Evolution

Theories and Laws

Why cant a law become a theory and why cant a theory become a law?
Scientific law: it's a specific statement based on empirical data, and its truth is generally confined to a certain set of conditions.
E = mc, c refers to the speed of light in a vacuum. In order to quantify the velocity of this galactic movement, Hubble proposed Hubble's Law of Cosmic Expansion, aka Hubble's law, Newton's Laws of Motion

Scientific theory often seeks to synthesize a body of evidence or observations of particular phenomena. Testable statement about how nature operates. Can't necessarily reduce a scientific theory to a statement or equation, but it does represent something fundamental about how nature works.
Big Bang Theory Evolution and Natural Selection Theory of General Relativity

Evolution
Evolution:
Definition: change over time Process: by which modern organisms have descended (come from) ancient organisms Theory: a well-supported testable explanation of phenomena that have occurred in the natural world

Scientist
Malthus: Published Principle of Population which stated that if left unchecked the human population would grow beyond the space/food needed to sustain it.
Darwin realized that his reasoning applied even more to other organisms. Darwin was convinced that species evolved but he need the mechanism-a scientific explanation based in a natural process.

Scientist
Lamarck: Published his hypothesis of the inheritance of traits. His ideas were flawed but he was the 1st to propose a mechanism for change.

Scientist
Darwin: Traveled on the HMS Beagle. Provided him with evidence to support his explanation of how evolution works.

Scientist
Lyell: Published Principles of Geology which explains that the same processes affecting Earth today have shaped the Earths ancient geological features.
Uniformitarianism

Scientist
Wallace: Shared with Darwin his speculation on evolution by natural selection, based on his studies of the distribution of plants & animals.

Evidence of Evolution
1. Fossil Record

Found in the same layers of Earth but in different parts of the world
Darwin saw fossils as a record of the history of life on Earth & proposed that the Earth was millions, rather than thousands, of years old Darwin proposed that during this long period of time, species came and went By comparing fossils from older rock layers with fossils from younger rock layers, scientists could show that life on Earth has changed over time
* Gaps remain in the fossil record, not undermining the theory of evolution, but indicating that scientists still dont have a complete understanding of how some species have evolved.

Ammonites

Nautilus

Evidence of Evolution
2. Comparative morphology Bones of a human arm, whale flipper, bat wing differ in size, shape, and function but they are similarly located in the body and are constructed of the same kinds of tissues arranged in similar patterns

Evidence of Evolution
3. Similarities in Embryology The same groups of embryonic cells develop in the same order and in similar patterns to produce the tissues and organs of all vertebrates These common cells and tissues, growing in similar ways, produce the homologous structures

Evidence of Evolution
4. Biogeography Plants and animals are unique to islands in the middle of the ocean and other remote places Similar looking species often live in the same kinds of habitats, even when vast expanses of open ocean or high, impassable mountain ranges separate them

S. American Rhea

Australian Emu

African Ostrich

Evidence of Evolution
5. Geographic Distribution of Living Species Example: Galapagos Island finches- similar but distinctly different depending on what island they were found on; or Each species that are slightly different from one another or Entirely different species in different geographical areas, but sometimes under similar environmental circumstances, animals and plants may have similar anatomies and behaviors. WHY?

1. Species now living on different continents descended from different ancestors 2. Because some animals on each continent were living under similar environmental/ecological conditions, they were exposed to similar pressures of natural selection 3. Because of these similar pressures of natural selection, different animals and plants end up evolving with similar characteristics.

Evidence of Evolution
6. Homologous Body Structures- structures that have different mature forms but develop from the same embryonic tissues Ex. The limbs of reptiles, birds, mammals such as arms, wings, legs, and flippers, vary greatly in form and function; yet they are all constructed from the same basic bones. Comparing similarities and differences in homologous structures help biologist group animals according to how recently they last shared a common ancestor Vestigial organs- organs that are reduced in size and are mere traces (vestiges) of homologous organs of other animals (examples include human appendix and extension of the cecum in the large intestine)
May have served a purpose in the past and currently does not affect an organisms ability to survive or reproduce

Natural Selection
Charles Darwin & The H.M.S. Beagle 1831-1836 1831 left England with under the command of Robert Fitzroy, Charles Darwin onboard as the naturalist, and a crew of 73. Circled the Earth, studying the southern oceans and along both coasts of South America. Darwins work included:
Galapagos Islands (off Ecuador) Coral reef work in the South Pacific- Structure and Distribution of Coral Reefs

Darwin spent 20 years after his return studying his discoveries 1859- Published The Origin of the Species and the theories of evolution and natural selection.
During his travels, Darwin made numerous observations and collected evidence that led him to propose a revolutionary hypothesis about the way life changes over time.

Natural Selection
Galapagos Islands: revealed evidence that animals with in a population varied in size, color, and other traits
All the variations could affect their ability to secure resources and to survive and reproduce in particular environments

All island species resembled the mainland species Variations depended on their environment

Darwin & the Galapagos Islands Galapagos Islands are a group of small islands off the South American coast.
Although close together, the different islands have very different climates, vegetation, and animals.

Galapagos tortoises varying shell shape & neck length from island to island.

Hood Island tortoise

long neck and a curved shell open to the legs, allowing the tortoise to reach the sparse vegetation on this hot, dry, and nearly barren island

Isabela Island tortoise

a dome-shaped shell and a short neck, allowing the tortoise to feed on the more abundant, low lying vegetation

Pinta Island tortoise (island has a climate and vegetation in between)

a shell in between the Hood and Isabela tortoises

Darwin noticed many of the characteristics of many animals and plants varied among islands- and he wondered if the animals and plants living on the different island were once members of the same species and how these separate species become separate.

Natural Selection
Key Observations and Conclusions:
1. Observation: Populations have a reproductive capacity to increase in numbers through successive generations 2. Observation: No population can grow indefinitely 3. Inference: Individuals will end up competing for resources 4. Observation: Genes are the populations pool of inheritable information 5. Observation: Mutations have given rise to different alleles, which are a source of difference in phenotypes 6. Inference: Some phenotypes are better than others.
Genetic changes lead to increased fitness (increase in adaption to the environment) Adaption: some inheritable aspect of form, function, behavior, development that improve the odds of surviving and reproducing.

7. Conclusion: natural selection among individuals of a population is an outcome of variation in traits that affect which individuals survive and reproduce in each generation

NATURAL SELECTION

Evolution By Natural Selection

Survival of the Fittest individuals that are best suited for their environment will survive, reproduce, and pass their traits on to the next generation.