▪The process by which new species or

populations of living things develop from

pre-existing forms through successive
generations
▪Christianity, Judaism, and Islam have the
Genesis Story.
▪Hinduism has Brahma creating the universe
from himself.
▪The Greeks with their tales about Gaea, the
Titans, and the Olympians.
▪Japan’s Izanagi and Izanami.
 Anaximander
proposed that
animals could
transform from
one kind to
another.
 Empedocles
thought that
animals were
combinations of
different parts.
▪This era emphasized that through using
human reasoning, the world can be
improved.
French philosopher and
biologist Pierre-Louis
Moreau de Maupertuis had
his theory of origins,
which proposed
spontaneous generation
(living things developing
from nonliving) and
extinction (the dying out
of species)
French philosopher and
naturalist Georges-Louis
Leclerc considered but
ultimately rejected the
idea of several species
having a common
ancestor. He believed in
the idea of spontaneous
generation from organic
molecules.
Charles Darwin’s
own grandfather
Erasmus Darwin
published his own
speculations on
evolution in his book
Zoonomia.
Swedish botanist Carolus
Linnaeus observed that
there was variation
among species and used
this to create his
taxonomy, a classification
system were still use for
organisms.
In 1801, French naturalist Jean-Baptiste
de Monet, chevalier de Lamarck presented
his theory on evolution: he proposed
that organisms evolve through time,
from being lower forms to higher beings.
Characteristics that are needed are used
often and thus will be passed on to the
next generations; those disused will
eventually be forgotten and not passed.
This was Lamarck’s theory on
inheritance of acquired characteristics.
▪ Elephant trunks- Lamarck
believed elephants used to have
short trunks, but since they could
not reach water nor food with
these short trunks, elephants
then felt the need to stretch their
trunks. As the longer trunks were
needed for use, this trait was
then inherited by the next
generations.
▪ Human body parts- Lamarck
also pointed out that body parts
that are no longer used or
needed are disappearing, like the
appendix. Eventually, people will
be born without these body
parts.
▪ Giraffe necks- Just like with
elephants, he believed giraffes
had to stretch their originally
short neck in order to reach
food. Then the next generations
inherited these long necks.
Charles Darwin, a 19th century English
naturalist, proposed in his book On the Origin
of Species that organisms evolve through
natural selection. He published his findings
from his five-year travel through the flora,
fauna, and fossils he observed in South
America, Australia, and the south of Africa.
He argued that organisms change over time
to adapt to environmental changes, and that
the physical and behavioral traits that best
ensure survival will be the ones inherited by
the next generation. The phrase “survival of
the fittest” best sums up natural selection.
The theory of evolution relies on the idea of
interrelatedness of species. It also relies on the
premise that there should be genetic variation
(differences in the genes) in the physical
characteristics of a species.
▪Those in the population that barely adapt to their
environment are less likely to survive and reproduce,
so the likelihood of these “weak” genes are being
passed down are low.
▪Those in the population that have the favored traits –
know how to survive, can adapt, know how to find
food, can avoid predators, and resist disease – are
the ones most likely to survive, reproduce, and thus
pass on these strong genes to the next generation.
 One of the giant
sloths, now in the
Natural History
Museum, London
▪ Fossil bones from large extinct animals in Argentina- Darwin
discovered the remains of what seemed to be giant sloths, an
extinct horse, an extinct camel, and what looked to be an
armadillo. He had seen the modern counterparts of these fossils,
and these fossil findings helped develop his ideas on evolution.
▪ Galapagos Islands observations on finches- When his travels took
him to the islands of Ecuador, Darwin observed 13 species of
finches. He concluded that one finch species was the original,
coming from South America. Different species emerged
throughout the next generations, accumulating and then retaining
advantageous traits that is a variation in the beaks of the finches
according to their diet. This process of one common ancestor
evolving to multiple forms in order to adapt to a diverse
environment and its sources is now called adaptive radiation.
Darwin’s observation on the beaks of the finches according
to their diet included the following:
o Slender beaks for catching small insects with wings.
oCurved parrot-like beaks for crushing nuts or on insects
like beetles.
oStrong beaks that pick-up sticks to poke insects from
trees.
oLong straight beaks for getting nectar out of flowers.
oBlunt beaks for crushing seeds.
1. Convergent Evolution- different organisms independently evolve similar
traits. An example of this is that sharks (fish) and dolphins (mammals)
are different from one another and yet both have the streamlined body
needed for swimming and living in water.
2. Divergent Evolution- closely related organisms developing dissimilar
traits. An example are the Galapagos finches.
3. Parallel Evolution- when species that share a common ancestor but live
in different places develop similar traits. An example is how marsupials
in Australia and placental mammals (animals that have placentas where
embryos grow) in the other parts of the world evolved independently but
paralleled each other.