Ch19: Natural Selection

and Evolution
Charles Darwin (1809-1882)
The general idea
• In a population of a particular species, there are always more individuals born or
reproduced than those who live to sexual maturity and reproduce, so there is intense
competition for resources to survive and reproduce
• There is variation in the population caused by slightly different genes as a result of
mutation and sexual reproduction
• The individual organism that have features more suited to their habitat will have a
greater chance to survive long enough to reproduce
• So the genes that caused the advantageous features will be passed onto the next
generation
• After each generation, more and more individuals will carry the genes that result in these
favourable features
• Given enough time, this population of this species has changed significantly.
• This is called evolution by natural selection
Story of Charles Darwin
• Son of country doctor
Real example – the evolution of peppered moths
in industrial England
• Watch video “Evolution of the peppered moth”
• Write in your notebook the changing colours of the peppered moth and the selective
pressure before, during and after the onset of industrial revolution
• Before the industrial evolution, the moth’s colour was white so as to be camouflaged by the while
lichen colour on the tree bark
• Then industrial revolution began. The lichen was killed by air pollution and the trees were
covered by black soot from the air.
• The white moths were easily spotted and picked off by birds against the black tree trunks
• The few darker moths had a better chance of survive and reproduce
• So after each generation, more and more black moths made up the moths population
• In the 1950s almost all peppered moths were black
• Then the Clean Air Act took effect, the air became clean
• Lichen came back
• And gradually but surely, the white moths also came back.
Textbook example: the hoverfly
• Read and write the process of the evolution of hoverfly’s stripes
• At the beginning, only a small percentage of hoverflies had a little bit of stripes (selective
advantage) on their backs that made them somewhat resembled a wasp with a terrible sting
• Wasp’s yellow and black stripes are called “warning colourations”. If a bird heeds the warning and
not trying to eat the wasp, it suits both parties.
• These hoverflies had a bigger chance of not being eaten (this is the selection pressure) thus more
likely to live to reproduce
• Their genes were passed onto their offspring, among which a few developed even more obvious
stripes that looked more like the wasp’s stripes
• These had even bigger chance of survival and they produced more offspring
• After millions of years and countless generations, hoverflies now look almost identical to wasps
Polar bears’ adaptions
• What is an adaptation?
• A feature or characteristic that an organism has developed (evolved) to be able to live in its natural
habitat
• This is a picture of a polar bear. Watch video “all about..”
• Please write its adaptations that allow them to live in the arctic circle.
• Thick layer of white fur for insulation and camouflage
• Wide, large paws for walking on snow/ice and for swimming
• Strong, muscular legs for swimming long periods in water
• Nostrils that can close for swimming under water
• Large body mass for small surface area to volume ratio, to minimise heat loss
• Strong sense of smell
• Bumpy pads on paws to provide grip on ice
• Short, powerful claws for catching and holding prey
• Curious facts:
• Transparent hairs?
• Black skin colour?
Bacterial resistance to antibiotics
• The rate of evolution is largely determined by the time length of one generation. Why?
• Bacteria can reproduce every 20 minutes (calculate how many bacterial cells you will
have from just one in 24 hours)
• How do bacteria reproduce?
• Being unicellular is more effective at passing on mutated genes to offspring. Why?
• Antibiotics kill bacteria and some fungi, but not virus
• Bacterial resistance to antibiotics
• Describe how the resistance is developed, or how the evolution of this ability happened? What is the
selective pressure? Selective advantage?
• The super bug
• what can we do to improve the situation?

• Pesticides resistance in insects. DDT