EVOLUTION!

Evolution
 Evolution- Is the cumulative change in the
heritable characteristics of a population

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUshLAzXJm4
 Darwinian Evolution is based on five different 'sub
theories:
 1. Evolution: that all life is and has been perpetually
changing. This contrasts strongly with notions that all
forms of life are constant an unchanging.
 2. Common descent: that all living things share a
common ancestor if the traced back far enough.
 3. Gradualism: that evolutionary change takes places
slowly and gradually. This contrasts with saltation in
which changes are sudden and extreme.
 4. Multiplication of species: the diversity of life is a
consequence of speciation. Populations adapting to
locations and becoming reproductively isolated from
other populations.
 5. Natural selection: a two stage process in which:
– producing genetic variation
– selection
 Evidence for Evolution
 1) Fossil record: A fossil is the ancient
preserved remains of an organism.
 The fossil can be dated from the age of
the rock formation.
 Sequences of fossil can show the gradual
change of an organism over geological
time.
 2) Homologous structures:
 All of life is connected through
evolutionary history and consequently
those organisms more closely connected
might reasonably be expected to share
common structures or homologous.
 Group of organisms closely related share a
common form or derived trait which has
been inherited from the common ancestor.
 This classic example of homologous
structures is the pentadactyl limb of the
vertebrate.
 a) Humerus
 b) Radius
 c) Ulna
 3) Selective breeding:
 If an animal posses a
characteristic that is
considered useful or valuable
then this animal is selected for
breading.
 The hope then is that this
characteristic will be present
in the next generation and at
a higher frequency than
before.
Selection of high muscle yields in
cows
– In a population of cows (generation 1 = G1) it is noticed that
some produce more muscle than others.
– These cows are selected for breeding and the other cows are
rejected for breeding.
– The calves of these muscle yielding cows (G2) are then
produced and once mature they themselves will have calves.
– These now mature cows (G2)will be producing on average, a
higher muscle than G1 cows.
– The G2 population of cows will show variation in muscle
– The breeder will select higher yielding G2 cows for the next
breeding population.
– The cycle is repeated until the cow population is producing very
large muscle way beyond level seen in the G1 population.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rW54_vM9SF0
5.4.3 Population size and evolution.
 Populations tend to produce more
offspring than the environment can
support.
 The population produces more offspring
than the carrying capacity of the
environment can support
 Offspring/population compete for limited
resources (Intraspecific competition)
 Some individuals have characteristic (or
combination ) that give them a competitive
advantage.
 These individuals are consequently 'fitter' in
terms of freedom from disease, food availability
etc.
 These individuals are more likely to successfully
reproduce (offspring survive)
 Through inheritance the frequency of these
characteristics become greater in the next
generation.
 By definition these characteristic have a genetic
basis
 The alleles for the advantageous characteristic
becomes more frequent in the population
 Lyre Bird Video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjE0Kdfos4Y
 Overpopulation
 the consequence of the potential
overproduction of offspring is a struggle
for survival.
 The struggle takes the form of individuals
in the population being 'selected for' or
'selected against' .
 Survivors form the new breeding
population.
 The frequency of advantageous alleles has
increased.
 The change in the heritable characteristics
is by definition evolution.
Darwin’s Dangerous Idea Pt. 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9p5fQVvR_E
5.4.5 Variation in a species.
 Populations of a species show variation.
 Variation means differences in
phenotypes.
 Variation shows two basic patterns.
 Discontinuous Variation
 There are distinct classes of individual
 e.g. Blood groups of a human population
 Discontinuous variation usually indicates
the condition is controlled by one to two
genes.
 Continuous Variation
 This type of variation is called continuous
variation with no distinct classes but a
complete range of the characteristic
 e.g. Height of a trees in a forest
 Continuous variation like this normally
indicates a polygenic condition or multiple
alleles
 5.4.6 Sexual reproduction and
variation
 Asexual and sexual populations both
experience mutation which increases the
variation within the members of a
population.
 However sexually reproducing populations
also experience significant additional
sources of variation.
 Meiosis and the independent assortment
of chromosomes creates new
combinations of chromosome s
 Random fertilisation increases the
