Lecture 2 History and Evidence F2016.ppt

Historical Background
Plato (427-347 BC) – Believed in 2 worlds: the real world
(ideal and eternal), and an illusionary world (imperfect and
perceived through the senses). Typological view of nature
– individual variation as the imperfect manifestation of
ethos.
Aristotle (384-322 BC) – Believed that all living organisms
could be arranged in a “scale of nature” or Great Chain of
Being. The ladder of life consists of graduation from
inanimate material through plants, through lower animals
and humans to other spiritual beings.

Carolus Linnaeus (1707-1778) – Established the
modern system of taxonomy in an attempt to discover
order in the diversity of life “for the greater glory of
God”.
 Groupings based on similarity
 Hierarchal relationships of organisms

Early Ideas About Evolution
 Earth formed according to laws
of physics and chemistry
 Older than previously thought
 Life emerged as distinct types
 Transformed when environment
changed
Georges Buffon
(1707-88)

Jean-Baptiste Pierre Antoine de
Monet, Chevalier de Lamarck
1809 Philosophie Zoologique
First articulated theory of evolution:
 Organisms continually arise by spontaneous generation.
 “Nervous fluid” acts to move each species up the “great
chain of being”.
 Organisms develop adaptations to changing environment
through the use and disuse of organs. (Heavy use attracts
more “nervous fluid”.)
 Acquired characteristics are inherited.

SCALE
OF
ORGANIZATION
TIME
“Chain of
Being”
LAMARCKIAN EVOLUTION

Problems with Lamarck’s ideas:
1) There is no evidence of spontaneous generation.
2) There is no evidence of an innate drive toward complexity.
- E. coli - Parasites - Cave
dwelling organisms
3) There is no evidence of inheritance of acquired
characteristics. (BUT…..epigenetics???)

Archbishop James Ussher
Calculated in 1664 that the Earth
was precisely 5,668 years old.
“Heaven and Earth, Centre and
substance were made in the same
instant of time and clouds full of
water and man were created by
the Trinity on the 26th of October
4004 B.C., at 9:00 in the Morning.”
How Old is the World?

Record of Historical Change
Nicolas Steno (1638-86):
Father of geology and
stratigraphy

Geologists recognized that change was
gradual
• James Hutton
– Observable processes
produce small changes
that accumulate over time
– The earth must be old
• William Smith
– Different rock layers
contain distinct fossils
William Smith
(1769-1839)
Smith’s first Geological Map

Charles Lyell
Principles of Geology
Emerging field of GEOLOGY lead
to a new concept of the age of the
Earth.
 The history of the earth extends
back through vast time periods.
 The processes at work today are
the same as those that have been
operating throughout the entire
history of Earth.
These concepts became known as
UNIFORMITARIANISM or
ACTUALISM.

Paleontology provided evidence that life
changed
• Georges Cuvier (1769-1832)
 Fossils resemble but are not exactly the same as modern
species
 Many past species are extinct
Mary Anning discovered several
species of extinct marine reptiles

Charles Robert Darwin
(1809-1882)
 Briefly studied medicine at Edinburgh.
 Studied for the clergy at Christ’s
College, Cambridge University.
 Interacted with some natural scientists
(John Henslow and Adam Sedgwick) at
Cambridge.
 Offered a position (in 1831) as the
ship’s naturalist on the H.M.S. Beagle,
which was going on an expedition to
chart the waters of South America.

The Voyage of the Beagle (12/27/1831 to 10/2/1836)

VARIATION IN BILL
SHAPE AMONG
GALAPAGOS FINCHES
 Closely related species that
occupy different ecological
settings tend to have different
characteristics.
 Populations that are
physically isolated tend to
differ.

 Recent fossils are closely related
to extant species.
 Adjacent layers in the fossil
record contain similar organisms
 Law of Succession
GROUND SLOTHS
GLYPTODONTS
ARMADILLO
TREE SLOTHS

OBSERVATIONS FROM DOMESTIC ANIMALS:
 High levels of variability within a species
(SPORTS).
 Variants can pass these characteristics to
offspring.
 Artificial selection can rapidly alter the
characteristics of a breed.

