Principles of Biology Lecture Notes



Principles of Biology Lecture Notes Fall, 2006

EVOLUTION I – DARWIN’S THEORY DEMYSTIFIED

Outline

Ernst Mayer’s Summary of Darwin’s Theory:

5 Observations & 3 Inferences

Historical Context for Darwin’s theory

Darwin’s Theory Develops

Field Work

South America

Galapos

Long Time

Wallace (short time)

2 Major Features of Darwin’s Theory

Common Ancestry

Adaption by Natural Selection

Subtelties of Natural Selection

Evolution by Natural Selection as a Theory

Synthetic (Unifying)

Predictive

Explanatory

Testable

Problems with the Acceptance of Darwin’s Theory

EVOLUTION

We now devote the final block of material for the term to an overview of evolution. Evolution is undoubtedly one of the four or five terms that almost everyone associates with biology, and with good reason. About fifty years ago, one of the leading biologists of the time stated that “Nothing in biology makes any sense except in light of evolution”. Unfortunately, there are many who would have problems with that statement, in part because there is much misunderstanding of evolution.

Introduction: Darwin’s Theory Demystified

Ernst Mayer’s summary of Darwin’s Theory:

5 Observation #1

7 Observation #2

9 Observation #3

11 Inference #1

14 Observation #4

16 Observation #5:

19 Inference #2

22 Inference #3

Historical context for Darwin’s theory

Learn these contributors, their contributions to our understanding of the origin of the variety of living systems and the role of the concept in the development of evolutionary thought.

Plato

Aristotle

Cuvier

Lyell

Hutton

Malthus

Lamark.

Darwin’s Theory Develops

Understand how each of the following impacted Darwin’s thinking as he developed, documented and eventually presented his theory.

Field work in South America

| |Niche |Organism |Fossil |

|Europe | | | |

|South | | | |

|America | | | |

Field work in the Galapagos Islands

Long time for evolution to occur (Fig 25.17)



Wallace

2 Major Features of Darwin’s Theory

Darwin’s theory has 2 major features:

Darwin’s theory does not contend that “Humans descended from monkeys” - it DOES propose

Subtelties of Darwin’s Theory

Each of the following have a very specific, defined role in the process of evolution by natural selection:

Population

Variation

Contingency

Chance

Evolution by Natural Selection as a Theory

Evolution by natural selection is a scientific theory

with all the best features of an excellent theory.

Evolutionary Theory is synthetic or Unifying

58 Unifies Several types of Evidence

59 Biogeography

61 The Fossil Record

63 Comparative anatomy

67 Comparative Embryology

74 Comparative Biochemistry

78 Artificial Selection

Evolutionary Theory is predictive:

Evolutionary Theory is explanatory:

Evolutionary Theory is testable:

Evidence of the operation of evolution by natural selection:

|Industrial Melanism |Appearance of antibiotic resistance pathogens (Fig 22.12 & 22.13)|

|Observations of African lake cichlids | |

|Experiments on “guppy size” |Studies of sticklebacks in B.C. lakes |

|Beak of the Finch” experiments |OR & CA Salamanders (Fig 24.9) |

Sources of Problems with the Acceptance of Darwin’s Theory

How widespread is the lack of acceptance of evolution by natural selection?

In the U.S.? in other countries?

Among the U.S. scientific community? (what, how & why)

Disagreement among scientists about evolution:

Each of the following have been raised as objections to Darwin’s Theory:

(see the book “Discovering Darwin’s God” by Kenneth Miller for a good summary)

“There hasn’t been sufficient time” Fig 26.2, 25.2, & 25.17

“Argument from Design”

“No one was there to see evolution by natural selection”

“It’s only a theory”

“The Great Chain of Being”

“No new species have been produced by evolution by natural selection” What do you mean by a species? pp.465-469

|Species Concept |Definition |Limitations |

|Biological | | |

| | | |

|Morphological | | |

| | | |

| | | |

| | | |

| Recognition | | |

| | | |

|Cohesion | | |

| | | |

| | | |

| | | |

|Ecological | | |

| | | |

| | | |

| | | |

ALL THESE SPECIES CONCEPTS ARE BASED ON THE FACT THAT A SPECIES REQUIRES GENETIC ISOLATION

Microevolution Occurs But Cannot Produce Macroevolution

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