Evidences of Evolution

Evolution is a process of descent with modification.

Characteristics present in an ancestral organism are altered (by natural

selection) in its descendants over time as they face different environmental
conditions.

As a result, related species can have characteristics that have an underlying

similarity yet function differently.

Homology
Similarity resulting from common ancestry.

Homologous features
The view of evolution leads to the prediction that closely related species should
share similar  features—and they do.

Closely related species share many other features.

For example, the forelimbs of all mammals, including humans, cats, whales, and
bats, it shows the same arrangement of bones from the shoulder to the tips of the
digits

Even though they have become adapted for different functions, the forelimbs of
all mammals are constructed from the same basic skeletal elements:

1. one large bone,

2. attached to two smaller bones,

3. attached to several small bones,

4. attached to several metacarpals,

5. attached to approximately five digits,

6. each of which is composed of phalanges.

The underlying skeletons of the arms, forelegs, flippers, and wings of different
mammals are homologous structures that represent variations on a structural
theme that was present in their common ancestor.

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 Comparing early stages of development in different animal species reveals
additional anatomical homologies not visible in adult organisms.

For example, at some point in their development, all vertebrate embryos

have a tail located posterior to (behind) the anus, as well as structures called
pharyngeal (throat) pouches.

Pharyngeal (throat) pouches.

These homologous throat pouches ultimately develop into structures with

very different functions, such as gills in fishes and parts of the ears and throat
in humans and other mammals.

Sometimes, organisms have structures that are homologous to important

structures in other  organisms but that have lost their major ancestral function.

These structures, which are often  reduced in size, are known as vestigial
structures.

Examples of vestigial structures include the tailbone of humans (a vestigial

tail), the hind leg bones of whales, and the underdeveloped legs  found in some
snakes.

Analogous features
Although organisms that are closely related share characteristics because of
common descent,  distantly related organisms can resemble one another for a
different reason:

convergent evolution, and

the independent evolution of similar features in different lineages.

One example of convergent evolution is the Australian sugar glider and the
North American flying  squirrel.

Both look very similar with their small rodent-like body structure and thin
membrane that  connects their forelimbs to their hind limbs that they use to glide
through the air.

Even though these  species look very similar and are sometimes mistaken for
each other, they are not closely related on  the evolutionary tree of life.

Their adaptations evolved because they were necessary for them to  survive in
their individual, yet very similar, environments.

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 In such examples in which species share features because of convergent
evolution, the resemblance is said to be analogous, not homologous.

Analogous features share similar function, but not common ancestry, while
Homologous features share common ancestry, but not necessarily similar
function.

Molecular biology
Like structural homologies, similarities between biological molecules can reflect
shared evolutionary  ancestry.

At the most basic level, all living organisms share:

a. The same genetic material (DNA)

b. The same, or highly similar, genetic codes

c. The same basic process of gene expression (transcription and translation)

d. The same molecular building blocks, such as amino acids

These shared features suggest that all living things are descended from a
common ancestor, and that  this ancestor had DNA as its genetic material, used
the genetic code, and expressed its genes by  transcription and translation.

Present-day organisms all share these features because they were  "inherited"
from the ancestor (and because any big changes in this basic machinery would
have  broken the basic functionality of cells).

Although they're great for establishing the common origins of life, features like
having DNA or  carrying out transcription and translation are not so useful for
figuring out how related particular  organisms are.

If we want to determine which organisms in a group are most closely related,

we  need to use different types of molecular features, such as the nucleotide
sequences of genes.

The Fossil Record

A third type of evidence for evolution comes from fossils.

The fossil record documents the pattern of  evolution, showing that past
organisms differed from present-day organisms and that many species  have
become extinct.

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 Fossils also show the evolutionary changes that have occurred in various 
groups of organisms.

Fossils document the existence of now-extinct species, showing that different

organisms have lived  on Earth during different periods of the planet's history.

