BIOLOGY 3RD LESSON

• Theory of evolution

  The basis of modern biology
• Evidence for evolution

  • Biogeography
  • Fossil record
  • DNA/protein arrangements
  • Homology
  • Embryology
• Biogeography


  1. Studying the distribution of species across space and time

  2. Matching geographic patterns of species to their geological history

  3. Indicating relationship between common ancestry and environmental adaptation
• The evidence for evolution is compelling and extensive
• Geographic distribution of organisms

  Follows patterns best explained by evolution and movement of tectonic plates
• Galápagos finches


  • Descended from one bird that arrived on the islands from South America
  • Evolved into many finch species, each adapted for a different type of food
• Adaptive radiation


  The process by which a single species evolves into many new species to fill available ecological niches
• Fossil record


  • Records the advancement of less complex to more complex living beings
  • Uncovers transitional shapes that give concrete evidence of developmental moves
• Homology


  Similarity in anatomical structures or genetic sequences between different species, indicating shared developmental origins
• Embryology


  The study of the development of the anatomy of an organism to its adult form
• Homologous structures

  Structures that share the same overall construction despite changes in shape and size over time, evidence of descent from a common ancestor
• Vestigial structures

  Unused structures without function, residual parts from a past ancestor
• The evidence supporting evolution draws from biogeography, the fossil record, DNA/protein arrangements, homology, and embryology
• The unity of life, woven through shared ancestry and slow alterations over time, stands as a confirmation of the explanatory power and observational strength of the theory of evolution
• Charles Darwin first comprehensively assembled the evidence for evolution, convincing his scientific contemporaries of the fact of descent with modification
• Shared developmental beginnings


  The concept that describes the similarity in structures between different species due to their descent from a common ancestor. These structures share a common origin or developmental pathway.
• Derived structures

  The specific characteristics or traits that have evolved in a particular species or group of species over time. These traits may be similar or dissimilar to those of other species, depending on the evolutionary pressures and selective forces that have acted upon them.
• Biogeography

  • Studying the distribution of species across space and time
  •  Matching geographic patterns of species to their geological history
  •  Indicating relationship between common ancestry and environmental adaptation
• Derived structures


  • The specific characteristics or traits that have evolved in a particular species or group of species over time. These traits may be similar or dissimilar to those of other species, depending on the evolutionary pressures and selective forces that have acted upon them. 
• Homologous structures

  • shared developmental beginnings 
• Fossils

  • provide solid evidence that organisms from the past are not the same as those found today, and fossils show a progression of evolution 
• Geographic distribution of organisms

  •  Follows patterns best explained by evolution and movement of tectonic plates
• Comparative-genomics

  
  

  •  Reveals shared genetic codes and sequences, underscoring the relatedness of species
• Biogeography


  •  The study of how and why organisms live where they do
• Fossil hominids are arranged from oldest (bottom) to newest (top).
• DNA and protein arrangements

  •  offer compelling hereditary proof for advancement.