EVOLUTION  most of the FEATURES on the surface of

the Earth were formed by SLOW,

 CHANGE in the genetic variance of a ONGOING, GEOLOGIC PROCESSES,
POPULATION over time. not by sudden catastrophic events.
 complex process by which the
characteristics of living organisms change  the idea that Earth has always changed in
over many generations as traits are passed UNIFORM
from one generation to the next.
 that Earth's geologic processes acted in
 It was believed that organisms and species the same manner and with essentially the
were unchanging, perfectly created, and same intensity in the past as they do in the
fixed. present and that such uniformity is
sufficient to account for all GEOLOGIC
Theory - An idea about how something in nature CHANGE.
works that has gone through RIGOROUS  The present is the key to the past.
TESTING through OBSERVATIONS AND
EXPERIMENTS designed to prove the idea right or
wrong.
Catastrophism - CATASTROPHE FORMATION
OF GEOLOGIC STRUCTURE
History of Evolutionary Thought Uniformitarianism - EARTH CHANGE IN
UNIFORM-PAST OR PRESENT
Plato
 First thought about the HISTORY OF
EVOLUTION THEORIES OF EVOLUTION
 SPECIES were static and unchanging Adaptation – trait or behavior that helps an
organism survive and reproduce.
 “they (species) always been here, and will
always be here.” and nothing will ever Variations – changes in the genes among members
change in the species that we are seeing. of the same species.
Comte de Buffon Fittest – members of a species that are best suited to
their environment.
 First thought about the differences of
organisms
 Different geographical locations have
JEAN BAPTISTE LAMARCK - 1744 - 1829
different organisms
 Hypothesized that all quadrupeds are  In the early 1800s, French Jean Baptiste
descended from just 38 species. Lamarck developed a more concrete theory
about organic evolution.
Catastrophism – Abraham Werner & Georges  Bodies and all their different parts make it
Cuvier probable, for the “organic movement” in
 States that the EARTH and GEOLOGICAL animals, and that life is organized and
EVENTS had formed suddenly, as a result of structured in an orderly manner.
some great catastrophe
 EXTINCTION OF SPECIES = killed off
by a giant natural disaster.  the first evolutionist to believe that
 IMPRESSIVE MOUNTAIN RANGE = organisms change over time.
earthquakes and eruptions.  Animals adapt to changes in the
environment
Uniformitarianism – James Hutton
  Used fossils as guide to make his 3 well-  the same animals found in DIFFERENT
known theories of evolution PLACES manifest differences in body forms
and functions.
Theory of Need  He thought that these DIFFERENCES are
due to how these organisms adapt and
o Accordingly, the ancestors of the giraffes
survive in their environment.
before have short-neck.
 offspring inherited their parents' character
and adaptive traits, and those organisms that
 organisms change in response to their were able to inherit WILL LIKELY TO
environment. SURVIVE and REPRODUCE.
 Organisms change because they need to.
 For an organism to evolve a structure, it
must need the structure.
 Drastic change in environment = drastic
change in organism

Theory of Use and Disuse

o If you don’t use it, you will lose it.
o Organisms develop specialized
characteristics by the use and disuse of
organs.
 The abundance of certain finch species in an
island was somehow related to the type of
 organs not in use will disappear while available food for these birds
organs in use will develop  finch species have DIFFERENT BEAKS
STRUCTURES
Theory of Acquired Characteristics o Origin of Species – 1859

 This theory is also known as Lamarckism.

 It states that the organisms acquired Natural Selection
characteristics could be inherited by their o According to Darwin, there are variations in
offspring. the necks of the giraffes before. During the
long drought, only the giraffes with long
CHARLES DARWIN 1809 – 1882 necks were able to survive. Thus, short-neck
 Proposed an entirely different mechanism to giraffes cannot be seen now.
account for the evolution of species.
 At the age of 22, Darwin ventured on an  Human and animals share a common
expedition collecting thousands of ancestors
specimens, fossils, and other living animals  Survival of the Fittest
and plants.  In nature, only those organisms with
 Charles Darwin sailed around the world adaptive characteristics can survive and
from 1831–1836 as a naturalist aboard the reproduce more, while those weaker ones
HMS Beagle. will eventually die, living behind no
 It took him 5 years to travel. offspring.
 Galapagos Islands can be found on the left
side of South America. Artificial Selection
 He was able to see 13 varieties of finches,
which varied in size & shape.  Artificial selection is the selective breeding
 It took him 20 years to arrange the data. of domesticated plants and animals with
desirable characteristics.
 o Example: Corn has been a staple food Evolution of Horse and Whale
throughout the years. Today, corn goes
through a series of selections that considers
the following criteria: the ability to grow in
different types of soil or climate conditions,
kernel size, and resistance to pests, etc.
Genetic Variation
 There is a very high level of genetic
variation within almost all species, including
humans.
o No two individuals have the same DNA
sequence.
 This genetic variation contributes to
phenotypic variation– diversity in the
outward appearance and behavior of
individuals of the same species.