Thomas Malthus
1766-1834
 Populations reproduce
exponentially.
 Natural populations have a
large capacity to reproduce
and if left unchecked they will
increase at a rapid rate.
 MANY MORE ORGANISMS
ARE BORN THAN CAN
POSSIBLY SURVIVE.
Essay on the Principle of Populations
1798

Charles Darwin
As more individuals …are born than
can possibly survive, and as,
consequently, there is a frequently
recurring struggle for existence, it
follows that any being, if it vary
however slightly in a manner
profitable to itself, will have a better
chance of surviving, and thus be
naturally selected. – The Origin of
Species 1859

SEPTEMBER 28, 1838:
“… it at once struck me that under
these circumstances favourable
variations would tend to be
preserved and unfavourable ones
to be destroyed.”

Alfred Russell Wallace
(1823-1913)
“Then it suddenly flashed
upon me that this self-acting
process would necessarily
improve the race, because in
every generation the inferior
would inevitably be killed off
and the superior would
remain – that is, the fittest
would survive.”

DARWIN’S FOUR “THEORIES” OF EVOLUTION
1. Evolution has occurred. Species are not unchanging
entities, but evolve over time. All species derive from
very different species living in the past. This theory was
not entirely new, but Darwin provided convincing
evidence for it.
2. The primary cause of evolutionary change is
natural selection. Species change over time because
bearers of different traits have different probabilities of
contributing offspring to the next generation.

3. Splitting of single species into two or more species
has occurred. Darwin postulated that all life originated
with one or a few species. Because many species exist
today, there must have been a process whereby one
species can split into at least two species.
The necessary conclusion from this view is:
All species share common ancestors.
4. Evolutionary change is gradual. Evolution occurs by
the gradual transformation of populations over long
periods of time (hundreds to millions of years) rather
than by a species changing nearly instantaneously into
something different.
DARWIN’S FOUR “THEORIES” OF EVOLUTION

WHAT ARE THE ELEMENTS OF EVOLUTION BY
NATURAL SELECTION?
 Many more individuals are born than survive (COMPETITION).
 Individuals vary in traits directly related to their ability to
survive and reproduce (VARIATION).
 These advantageous traits are passed on to offspring
(HERITABILITY).
 This process is repeated generation after generation over long
periods of time (ITERATION).

COMPETITION
Decline in population
size
Change in environment
(Resources)

“If I were to give a prize for the single best idea anybody
ever had, I’d give it to Darwin for the idea of natural
selection. Ahead of Newton, ahead of Einstein, because
his idea unites the two most disparate features of our
universe: the world of purposeless, meaningless matter
in motion on the one side, and the world of meaning and
purpose and design on the other. He understood that
what he was proposing was a truly revolutionary idea.”
Daniel Dennett, philosopher, 2001

BIOLOGY’S LAW
EVOLUTION BY NATURAL SELECTION – a necessary
outcome of differential survival and reproduction,
provided the characteristics that caused those
differences are heritable.
 A mechanism, as mechanical as any physical law.
 Acts on individuals, but only populations evolve.
 Opportunistic, not goal seeking – backward-looking,
not anticipatory.
 Not the only mechanism of evolution.

What is the Evidence for Evolution?

Principles of Homology and Common Descent
 Evolution can be viewed as a series of bifurcations in a
phylogenetic tree – all life can be traced back to a
common ancestor.
 Groups of species that share a common ancestor derive
attributes from that ancestor through common descent.
 Once related lineages are reproductively isolated,
evolution can lead to modifications of the basic plan.
 Nevertheless, future evolutionary paths are constrained
by past history.

Evidence for Evolution: Homology of the Vertebrate Limb
 Comparative anatomy shows
that the same skeletal elements
appear in very different species.
This phenomenon only makes
sense as a process of descent
with modification.
 Similarity between species that is not
functionally necessary.
See Fig. 2.17 in Z&E

Common descent makes sense of puzzling
patterns in nature

DNA
UNIVERSAL GENETIC MATERIAL

Evolution of the genetic code: “Universal” mRNA Code

Vestigial Organs: Snakes with legs Cohn & Tickle
Nature 1999

Vestigial Genes: Blind Cave Fish
 Loss of complex eye structure as an adaptation to cave
dwelling
 Transplant experiments from closely related fish show that the
genes for eye development are still present and fully
functional.

