1. Chapter 14, 15 & 16 – Evolution
Why is the concept of evolution controversial to some people?
What is evolution?
Where did the concept of evolution come from?
How does evolution occur?
What does science know about the origin of life on Earth?
What does science know about the origin of humans?
What evidence exists of major evolutionary transitions?

2. Why is the concept of evolution controversial to some people?
Some Christians view the Bible as scientifically accurate regarding Earth History
Some Christians believe they know how much time has elapsed since the creation of the Earth
Some people interpret the Bible in a manner that makes it conflict with the findings of science
Some persons fail to distinguish between evolution, the origin of life on Earth, and Common Descent

3. What is evolution?
Evolution – A change in the frequency of alleles in a population over time (p. 297)
Evolution – Change over time in the characteristics of a population (p. 278)

4. Did you know… …the term “evolution” is conflated with other concepts?
The origin of the universe
The origin of the 1st life form
Common descent of species

5. Where did the concept of evolution come from? (p. 278-280)
1766 – Carolus Linnaeus
“Species are the work of time”; “It is impossible to doubt, that there are new species produced by hybridization”; fossils not the result of a global flood
Georges LeClerc
proposed evolution, but no mechanism (theory); Modern species (are) conceived by nature and produced by time”
Etienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire
“It is not repugnant to reason, that is to physiological principles, that the crocodiles of the present epoch could be descended through an uninterrupted succession from the antediluvian species” (Descent with modification)

6. Catastrophism vs. uniformitarianism (p. 280)
Georges Cuvier ( )
– Catastrophism (major changes in earth’s crust result from geological catastrophes)
J. Hutton (1785) & C. Lyell (1830) – Uniformitarianism (past geological events can be explained by current geological processes)
“It is by faithfully weighing evidence, without regard to preconceived notions, by earnestly and patiently searching for what is true, that we have attained our dignity…” Charles Lyell, 1872

7. Biology: Life on Earth (Audesirk)
Geological formations are the result of slow,
repeated natural processes (p. 281)
FIGURE 14-4 Fossils of extinct organisms
Fossils provide strong support for the idea that today's organisms were not created all at once, but arose over time by the process of evolution. If all species were created simultaneously, we would not expect (a) trilobites to be found in older rock layers than (b) seed ferns, which in turn would not be found deeper than (c) dinosaurs, such as Allosaurus. Trilobites became extinct about 230 million years ago, seed ferns about 150 million years ago, and dinosaurs 65 million years ago.
youngest
rocks
oldest
rocks
Figure Biology: Life on Earth 8/e ©2008 Pearson Prentice Hall, Inc.
Chapter 1

8. Where did the concept of evolution come from?
Jean Baptiste Lamarck, 1801 – Evolution by (the theory of) inheritance of acquired characteristics (p. 281)

9. Evolution vs. Evolutionary theory
Evolutionary theories
Proposed mechanisms explaining why evolution occurs
Theories exist to explain facts (The fact of evolution is explained by theory)

10. Biology: Life on Earth (Audesirk)
What explains the specific patterns of
fossils found in the geological record?
FIGURE 14-4 Fossils of extinct organisms
Fossils provide strong support for the idea that today's organisms were not created all at once, but arose over time by the process of evolution. If all species were created simultaneously, we would not expect (a) trilobites to be found in older rock layers than (b) seed ferns, which in turn would not be found deeper than (c) dinosaurs, such as Allosaurus. Trilobites became extinct about 230 million years ago, seed ferns about 150 million years ago, and dinosaurs 65 million years ago.
youngest
rocks
oldest
rocks
Figure Biology: Life on Earth 8/e ©2008 Pearson Prentice Hall, Inc.
Chapter 1

11. What explains the pattern of plant fossils in the geological record?
There are no fossilized flowering plants (or parts) in older sedimentary rock

12. Coprolites (p. 279) record eaten life
What explains why dino coprolites do not contain flowering plant remnants?)
Coprolites (p. 279) record eaten life

13. What explains flightless birds?
Scientifically observable facts require explanation (why do we observe what we do?)
What explains flightless birds?

14. Biology: Life on Earth (Audesirk)
What best explains the presence of
vestigial limbs in snakes? (p. 283)
FIGURE E14-2 The vestigial remnants of hind legs in a snake
Some snakes have small "spurs" (large photo, at arrow) where their distant ancestors had rear legs. In some species, these vestigial structures even retain claws (inset).
Figure E14-2 Biology: Life on Earth 8/e ©2008 Pearson Prentice Hall, Inc.
Chapter 1

15. What best explains the transitions observed in comparing historical patterns to modern patterns?
Science, March 17, 2000

16. What explains why limbless pythons possess limb genes?
Cohn, M., Tickle, C., Developmental basis of limblessness and axial patterning in snakes, Nature, June 3, 1999, p

17. Bacteria are becoming increasingly resistant to antibiotics
Scientifically observable facts require explanation (why do we observe what we do?)
Bacteria are becoming increasingly resistant to antibiotics

18. Biological control of rabbits in Australia with Myxomatosis virus
Scientifically observable facts require explanation (why do we observe what we do?)
Biological control of rabbits in Australia with Myxomatosis virus
1952 – 99% mortality
Today – 40% mortality

19. Biology: Life on Earth (Audesirk)
Why are there several types of distinct but similar Hawaiian honeycreepers living on the Hawaiian islands?
Did God create the Hawaiian honeycreepers for Hawaii – even though Hawaii is young geologically?
Was Hawaii always there?
Chapter 1

20. What explains the different types of preying mantises?

21. Scientifically observable facts require explanation (why do we observe what we do?)
Why are there several types of distinct but similar birds living in the Galapagos archipelago?