They can also help scientists reconstruct the  evolutionary histories of present-
day species.

For instance, some of the best-studied fossils are of  the horse lineage.

Horse Lineage

Using these fossils, scientists have been able to reconstruct a large,

branching  "family tree" for horses and their now-extinct relatives.

Changes in the lineage leading to modern day horses, such as the reduction
of toed feet to hooves, may reflect adaptation to changes in the  environment.

Biogeography
A fourth type of evidence for evolution comes from biogeography.

The geographic distribution of species.

The geographic distribution of organisms is influenced by many factors,

including  the continental drift, the slow movement of Earth’s continents over
time.

About 250 million years ago, these movements united all of Earth’s landmasses
into a single large continent called Pangaea.

Understanding of evolution can be used to explain biogeographic data.

For example, islands  generally have many species of plants and animals
that are endemic, which means they are found nowhere else in the world.

Yet, as Darwin described in The Origin of Species, most island species are 
closely related to species from the nearest mainland or a neighboring island.

He explained this  observation by suggesting that islands are colonized by

species from the nearest mainland.

These colonists eventually give rise to new species as they adapt to their new
environments.

Such a  process also explains why two islands with similar environments in
distant parts of the world tend to be populated not by species that are closely

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 related to each other, but rather by species  related to those of the nearest
mainland, where the environment is often quite different.

Development of Evolutionary Thought

John Ray (1627-1705)
developed the concept of species

first person to recognize that groups of plants and animals could be

distinguished from other groups by their ability to mate with one another and
produce offspring

recognized that species shared similarities with other species, and grouped
these on a second level of classification called genus

first to use the labels genus and species

Carl Linnaeus (1707-1778)

Father of Taxonomy

developed a method of classifying plants and animals

Systema Naturae (Systems of Nature) first published in 1735

standardized Ray‟s use of genus and species terminology and established the
system of BINOMIAL NOMENCLATURE

added two categories in classification: order and class

include humans in his classification of animals, placing them in the genus Homo
and species sapiens

Georges Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon (1707 - 1788)

recognized the dynamic relationship between the external environment

and living forms

Natural History, first published in 1749

emphasized the importance of change in the universe and in the changing

nature of species - believed that when groups of organisms migrated to new

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 areas, they were gradually altered as a result of adaptation to a different
environment

rejected the idea that one species could give rise to another

Erasmus Darwin (1731-1802)

grandfather of Charles Darwin

a physician, inventor, naturalist, philosopher, poet, and leading member of a

well-known intellectual community in England

expressed his views that life had originated in the seas and that all species had
descended from a common ancestor

Zoonomia (The Laws of Organic Life) published in 1794

Jean Baptiste - Lamarck (1744-1829)

first scientist to explain the evolutionary process

believed that species change was influenced by environmental change

example of Lamarck‟s theory: giraffe stripped all the leaves from the lower
branches of a tree (environmental change), tries to reach leaves on upper
branches and stretched their neck over time

A trait acquired by an animal during its lifetime can be passed on to offspring.

This is genetically incorrect, it‟s been made fun of and dismissed

Charles Darwin (1809-1882)

joined the five-year scientific expedition on the HMS Beagle

published a book that was extremely controversial because it went against the
idea that the world was created by God

his idea became the general acceptance of the people that’s why he is known as
the “FATHER OF EVOLUTION”

On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection published in 1859 - This

statement summarizes the Natural Selection: “It at once struck me that under
these circumstances favorable variations would tend to be preserved, and
unfavorable ones to be destroyed. The result of this would be the formation of a
new species”.

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 Alfred Russel Wallace (1823-1913)
joined an expedition to Amazon, Southeast Asia and Malay Peninsula to collect
birds and insect specimens

published a paper suggesting that species were descended from other species
and that the appearance of new species was influenced by environmental factors

described evolution as a process driven by competition and natural selection -

Species were mutable, not fixed; and they evolved from other species through
the mechanism of natural selection.

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