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The Evidence for Evolution. Evidence #1. Fossil Record. Evidence of Evolution #1 – Fossil Record. Fossils are the preserved remains of once-living organisms Rock fossils are created when three events occur organism buried in sediment calcium in bone or other hard tissue mineralizes
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Evidence #1 Fossil Record
Evidence of Evolution #1 – Fossil Record • Fossils are the preserved remains of once-living organisms • Rock fossils are created when three events occur • organism buried in sediment • calcium in bone or other hard tissue mineralizes • surrounding sediment hardens to form rock
Fossil Evidence of Evolution Fossil records document the course of life through time
Fossil Evidence of Evolution • Fossils document evolutionary transition • The oldest known bird fossil is the Archaeopteryx • It is intermediate between bird and dinosaur • Possesses some ancestral traits and some traits of present day birds • Archaeopteryx was first found in 1859
Fossil Evidence of Evolution Fossil of Archaeopteryx
Fossil Evidence of Evolution Recent discoveries • Four-legged aquatic mammal • Important link in the evolution of whales and dolphins from land-dwelling, hoofed ancestors • Fossil snake with legs • Tiktaalik: a species that bridged the gap between fish and the first amphibian • Oysters: small curved shells to large flat shells
Fossil Evidence of Evolution Whale “missing links”
Fossil Evidence of Evolution Evolutionary change in body size and toe reduction of horses
Fossil Record Activity • Gradualism – slow gradual change in a population over time • Uniformitarianism; constant, small changes in the environment result in slow changes in the population • Punctuated Equilibrium – fast change in a population in a short period of time (punctuated) followed by little/no change over a long period of time (equilibrium) • Mass extinctions are a cause of the quick change in a population
Adaptive Radiation • A single species has evolved, through natural selection and other processes, into diverse forms that live in different ways • An example is the different varieties of finches that were found on the different islands that Darwin visited. Each variety was perfectly fit for the different islands’ environments. • However, they all descended from a common ancestor
Activities • Fossil Record Activity • Analysis of phylogenetic trees and adaptive radiation
Evidence #2 Morphology
DivergentEvolution • when one species becomes many different species to fill available niches • Adaptive Radiation: periods of evolution in which organisms form new species due to adaptations that allow them to fill different niches in the community. i.e. Darwin’s Finches on the Galapagos Islands • Homologous Structures
Evidence for Evolution #2 – Morphology • Homologous Structures -Similarity in structure due to common decent (had a common ancestor), regardless of the different environments in which they now live; same structure, different function i.e.- human hands, whale fins, bat wings
Convergent Evolution • the appearance of apparently similar structures/ features in organisms of different lines of descent. • Analogous structures • Birds & Bats • Dolphins & Sharks • Penguins & Seals
Evidence for Evolution #2 - Morphology • Analogous Structures - Similar structures based on naturally selected adaptations for the same function in different organisms but that did NOT result from a common ancestor • i.e – wings in birds, bats, insects
Convergent Evolution Convergence among fast-swimming predators
Mimicry • A phenomenon in which an individual gains an advantage by looking like the individuals of a different species. • “A mimic is any species that has evolved to appear similar to another successful species in order to dupe predators into avoiding the mimic, or dupe prey into approaching the mimic.”
Monarch Viceroy
Yellow Jacket Sand Wasp
Dronefly Honey Bee
Sryphid Fly Paper Wasp
Coral Snake Colubrid Snake
Mantid Orchid
Catkin (plant) Caterpillar
Evidence for Evolution #2 - Morphology • Vestigial Structures - Remnants of once useful structures (in ancestral species) but that no longer serve a purpose in this specific species (although could still be useful in similar species) i.e. – human appendix, hind limbs of snakes and whales
Feel your gums above your canine teeth • vestigial roots
Activity • Homologous structures coloring assignment and questions
Evidence #3 Embryology
Human Embryo • Figure 2.4.1. Cat and human embryos in the tailbud stage. A cat embryo is shown on top, a human embryo below. Note the post-anal tail in both, positioned at the lower left below the head of each. The human embryo is about 32 days old. Cat Embryo