22. Where did the concept of evolution come from?
Charles Darwin & Alfred Wallace (p ), 1858 – Evolution by the mechanism of natural selection (theory to explain the fact of evolutionary change)

23. How does evolution occur? (p. 288-289)
Theory of evolution by natural selection depends on 4 postulates
Populations vary
Traits are inherited
Some individuals fail to survive and reproduce
Reproductive success is not random
-reproductive success depends on one’s characteristics

24. Evolution occurs when…
A characteristic in a species is genetic
Genetic variation exists for the gene(s) involved in the characteristic
Selective pressure exists which confers a survival advantage to some individuals

25. Does genetic variation exist within a species?

26. Does some genetic variation confer a survival advantage in a competitive environment?

27. Alleles conferring a survival advantage will be maintained in a population
Sickle cell allele frequency is higher in descendants of central Africa (why?)

28. Even potentially harmful genetic variation may be adaptive in certain environments
Those with 2 sickle cell alleles have a 1/5 chance of surviving to reproductive age (will have sickle cell anemia)
Those with 1 sickle cell allele (heterozygous) have a 25% better chance of survival in a malaria environment

29. Does some genetic variation confer a survival advantage in a competitive environment?

30. Genetic variation is produced by gene mutations (p. 298)

31. Mutations, natural selection, and evolution (p. 299)
Mutations are random
Mutations do not occur in response to natural selection
The process of evolution requires mutations

32. Evolution means…
The gene pool (p. 297) of a population (frequency of alleles) changes over time as a consequence of selective pressures
As the gene pool changes, so does the frequency of the characteristics influenced by the alleles selected for/against

33. = SS or Ss (susceptible to insecticide)
Evolution is a change in allele frequencies in a population over time (p. 297)
= SS or Ss (susceptible to insecticide)
= ss (resistant to insecticide)
90% susceptible; 10% resistant
Survivors: 40% susceptible (Ss); 60% resistant (ss)
Next generation: 25% susceptible; 75% resistant

34. Individuals do not evolve; populations evolve
Changes within an individual is not evolution

35. Do Darwin’s finches meet the criteria for evolution?

36. Variation in gene expression can produce advantageous phenotypic variation
Science, Sept. 3, 2004

37. Speciation may occur as a result of changes in allele frequencies in a population over time (p )
Resource partitioning is adaptive and can lead to reproductive isolation

38. Natural selection may be directional, stabilizing
or disruptive (p. 309)

39. Common descent is an extension of evolution
Related species arose from a common ancestor through reproductive isolation and genetic divergence through natural selection

40. Hawaiian silverswords (28 species)
California tarweed
(Raillardiopsis scabrida)

41. The Theory of Evolution by natural selection explains the diversity of distinct but similar species
Adaptive radiation (p. 324)
3 of 300 species of cichlid fishes in Lake Malawi (9th largest lake in world)

42. The Theory of Evolution by natural selection explains the diversity of distinct but similar species
Adaptive radiation and the Composite Family (Asteracea – 23,000 species)

43. What is the best explanation for the facts we observe in nature?
Why do some fish move on land?

44. What is the best explanation for the facts we observe in nature?
Monotremes exhibit characteristics of reptiles, birds, and mammals?

45. What best explains the pattern of hominid fossils in geological history?

46. Did you know… Skhul Cave, Mt. Carmel, Israel 90,000 years old
…the earliest reliably dated modern Homo sapiens were found in Israel?
Skhul Cave,
Mt. Carmel, Israel
90,000 years old
(9 individuals)

47. Is radiometric dating (p. 338) reliable?
Argon dating of Vesuvius (79 A.D.)

48. C14 dating of the Siloam Tunnel
2 Kings 20:20; 2 Chronicles 32:3,4
Nature 425, (11 September 2003)

49. C14 dating validates the historical accuracy of the Old Testament, but YECs passionately argue that radiometric dating is grossly inaccurate

50. Humans have fewer chromosomes than primates
Did humans share a common
ancestor with primates?
Humans have fewer chromosomes than primates
Chromosome Numbers in the great apes:
human (Homo) 46 chimpanzee (Pan) 48 gorilla (Gorilla) 48 orangutan (Pogo) 48

51. Chromosome Numbers in the great apes (Hominidae):
Ancestral Chromosomes
Fusion
Homo sapiens
Inactivated centromere
Telomere sequences
Chromosome Numbers in the great apes (Hominidae):
human (Homo) 46 chimpanzee (Pan) 48 gorilla (Gorilla) 48 orangutan (Pogo) 48
Centromere
Telomere
Testable prediction: Common ancestor had 48 chromosomes (24 pairs) and humans carry a fused chromosome; or ancestor had 23 pairs, and apes carry a split chromosome.

52. Inactivated centromere
Human Chromosome #2 shows the exact point at which this fusion took place
“Chromosome 2 is unique to the human lineage of evolution, having emerged as a result of head-to-head fusion of two acrocentric chromosomes that remained separate in other primates. The precise fusion site has been located in 2q13–2q14.1 (ref. 2; hg 16: – ), where our analysis confirmed the presence of multiple subtelomeric duplications to chromosomes 1, 5, 8, 9, 10, 12, 19, 21 and 22 (Fig. 3; Supplementary Fig. 3a, region A). During the formation of human chromosome 2, one of the two centromeres became inactivated (2q21, which corresponds to the centromere from chimp chromosome 13) and the centromeric structure quickly deterioriated (42).”
Homo sapiens
Inactivated centromere
Telomere sequences
Hillier et al (2005) “Generation and Annotation of the DNA sequences of human chromosomes 2 and 4,” Nature 434: 724 – 731.