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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