end of a lineage that occurs when the last individual of a species dies
(1) Background extinction: The continuous, low-level extinction of species
(2) Mass extinction: The extinction of a large number of species within a relatively short period of
geological time, caused by major climate changes or catastrophes
o Creates new ecological opportunities that can be exploited by surviving organisms (which
possess evolutionary novelties) to evolve
o Brings about adaptive radiations as surviving species diverge and fill the unoccupied
adaptive zones left by extinct species

Macroevolution occurs as a result of microevolutionary processes

e.g. mutation, natural selection, genetic drift, and gene flow

Biological Classification

Moving down the

taxonomic ranks:
• Decreased number
of organisms
• Increased similarities
amongst organisms

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Core Idea 4: Biological Evolution

Phylogeny
Biological classification: The systematic arrangement of organisms into groups based on particular
shared characteristics and their similarities
Phylogeny: The organisation of species according to particular characteristics which takes into
consideration evolutionary relationships

Phylogenetic Trees

Tree
format

Tree
format

Ladder
format

Reconstructing Phylogeny Using Morphological Data

→ Homologous features reflect evolutionary relationships while analogous features do not
• Homoplasies: Traits that are similar but not inherited from a common ancestor i.e. arose
independently in convergent evolution
• Shared ancestral characters (plesiomorphies): Traits that were present in a distant ancestral
species and remain present in its descendants
o e.g. Backbone in mammals – a character that originated in an ancestor of mammals
• Shared derived characters (synapomorphies): Traits that originate in a recent common ancestor
and are present in its descendants
o e.g. Hair in mammals – an evolutionary novelty unique to a particular clade

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Core Idea 4: Biological Evolution

Reconstructing Phylogeny Using Molecular Homologies

→ The greater the degree of homology/similarity in the primary sequences of macromolecules
between two species, the more closely related the two species
• Multiple sequence alignment: Align comparable sequences from the species being studied and
measure pairwise distances based on nucleotide sequence, amino acid sequence, or allele
frequencies

Advantages of Molecular Methods in the Study of Evolutionary Relationships

(1) Molecular data have a clear genetic basis that is easy to interpret
(2) Molecular data are unambiguous and quantifiable, which facilitates the objective assessment
of evolutionary relationships / open to statistical analysis
(3) Molecular methods allow for understanding of evolutionary relationships that cannot
determined by non-molecular methods such as comparative anatomy e.g. able to distinguish
between convergent and divergent evolution
(4) All organisms possess nucleic acids as genetic material and amino acids in proteins, offering a
valid basis for comparison
(5) The database of molecular information is large and growing
(6) Molecular methods allow reconstruction of phylogeny among groups of present-day
prokaryotes and other microorganisms for which there is no fossil record
(7) Mutations in nucleotide sequences take place at a constant rate, hence the degree of
homology between nucleotide sequences allows the inference of how recently organisms
diverged from the recent common ancestor
(8) Different genes evolve at different rates, so phylogenetic trees can be used to represent short
or long periods of time depending on which genes are used

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