Day 17 October

th 24

Chapter 8

400 million years between humans and our fish ancestors

What made humans different?

Moved from inland Africa to the shores Collected shellfish, ate fish (DHA) Your brain is mostly composed of fat! Mammals have placenta Mammals drink milk

http://evolution.berkeley.edu/evolibrary/news/060201_zebrafish

Five primary lines of evidence:

1. The fossil record 2. Biogeography

3. Comparative anatomy and embryology

4. Molecular biology 5. Laboratory and field experiments

8.17 The fossil record documents the process of natural selection.

Although it has been central to much documentation of the occurrence of evolution, it is a very incomplete record

In Darwins time, it was assumed that the deeper down in the earth a fossil was found, the older it was. Relative Dating

Many branches, not just a straight line

Happened in North America 55 million years ago

First found in northern Canada and estimated at 375 million years old, Tiktaalik fossils appear to represent a transitional phase between fish and land animals.

8-18. Geographic patterns of species distributions reflect their evolutionary histories.

History Matters
Who Are

arrived first?

numerous different habitats available?

In Hawaii, it appears that a finch-like descendant of the honeycreepers arrived 4-5 million years ago and rapidly evolved into a large number of diverse species. The same process has occurred and continues to occur in all locales, not just on islands.

8.19 Comparative anatomy and embryology reveal common evolutionary origins.

Ernst Haeckel (1834-1919)

Homologous Structures

Similarities common ancestor Differences adapted to environment

For example, look at the hands of four primates: tarsier, gibbon, chimpanzee, and human. Despite the similarities in their hands, the differences are what makes each most suitable for its way of life. The tarsier leaps and clings, and has large finger pads to help it do this. The gibbon swings from the trees, so has long, strong fingers for swinging. The chimpanzee may be able to manipulate very crude tools with its stubby thumb, but the humans thumb faces the forefinger, which provides dexterity for countless purposesfrom threading a needle to mountain climbingfrom carving wood to buttoning a shirt.

Vestigial Organs A vestigial organ is a part of the body that serves no use. The appendix is one example of a vestigial organ; wings on an ostrich are another. The human body has several vestigial organs, including the tail bone, wisdom teeth and muscles in the ear.

Vestigial Structures

Convergent Evolution
Analogous structures all developed from different original structures.

8.20 Molecular biology reveals that common genetic sequences link all life forms.
The genetic code provides our fourth line of evidence that evolution occurs.

DNA Similarities and Differences

Related The

vs. unrelated individuals

more distantly you and another individual are related, the more your DNA differs.

Scientists ask the question Does race exist?

The Human Genome Project found all humans to have a 99.9 % similar genetic content and identity, but this is challenged by a new more detailed research suggesting a higher genetic diversity, with further medical and evolutionary implications.

DNA Similarity between Two Species

Compare

their DNA sequences for individual genes. Rhesus monkeys, 138 amino acids out of 146 are the same as those found in human hemoglobin.

In

Recency of Common Ancestry

Estimates of evolutionary relatedness made from: Comparative Anatomy Embryology The Fossil Record Molecular Clocks

8.21 Laboratory and field experiments enable us to watch evolution in progress.

A fifth line of evidence for the occurrence of evolution comes from multigeneration experiments and observations.

Changes in the Frequency of the Various Alleles