variation in the population
 The number of different genetic variations
is increased further by cross-over in
meiosis
5.4.7 Natural selection
 ''........can we doubt (remembering that many
more individuals are born than can possible
survive) that individuals having any advantage,
however slight, over others, would have the best
chance of surviving and procreating their kind?
On the other hand, we may feel sure that any
variation in the least injurious would be rigidly
destroyed. This preservation of favourable
variations and the rejection of injurious
variations, I call Natural Selection' Darwin C.
(1859) The Origin of Species
 Natural selection is a two stage
process:
 Variation
 Selection
 When a population evolves there is a
cumulative change in the heritable
characteristics of the population.
 Natural selection can act on a population
without speciation occurring.
 In effect the genetic profile of the
population is adapting to changes in local
conditions.
 Every phase in the process of evolution is
affected by variation and by selection.
 In colonies of bluegill Lepomis macrochirus, some males provide
parental care for broods in nests, whereas other males steal
fertilizations and do not provide parental care. Using experimental
pond populations of bluegill of known genotype (determined through
protein electrophoresis), we demonstrate that cuckolder males
successfully fertilize eggs in parental male nests. Using electrophoretic
techniques to assess the fertilization success of nesting parental male
bluegill in Lake Opinicon, Ontario, we demonstrate that paternity of
these males ranges from 41% to 100% among four colonies studied.
This difference among colonies is related to the density of cuckolder
males.
Option D: Evolution
Spontaneous Origin of Life on Earth
 We have learned that all cells come from
pre-existing cells.
 At some point, the first cells must have
been formed.
 Four Processes are needed to for the cells
to first form
 1) The non-living synthesis of
simple organic molecules
 Chemical reactions produce simple organic
molecules such as amino acids, from
inorganic molecules such as water, carbon
dioxide and ammonia
 2) The assembly of molecules into
polymers
 Organic molecules are synthesized
together to form polymers
 Ex. Polypeptides from amino acids
 3) The origin of self replicating
molecules that made inheritance
possible
 The formation of polymers that have the
ability to self replicate.
 This allows their characteristics to be
inherited into subsequent generations
 4) The packaging of molecules into
membranes with an internal
chemistry different from their
surroundings.
 The development of membranes to form
spherical droplets, including the polymers
that hold the genetic information
The Miller–Urey experiment
 was an experiment that simulated hypothetical
conditions thought at the time to be present on
the early Earth, and tested for the occurrence of
chemical evolution.
 Specifically, the experiment tested Haldane's
hypothesis that conditions on the primitive Earth
favored chemical reactions that synthesized
organic compounds from inorganic precursors.
 Considered to be the classic experiment on the
origin of life
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9ZRHoawyOg
 They mixed ammonia, methane and
hydrogen to form a reducing atmosphere.
 Electrical discharges and boiling water and
condensing water simulated lightning and
rainfall.
 Conclusions
 After one week, the water turned a murky
brown.
 Many organic compounds, including fifteen
amino acids.
 Miller and Urey concluded that organic
compounds could have formed
spontaneously on earth before living
organisms
 Origin of Organic Compounds
 Possible locations for the origin on life:
1) Synthesis of chemical reactions in the
atmosphere and water on the surface of the
earth
2) Hydrothermal vents deep in the oceans. Could
have led to the spontaneous synthesis of
organic compounds.
3) Extraterrestrial origin for organic compounds.
Protocells from space could have been
delivered by meteorites 400 million years ago.
 RNA and the Origin of Life
 RNA is a substance that many believe
plays an important role in the origin of life.
 RNA has 2 characteristics to make it a
likely choice for helping originate life.
 They are:
-Ability to Self Replicate
-Ability to Produce Catalytic Activities
 Self Replicate
 RNA is capable of self replicating
forming one molecule from the template
of another
 This will produce a replica of the original
and information will be passed on
between generations
 Catalytic Activities
 RNA catalyses many chemical reactions
 It may have replaced the need for
enzymes in order for chemical reactions to
occur
 Membranes and Protobionts
 Living cells may have been preceded by
protobionts
 Protobionts have an internal chemical
environment different from their
surroundings.
 Examples include coacervates and
microspheres membrane bound
spheres that enclose droplets of fluid to
contain the cytoplasm and carry out
metabolism
 Prokaryotes and the Atmosphere
