HISTORY OF EVOLUTIONARY THOUGHT OBJECTIVES 1. Describe the two main tenents of Darwin s Origin of Species a. Organisms evolve from one or a few common ancestors b. Takes place through natural selection 2. Describe the prevailing view regarding evolution and species in Europe in the 1800s a. Each species were created individually by God via "special creation." Another view is that God created the species, sat back, and watched impassively as they compete to survive 3. Identify and explain the main discoveries of the following scholars: Linneaus, Hutton, Lyell, Cuvier, Malthus, Lamarack a. Linneaus: developed a binomial format for naming species b. Hutton : claimed that geological mechanisms happen slowly c. Lyell : geologic processes are still happening today, claimed that geological mechanisms happen slowly d. Cuvier : discovered that the older the stratum, the more dissimilar its fossils were to current forms, discovered that species come and go e. Malthus : population increases but food does not f. Lamarack : inheritance of acquired characteristics (proven incorrect later by genetics) 4. Describe what nested hierarchical categorization of organisms means and identify whether or not it is still in use today a. It means grouping organisms that share similar characteristics and shared traits together, which is still in use today 5. Define the hypothesis of gradual geologic change, name its proponents, describe its predictions about the age of Earth, and discuss the evidence to support it that Darwin found on his voyage a. Forces observable today can create what we see around us, given enough time;therefore, the Earth is old because all of its geologic features take time to reach where it is today. b. Darwin witnessed a volcanic eruption and an earthquake that raised portions of the coastal shelf by 8 ft. c. He also found marine fossils at 12,000 ft and reasoned that they were raised up by earthquakes. d. He concluded than an old Earth meant enough time for evolution to generate a whole tree of life.
6. Explain Lamarckian evolution, and be able to give an example of how this mechanism was hypothesized to lead to change. Evaluate Lamarck s views in light of current biological knowledge a. Organisms get rid of disused parts of the body and pass the acquired traits to their offspring. b. An example would be a giraffe stretching its neck to reach up to higher branches and each generation after led to a longer neck. 7. Describe the biogeographical patterns Darwin observed on his voyage and explain how they provide support for the theory of evolution a. Organisms adapt to their environments, which leads to evolution 8. Descibe the lines of reserach Darwin investigated upon his return to England, and assess how each of these projects contributed to his views a. Studied barnacles & created an exhaustive taxonomy, showing variation b. Bred pigeons via artificial selection c. Dispersion of organisms, concluded that plants & animals could disperse on their own d. Collected and studied finches from Galapagos, led to idea of adaptive radiation. Discovered variation in bill size and shape 9. Describe the process of adaptive radiation by ecological diversification that led to many Galapagos finches with different beaks. Be able to explain the ecological interactions that drove diversification in this case a. Adaptive radiation is the diversification of species originating from a common ancestor to fill a wide variety of ecological niches. The Galapagos finches have different beaks for the types of food they eat. 10.Explain Wallace s contributions to evolutionary biology. Discuss why Darwin recieved the bulk of the credit for the idea of natural selection a. Wallace's idea is that isolation and time will bring divergence. Older islands have more endemic species and geographic barriers promote divergence. He got the conclusions after noticing a pattern in the Malay Archipelago. Darwin received most of the credit because he was the first one to come up with the idea of natural selection. 11.Demonstrate how Darwin s observations on his voyage led to major inferences in The Origin of Species a. His finds of fossils and observations the Galapagos finches led to his idea of natural selection along with his observation of the Earth's age and geologic processes.
