vEVOLUTION

The term of evolution was coined by Herbert Spencer.

Evolution: The study of origin of life and periodic development or modification of

organism from simple to complex in course of geological period is called
evolution.

Inorganic evolution: The changes taking place in inorganic objects or non-living

things are called inorganic evolution.

Organic evolution:-The change of simple living organisms in to complex

living organisms by gradual changes is called organic evolution.

Theories of organic evolution

Lamarckism
or
Lamarck’stheory of inheritance of acquired
characters

Introduction:
The theory of inheritance of acquired characters was put forward by French
naturalist Jean Baptiste deLamarck (1744-1829 AD), in his famous book
“Philosophic Zoologique” in 1809.The main theme of his theory is that “the
characters change or gain during the life period of an organism due to effect of
use and disuse of organs and of environment i.e. acquired characters are
inherited from one generation to another.

The main points of Lamarck theory are as follows:

(i)Tendency to grow

(ii)Effect of environment

(iii)Use and disuse of organs

(iv)Inheritance of acquired characters

(i)Tendency to grow:Each and every organism has the natural tendency to grow.
The internal forces of life tend to increase the size of an organism. The increase in
size is up to a certain limit which is determined by the life itself.

(ii)Effect of environment:The effect of environment on the organisms is direct.

The changes in the environmental factors like light, tempt, air, food etc. lead to
change in the mode of life of the organisms. Thechange in mode of life leads to
the structural modification.

(iii) Use and disuse of organs: The structural modification are directly
proportional to use and disuse of the organs i.e continuous use of organs make
them functional and strong and thus lead to its better development,
whilecontinuous disuse makes the organs undeveloped, weaken and finally
disappear.

iv) Inheritance of acquired characters: The structural change produced by the

effect of environment and by the effect of use and disuse of organs are called
acquired characters. According to Lamarck, they are inherited from one
generation to another generation.
Examples on support of Lamarckism:

(i)Giraffe: Development of present day long necked and long fore limbed giraffe
from deer like ancestor by gradual elongation and stretching of neck and fore
limbs in response to deficiency of food on the barren ground. These body parts
were elongated so as to eat the leaves on the tree branches.

(ii)Snakes: Development of present day limbless snake with long, cylindrical body
from the limbed ancestors due to continuous disuse of limbs and stretching of
their body to suit their creeping mode of locomotion and fossorial mode of life.

(iii)Blacksmith: Blacksmith develop a large and strong biceps and triceps muscles
due tocontinuous use of arms.

(iv)Flightless birds: Development of flight less birds like ostrich from flying
ancestors due to continuous disuse of wings as these were found in well
protected area with plenty of food.

(v) Aquatic birds: The aquatic birds like ducks have been evolved from
terrestrialancestors .They moved in water to get best food.Some structures like
web evolved between toes to adapt in water and lose the flying power because
they had no need of flying.

Criticism of Lamarckism:
(i)August Weismann (1834-1914), a German biologist,was the main oppose of the
inheritance of acquired characters.He made an experiment on white mice by
cutting their tail for 22 generations and in no generation,he found tailless mice.It
means that acquired characters cut tail was not inherited.

(ii)Boring of ear and nose in womenhas been continued from many centuries,does
not show any trace of holes in the ears nose of offsprings.

(iii)The muscles of arms of blacksmith become much strong due to continuous use
but are not inherited to offspring.
(iii) Circumcision of penis is in Muslim and Jewish boys but is not inherited to the
next generation

(v) Heart size does not increase generation,after generation though it is

continuously used.

(vi)The muscle developed by wrestler in his life time is not transmitted to its
offspring.

(vii) Mutilation(removal of parts of the body) are not inherited. If the limb or
finger is mutilated it does not disappear in the offsprings.

Darwinism (Theory of natural Selection)

Introduction: Charles Robert Darwin (1809-1882) was great naturalist,
who propounded the theory of natural selection. He published his famous book
“Origin of species by natural selection” in 1859.

Theory of natural selection is based on the following factors

(i)Over production or rapid increase in number of offsprings

(ii) Struggle for existence

(iii)Natural selection(Survival of the fittest)

(iv)Variation and heredity

(v)Origin of species

(i) Over production: The fertility rate among the living organism is very
high and every organism has an innate desire to reproduce.
Examples:

a) Paramecium: Paramecium divides three times in 24 hours. With this rate, a

single Paramecium will produce in 5 years, a mass of Paramecia equal to 10,000
times than size of the earth.

b) Elephant: Elephant becomes sexually mature at 30 years of age and during its
lifespan of 90 years, produces only 6 off springs. At this rate, if all elephants
survive then a single pair of elephant can produce about 19 million of elephant in
750 years.

c) Cod fish may produce over a million eggs in a year. If all the eggs develop in
to fishes, the whole Atlantic Ocean will be full of cods in five years.