 Prokaryotes had a significant impact on
the creation of an oxygen-rich atmosphere
 Prokaryotes began to use water as a
source of hydrogen during photosynthesis
and oxygen began to build up in the
atmosphere over 100 million years.
 Endosymbiotic Theory for
the Origin of Eukaryotes.
 The endosymbiotic theory concerns the origins
of mitochondria and chloroplasts, which are
organelles of eukaryotic cells.
 According to this theory, these organelles
originated as separate prokaryotic organisms
which were taken inside the cell as
endosymbionts.
 Mitochondria developed from proteobacteria and
chloroplasts from cyanobacteria.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zufaN_aetZI
Characteristics of Mitochondria and
Chloroplasts
 They grow and divide like cells
 They have a naked loop of their own DNA
 They synthesize some of their own
proteins
 They have double membranes (similar to
cells that are taken into a vesicle by
endocytosis.)
 Reading
 Pg. 512-516 in the text
D2- Species and Speciation
 Species
 Species- a group of actually or potentially
interbreeding populations, with a common
gene pool, which are reproductively
isolated from other such groups
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l25MBq8T77w&feature=related
 Definitions
 Gene Pool- any genes available in the
interbreeding population.
 Allele Frequency- is the amount of times
an allele is present, as a proportion of all
alleles in the population.
 Allele frequency ranges from 0.0-1.0 
evolution always involves a change in
allele frequency in a population’s gene
pool.
 Barriers Between Gene Pools
 Geographical isolation
 Hybrid infertility
 Temporal isolation- populations may mate
or flower at different seasons or different
times of day
 Behavioural isolation
 Polyploidy
 Contributions to speciation:
 Polyploidy is a state different from most
organisms which are normally diploid meaning
they have only two sets of chromosomes -
polyploidy may occur due to abnormal
cell division
 It is most commonly found in plants.
 existing plants and most of the animals are
polyploids or have undergone an event of
polyploidization in their evolutionary history
 Speciation
 Speciation: the formation of a new species by
splitting of an existing species.
 2 methods:
-Allopatric Speciation- referring to organisms
whose ranges are entirely separate, so that they
do not occur in any one place together
-Sympatric Speciation- organisms whose ranges
overlap or are even identical, so that they occur
together at least in some places
 Allopatric Speciation
-Allopatric Speciation- referring to organisms
whose ranges are entirely separate, so
that they do not occur in any one place
together
Ex- http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=YCoEiLOV8jc&feature=related
 Sympatric Speciation
-Sympatric Speciation- organisms whose
ranges overlap or are even identical, so
that they occur together at least in some
places
 Ex- Tennessee Cave Salamander
 Adaptive Radiation
 An adaptive radiation is a rapid
evolutionary radiation characterized by
an increase in the morphological and
ecological diversity of a single, rapidly
diversifying lineage.
 Phenotypes adapt in response to the
environment, with new and useful traits
arising.
 Convergent Evolution
 Convergent evolution describes the
acquisition of the same biological trait in
unrelated lineages.
 The wing is a classic example of
convergent evolution in action (analogous
structures)
 Common niches will have similar
characteristics
 Divergent Evolution
 Divergent evolution is the accumulation
of differences between groups which can
lead to the formation of new species
 usually a result of diffusion of the same
species adapting to different
environments, leading to natural selection
defining the success of specific mutations.
 Ex. For example, the vertebrate limb is
one example of divergent evolution.
 The limb in many different species has a
common origin, but has diverged
somewhat in overall structure and
function.
 Pace of Evolution
 Gradualism- the slow
change from one form
to another.
 Punctuated
Equilibrium- long
periods without
appreciable change
and short periods of
rapid evolution.
On the Origin of Species Darwin clearly stated that
"Species of different genera and classes have not
changed at the same rate, or in the same degree.
In the oldest tertiary beds a few living shells may still
be found in the midst of a multitude of extinct forms...
 Polymorphism
 Polymorphism in biology occurs when
two or more clearly different phenotypes
exist in the same population of a species

 
 
 
                          

Light-morph Jaguar (typical)

 
 
 
                          

Dark-morph or melanistic Jaguar (about 6% of the South American

population)
2 Different Types of Polymorphism
 Transient Polymorphism- natural selection
is acting as an erosive force to eliminate
altogether one of the two alternative
alleles.
 Balanced Polymorphism- selection is
acting as a creative force to preserve
genetic variation.
Option D3- Human Evolution