PROCESS OF EVOLUTION
Non random mating – mutation – natural selection –
gene flow – genetic drift

EVIDENCES OF EVOLUTION
 Fossil Records
Fossils are preserved remains of a once-living
organism through natural process or catastrophic
events.
These are usually found in the sedimentary layers  Comparative Anatomy
which means the more the layers, the more evidence Is the study of similarities and differences in the
there is of different organisms. structures of different species.
Fossils can be in a form of eggs in nest, fossilized It is seen mainly in the biological structure of
feces, bones, footprints, and skin impressions. animals.
o Relative Dating - The age of the rock is o Analogous Structure – They are quite
compared to the other rock layers. Older different in fundamental structure and
fossils are found in deeper layers of the origin. They perform the same functions.
earth’s sedimentary rock; younger fossils are
found in the upper layers of the earth’s
sedimentary rock.
o Radiometric Dating/Absolute Dating - It is a
method used to determine the age of rocks
using the decay of radioactive isotopes of
Carbon-14 which is present in rocks when
the organism died. The method was
developed in the late 1940s at the University
of Chicago by Willard Libby
 POPULATION - Is a group of individuals of the
same species inhabiting and interbreeding in the
same area at the same time.
POPULATION GROWTH - The size of the
population may remain the same for some time.
However, in some cases, it can rapidly grow when it
is protected and isolated. It can also decline if
diseases or other factors affect a certain
o Homologous Structure – They have geographical area.
similar basic structures and embryonic
origins. They perform different  Exponential Growth –
functions. A period of rapid growth.
During this period, there are plenty of resources
 Biochemical Evidence available for all organisms, so more births are recorded
The nitrogen base sequences in the genetic code are than deaths in organisms.
the same in almost all organisms. Depicts a J-shape graph.
Adenine, Thymine, Cytosine, Guanine, and Uracil  Logistic Growth –
(RNA) A period of limited resources.
Small mutations or changes in the DNA eventually In logistic growth, population expansion decreases as
lead to the evolution of new species. resources become scarce, and it levels off when the
carrying capacity of the environment is reached.
 Ex: Humans have 46 chromosomes or 23
pairs of chromosomes. Depicts a S-shape graph.
 Chimpanzees have 48 chromosomes. Carrying capacity - The population stops growing
because it reaches the maximum number of organisms
 Statistically, humans and chimpanzees have
that can be supported, or “carried”.
98.8% similar DNA.
POPULATION DENSITY - Refers to the number
of organisms per unit area.
No . of species
Pop . Density=
Land area
No. of species = 52,177
Land area = 300,000 km²
 Density-independent limiting factors
The population’s density does not directly influence
changes in population’s growth
It can stop a population from growing can be such
BIODIVERSITY things as natural disasters, temperature, sunlight, and
the activities of humans in the environment.
Biodiversity describes how varied are life forms in
different ecosystems. The Philippines is known for  Density-dependent limiting factors –
its very rich biodiversity. A factor that regulates a population’s growth and is
influenced by population density.
“The country has more than 52,177 described
species of which more than half is found nowhere When a population reaches a certain number of
else in the world.” organisms. For example, when a population reaches
a certain size, there won’t be enough resources
We are all interconnected! (food, shelter, water) for all of the organisms.
Limiting Factors that depend on Population
Density
o Diseases and Parasites - Infectious diseases
and parasites spread faster in densely
populated areas.
o Competition for resources - The organisms
that have limited abilities to compete for the
resources will not reproduce as often, may
not be fit enough to live long, and can cause
their population to decrease.
o Predation - As the no. of prey decreases, so
will the number of predators, because there
is not enough food to sustain them.
o Emigration - As a population approaches its
carrying capacity, and individual organisms
leave and go to a new area where they can
find enough resources for survival and
reproduction.