The great fertility of the organisms is compensated by great destruction, so that

the total no. of individuals of any species remains constant.

(ii)Struggle for existence:The no. of organisms is produced too much but

the space and food available remains almost constant.Therefore,there is always
an active competition or struggle to ensure living to obtain the maximum amount
of food and better place.

There are 3 types of struggle among the organisms

(a)Intra specific struggle:The struggle between the organisms of same species

E.g. Two dogsfor a piece of meat.

(b)Inter-specific struggle: The struggle between the organisms of the different

species.

E.g.A cattrying to catch a rat and a rat trying to escape.A snake for catching a
rat,and of the rat for escape.

(c)Environmental struggle:The struggle between the environmental factors and

organisms like extreme heat,cold,drought,heavy rain, disease etc.
(iii)Natural selection: In the struggle for existence, various organisms
compete with each other but only those survive and reproduce which have
favorable variation the other having no favorable variation are automatically
weeded out. The process of selection in nature goes on in which the organisms
which are fittest to the surrounding environment, survive and reproduce while
the unfit and ill adapted perish. Darwin called this type of selection, called natural
selection.

(iv)Variation and heredity: Any change in organism differs from the

parents and from the member of same species is called variation. Variation are
the main source of evolution i.e. without variation, evolution is not possible.
Variation give rise to new characters and heredity passes them to the next
generation.

Darwin explains the two types of variation: Harmful and Useful.The useful
variation make the organism fit in the nature whereas harmful variation make the
organism unfit for struggle for existence.

(v)Origin of species:As the favorable variations of the natural selected

organism are inherited to the offspring,more and more such changes are
accumulated in the upcoming progenies.After several generations over a long
period of time,the organisms become quite different from the ancestor from
which they were evolved and thus give rise to a new species.

Criticism of Darwinism:

(i)It did not explain the effect of use and disuse and the presence of vestigial
organs.

(ii)It did not differentiate between somatic and germinal variation.

(iii)Darwin explains the survival of the fittest but not the arrival of the fittest.
(iv)Naturalselection doesnot explain the power of regeneration.

(v)New species arise suddenly at a single step due to mutation and not due to the
accumulation of small variation generation after generation.

Neo Darwinism(Modern synthetic theory of

evolution)
Introduction:-
Darwin’stheory of origin of new species was supported by a number of scientists
like Wallace,Haeckel, Weismann, Mendel etc. These supporters are known as the
Neo-Darwinians and the concept was known as Neo-Darwinism.

Neo-Darwinism accepts following as the major causes of evolution

(i)Mutation: Mutations are the sudden or drastic changes,which occur in the

chromosomes (Chromosomal mutation) and gene(Gene mutation).These create
variations in the organisms that play important role in evolution.Mutation theory
of evolution was proposed byHugo deVries.

(ii)Gene recombination: During crossing over in prophase 1 of meiosis,

breakage and recombination of homologous chromosomes occur. This genetic
recombination produces new combination of characters called recombinants. The
crossing over is the major source of observable genetic variation in the
population,which is significant event in evolution.

(iii)Natural selection:According toDarwin,the useful variation are selected

by the nature and these are tending to preserved inherited to offspringswhile
harmful variation are selected against by the nature and are eliminated. This is
the principal element of Darwin’s theory.
(iv)Reproductive isolation: It is the prevention of interbreeding between
the populations of two different species. When potential mates are present in the
same area but are either unable to mate due to morphological,psychological,
physiological differences or the hybrid formed is sterile.

It maintains the characters of the species but can lead to the origin of new
species.

(v) Genetic drift (Sewell Wright Effect): The random changes occur
in gene frequency in a small and isolated population occurring by chance or rather
than by natural selection are called genetic drift. Genetic drift maybe an
important mechanism in evolutionary change in small or isolated population. It is
the significant factor in the origin of new species.

Short notes:
(i)Speciati on: It is the process of evoluti on by which new species of organism are evolved
in nature in course of ti me.II) Gene pool: A gene pool is the total variety of gene and
alleles present in a sexually reproducing populati on.

(iii)Gene flow: The movement of alleles within a population is called gene flow.

(iv)Polyploidy: The organism with more than two sets of chromosomes is called
polyploids and the phenomenon is called polyploidy.

(v) Crossing over: It is the process of exchange of genetic material between non-
sister chromatids of two homologous chromosomes during meiosis resulting new
combination of gene.

(vi)Isolation: It is define as the division of a single population into two or more

groups due to some factors which check interbreeding. It is one of the most
potent factors which promote evolution and produce new species