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Natural SelectionStruggle for ExistenceSurvival of the Fittest
Descent with ModificationResults of Natural Selection
Natural Selection1. Struggle for
Existence – members of each species compete regularly to obtain food, living space, and other necessities of life
From Malthus’ work, Darwin concluded that high birth rates and a shortage of life’s basic needs would force competition for resources.
Natural Selection2. Survival of the Fittest
– some individuals are better suited for their environment than others; those best suited will survive
Fitness – ability of an individual to survive and reproduce in its specific environment
Result of adaptations Evolutionary Fitness –
organism’s success in passing genes to the next generation Where fitness varies, natural
selection can act.
Adaptation – any inherited characteristic that increases an organism’s chance of survival Could be anatomical,
behavioral, physiological Evolutionary adaptation
– any genetically controlled physiological, anatomical, or behavioral trait that increases an individual’s ability to pass along its genes
Natural Selection3. Descent with Modification –
every living species has descended, with changes, from other species over time
Implies that all living organisms are related to one another
Principle of Common Descent – all species (living and extinct) were derived from common ancestors
Allows for a single “tree of life” that links all living things
Result of Natural Selection… …changes in
the inherited characteristics of a population These
changes increase a species’ fitness in its environment.
Acts on populations, not individuals. It is populations that evolve over time.
Summary of Darwin’s Theory of Evolution Individual organisms differ (variations exist in a population).
Some of this variation is heritable.
In nature, there is a tendency for overpopulation. Organisms produce more offspring than can survive. There is a high
death rate. Only the organisms with the variations that are suitable to the
environment survive.
Organisms must compete for limited resources. Each unique organism has unique advantages and disadvantages in the
struggle for existence. The organisms that survive get to reproduce and pass on their genes.
The process of Natural Selection causes species to change over time. It is the population that changes to match the environment – not
individuals.
Species alive today are descended with modification from ancestral species.
Evidence of Evolution
Fossil Record Any preserved remains of ancient organisms
Darwin Proposed that the earth was millions of years old and from looking at the fossil records in older rocks and fossils from younger rocks scienists could document that life on earth had changes over time.
Geographic Distribution Different species living in the same
region/environment have similar body structures and behaviors
Homologous Body Structures Structures that have different mature forms
but develop from the same embryonic tissue; look the same but used differently
Strong evidence that all four-limbed vertebrates have descended, with modification from common ancestors.
Evidence (continued)
Vestigial organsOrgans that are so reduced in size that
they are just traces of homologous organs in other species.Example:
Whale hips Human appendix
Evidence (continued)
Comparative GeneticsDNA from different
organisms works the same
Early development is similar
Evidence (continued)