Transitional
Forms in
the Fossil
Record:
Whales
From Gingerich et al. Science 2001

Lecture 2 History and Evidence F2016.ppt

Finding Missing Links in the Fossil Record

Transitional
Forms in
the Fossil
Record:
Trilobites

Fig 4.22 Z&E
Major Evolutionary
Transitions: The Tetrapod
Limb

Fig 4.19 & 4.21 in Z&E
 What genetic and
developmental changes
occurred during this
transition?
The lineage of lobe-finned
fish leads to tetrapods

Nature 1–4 (2016) doi:10.1038/nature19322
Understanding the evolutionary transformation of fish fins into tetrapod limbs is a
fundamental problem in biology. The search for antecedents of tetrapod digits in fish has
remained controversial because the distal skeletons of limbs and fins differ structurally,
developmentally, and histologically. Moreover, comparisons of fins with limbs have been limited by
a relative paucity of data on the cellular and molecular processes underlying the development of
the fin skeleton. Here, we provide a functional analysis, using CRISPR/Cas9 and fate mapping, of
5′ hox genes and enhancers in zebrafish … we find that a marked reduction and loss of fin rays is
associated with an increased number of endochondral distal radials. These discoveries reveal a
cellular and genetic connection between the fin rays of fish and the digits of tetrapods and
suggest that digits originated via the transition of distal cellular fates.

Fate mapping of cells
marked by the activity of
hox enhancers
Adult fin phenotypes of
hox13 deletion series
Nature 1–4 (2016) doi:10.1038/nature19322

Long-term Selection Experiments:
Two-way selection for oil-content of maize seeds.
(After Dudley 1997)
Six replicate lines of D. melanogaster selected
upwards for abdominal bristle number. Selection was
suspended at the points marked. (After Yoo 1980)
From Falconer & Mackay 1996

Response to Artificial Selection:
(Introduction to Quantitative Genetics Falconer & Mackay 1996)

Observed changes in
phenotype as a
consequence of changing
environments
 Evolutionary response
to the introduction of
the flat-podded golden
rain tree in the 1920’s

MAJOR LINES OF EVIDENCE FOR EVOLUTION
 The proposed genetic mechanisms of evolution have
all been documented experimentally.
 Just as erosion is a fact in physical geology, natural
selection is a fact in biology – it is a necessary outcome
of heredity and variation.
 HOMOLOGY AND COMMON DESCENT-
 Vestigial characters
 Different sets of data yield similar phylogenetic trees.

 THE FOSSIL RECORD-
 “Intermediate types” are being reported continually
from the fossil record.
 Different dating methods yield similar ages for fossil
deposits, and they all indicate that the earth is “old”.
 Stratification in the fossil record – life forms that we
believe to be more recently evolved only appear in
more recent fossil deposits.

 DIRECT OBSERVATION OF EVOLUTIONARY
CHANGE THROUGH TIME
 Through artificial selection experiments, the mean
phenotype can be rapidly advanced, and
phenotypes can be produced that are well beyond
the range of variation in a base population.
 Direct observation of change in the fossil record.
 Evolutionary change in response to changing
environmental conditions. Often referred to as
“Contemporary Evolution” or “Evolution in
Ecological Time”.

What lessons can
we learn from the
example of whale
evolution?

What is the significance of a
developmental perspective?

 Biological evolution is a process by which populations of
organisms change over time.
 Mutations are changes in the genome of an organism. They can
be neutral, detrimental, or beneficial.
 Natural selection occurs when heritable characteristics cause
some individuals to survive and reproduce more successfully
than others.
 Natural selection is a mechanism of evolution that can cause
the genetic composition of a population to shift from generation
to generation.
 Evolutionary biologists use many different lines of evidence to
test hypotheses about evolution.
 Evolutionary theory explains the patterns of life observable in
the natural world and the processes by which that life has
evolved.
Chapter 1…

Lecture 2 History and Evidence F2016.ppt

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