1. "nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution” ~Theodosius Dobzhansky (1900- 1975)‏ Photo by “davemee” flickr creative commons

2. In science, theories are statements or models that have been tested and confirmed many times.

3. In science, the term "Theory" does not express doubt. They explain a wide variety of data and observations They can be used to make predictions They are not absolute, can be changed as new evidence is found

4. Why do so many different animals have the same structures, the arm bones in a human are the same bones as a flipper in a whale? Why is the sequence of DNA very similar in some groups of organisms but not in others? Why do the embryos of animals look very similar at an early stage?

5. Photo courtesy of Swamibu, Flickr Creative Commons

6. Charles Darwin developed the THEORY OF EVOLUTION BY NATURAL SELECTION which explained how organisms changed over time (ADAPTED)‏

7. Lamarke's Theory of Acquired Characteristics Some thought that you would gain or lose features if you overused or didn't use them, PROVEN TO BE WRONG! Photo courtesy of ucumari, creative commons, flickr

8. Darwin was a naturalist (what we today call biologists)‏ He traveled the world and made observations and sketches of many species His most famous travels were aboard the H.M.S. Beagle where he traveled to the Galapagos Islands

9. Marine Iguana, photo courtesy of mtchm, flickr creative commons Blue-footed booby, photo courtesy of stirwise, flickr creative commons

10. Giant tortoise, photo courtesy of Planetgordon, flickr creative commons Finch, photo courtesy of stirwise, flickr, creative commons

11. Darwin noted that there existed many finches on the islands, but while they had similarities, each was adapted to eating a particular type of island food He concluded that the finches all came from one ancestral species and evolved into many new species Cactus finch, photo courtesy of zrim, flickr creative commons

12. Darwin published this work to explain the variety of species that exist on the planet He proposed the “Theory of Evolution by Natural Selection ”

13. 1. Variation exists among individuals in a species. 2. Individuals will compete for resources (food, mates, and space) 3. Competition would lead to the death of some individuals while others would survive 4. Individuals that had advantageous variations are more likely to survive and reproduce. This process came to be known as Natural Selection The favorable variations are called Adaptations Photo courtesy of digitalART2, flickr creative commons

14. Say in a species of blob….there exists blobs of all shapes and sizes (variation)‏ Blobs eat the little purple organisms that live underground and on the surface.

15. During a particularly hot year, food became less abundant (competition), blobs that had the ability to dig into the soil to get food had a better chance of survival. Many blobs died that year…….

16. The ones that survived mated and passed their genes to the next generation. (reproduction)‏

17. The next generation had move blobs with the pointed noses. That is NATURAL SELECTION. Variation Competition Survival Reproduction

18. Fossil Evidence Shows numbers extinct animals Shows similarities between extinct animals and animals that are alive today The earth’s layers show a time scale of species and when they appeared on earth (and when they died out)‏

19. Dinosaurs have always fascinated us, movies such as Jurassic Park capitalize on that fascination. How do we know what dinosaurs looked like? We create a picture based on the bones we find (fossils) and use modern reptiles to guess at their texture and skin color.

20. Homologous structures – these are parts of the body that are similar, but have different functions ex. The flippers of whales, and the wings of birds All forelimbs of vertebrates have the same pattern of bones Common ancestry

21. Vestigial Organs – these are organs or parts that seem to have no function Whales have pelvic bones that do not attach to legs

22. Biochemistry and DNA When comparing the DNA of one species to another, more similarities are found in species that are more closely related. Lion photo credit: ucumari Tiger photo credit: digitalART2

23. Embryological Development Embryos of different species develop in almost identical ways. Human fetus at 8 weeks

24. Direct observation of species change Bacteria become resistant to antibiotics Wolves were bred over many generations to become dogs (artificial selection) and then bred further to create a variety of breeds