12.Discuss the response to the publication of The Origin of Species: which ideas were readily acepted, which were not, and why a. Descent with modification from a common ancestor was widely accepted but natural selection was rejected universally for 50-60 years because 1)it rejected religious belief of divine purpose 2)idea of young earth makes people think there hasn't been enough time for natural selection to diversify species 13.Identify future knowledge that helped garner widespread support for natural selection within the scientific community a. Better understanding of the old age of the earth and genetics EVIDENCE OF EVOLUTION OBJECTIVES 1. Provide examples of various different types of evidence for evolution, and how each of these is used to demonstrate the occurence of evolution a. Fossil record: several layers of strata b. Vestigial structure: functionless/rudimentary structures useful for one species c. Homology: similarities due to common ancestry d. Geographic distribution of living species: species evolve differently in different environments, different species evolve similarly in the same type of environment e. Embryology: early stages of many animals are very similar, suggests that organisms share common ancestry 2. Differentiate between microevolution and macroevolution. Which type of evolution was Darwin thinking about when he described descent with modification a. Microevolution : short time scales, change in genetic composition i. Ex: bacteria b. Macroevolution : change in composition of species i. Ex: dinosaur to bunny c. He was thinking about macroevolution when he described descent with modification because he wanted to figure out how organisms connected 3. Explain the principle of stratigraphy and how it results from the process of how sedimentary rock and fossils are formed a. Principle younger fossils found closer to surface, and older fossils deeper down b. Strata tells us which organisms populated Earth when the layer was formed
4. Explain how the fossil record provides evidence for evolution (including how it demonstrates extinction, succession, and transitional forms) a. Fossil record shows that past organisms differ from present organisms 5. Describe the hypothesis that Tiktaalik s discoverers were testing when they searched for a transitional tetrapod in 375 million year old rocks a. wanted to see if he could find transitional species between fish and tetrapod and went looking for fossils between layers of rock where fish and tetrapods could be found 6. List the main ways in which Tiktaalik resembles modern tetrapods and the main ways in which it resembles fish a. Tetrapod: Flat head with eyes on top (means they were going up to the surface), neck, ribs b. Fish: Fins (they were specialized in that they had tiny bones that would form a wrist/stubby looking thing that basically allowed them to do pushups and crawl around) 7. Be able to explain why transitional fossils are not necessarily direct ancestors of modern organisms, but rather cousin-like. How does this relate to the shape of the tree of evolution a. Transitional fossils are intermediates between extinct and modern day forms and they aren't actual branch points of a tree. 8. List some vestigial structures in humans and the functions they served in our ancestors a. Wisdom teeth- they were used grind down tougher foods when our ancestors also had bigger jaws. b. Pancreas- organ that helped break down grassy vegetation since the process to break it down required more energy. c. Tailbone- Our ancestors probably used these to maintain balance or as an extra limb 9. Define homology and explain how different types of homology can reveal common evolutionary origins a. Homology : having similar structures or functions as a result of shared ancestry b. Structural homology : same basic structure but different function c. Developmental homology: inherited similarities during development despite differences in adults d. Molecular homology : similarities among organisms at the molecular level 10.Compare and contrast homology, vestigal structures and convergent evolution (analogous structures. Be able to give an example of each a. Homology are similarities from a common ancestor
i. Ex: Mammalian forelimbs b. Vestigial structures are similar structures between organisms that are essentially functionless/rudimentary i. Ex: appendix c. Convergent evolution are common characteristics that occurred independently rather than from a common ancestor i. Ex: Wings in birds, all wings serve the same function but they evolved independently because they are similar in structure 11.Be able to give examples of evolution occurring in the modern day a. Insect resistance to pesicides 12.Using evolutionary reasoning, justify the fact that much of the National Institutes of Health budget is devoted to research on non-human organisms a. We are molecularly homologous with other organisms since we descended from common ancestors b. Testing on non-human organisms and their reaction can give clues to how humans will react to similar drugs or situations NATURAL SELECTION 1. Compare and contrast artificial and natural selection a. Artificial selection : a process in which humans have modified other species over many generations by selecting/breeding individuals that possess desired traits b. Natural selection: a process in which individuals that have certain inherited traits tend to survive/reproduce at higher rates than do other individuals because of those traits 2. Contrast genotype and phenotype. Explain why not all phenotypic variation is inherited. Be able to give an example of non-heritable phenotypic variation. a. Phenotype : the characteristics of an organism as a result of genes and the environment b. Genotype : genetic composition of an organism, alleles that contribute to the phenotype c. Not all phenotypic variation is inherited because some are caused by the environment or deliberate modification, so it can t be passed onto offspring d. Example of non-heritable phenotypic variation: Bodybuilders alter their phenotypes dramatically but do not pass their huge muscles on to the next generation 3. Define the 3 properties of a trait required for it to be subject to natural selection a. Variation: Individuals within a population have different characteristics/traits (or phenotypes)