Evolution

Evolution is the change in the inherited traits of a population from generation to

generation. These changes occur over extremely long periods of time. Mutations in
the genes can produce new or altered traits, resulting in genetic variations between
organisms. New traits can also occur from transfer of genes between populations, as
in migration, or between species, in horizontal gene transfer. Evolution occurs when
these genetic variations crop up in a population either through non-random natural
selection or through random genetic drift. Evolution is known fact. It can be
demonstrated. No reasonable person can dispute it. Evolution is by far the most
important natural process to the human. His very thought and structure came from this
process. No human can properly assess his own position in the universe without
knowledge of the evolutionary process. Evolution developed the modern human
species, and so has a bright side. Evolution also has a dark side. The future of the
species depends on knowledge about evolution becoming widespread.

Charles Robert Darwin was a British naturalist who constructed the modern
evolutionary theory with his concept of the development of all forms of life through the
slow-working process of natural selection.

British scientist Charles Darwin embarked on a 5 year expedition on the English

surveying ship, the HMS Beagle. The expedition took place between 1831 and 1836, near
the end of which he explored the Galápagos Islands. He discovered there that each of the
islands sustained its own form of tortoise, mocking bird and finch. The various forms were
closely related but varied in structure and eating habits. These observations led him to
write his masterpiece, On the Origin of the Species. Being a naturalist aboard the Beagle,
Darwin had the opportunity to observe the various geological formations found on
different continents and islands along the way, as well as a huge assortment of fossils and
living organisms. In his geological observations, Darwin was impressed with the effect
that natural forces had on shaping the earth’s surface. He noted that certain fossils of
supposedly extinct species closely resembled living species in the same geographical area.
These observations raised the question for Darwin, of possible links between different but
similar species.

At the heart of the evolutionary theory is the basic idea that life has existed for billions
of years and has changed a great deal over time. Overwhelming evidence supports this
fact. Scientists continue to argue about details of evolution, but the question of whether life
has a long history or not were answered positively at least 2 centuries ago. The history of
living things is documented through multiple lines of evidence that converge to tell the
story of life through time. There are many evidential processes that support evolution like
fossil evidence, biogeography, comparative anatomy, etc.

Fossil records provide snapshots of the past and when assembled, illustrate a whole
scenario of evolutionary change over the past few billion years. The picture may be
smudged in places and may have bits missing, but fossil evidence clearly shows that the
earth is old and has changed quite significantly over time. Fossils are the preserved
remains of once-living organisms (refer to diagram1). Fossils are created when first, the
organism becomes buried in sediment, then, the calcium in the bones or other hard tissue
mineralizes, and, finally, the surrounding sediment eventually hardens to form rock. The
process of fossilization probably occurs rarely. Usually, animal or plant remains will decay
or be scavenged before the process can begin. In addition, many fossils arise in rocks that
are inaccessible to scientists. When they are attainable, they are often destroyed by erosion
and other natural processes before they can be collected. As a result, only a fraction of the
species that have ever existed (estimated to be around 500 million) are known from fossils.
Nonetheless, the fossils that have been discovered are sufficient to provide detailed
information on the course of evolution through time.

Comparative embryology is a branch of biology dealing with the development of the

animal embryo. The field of embryology involves the development of the fertilized egg
and embryo and the growth of the fetus. Many animals including humans, sea urchins and
frogs are quite similar in their early development. All begin with a single cell that divides
into 2 cells, the first step in the process of cleavage (refer to diagram 2), in which cell
division occurs so rapidly that the cells don’t have time to grow between divisions,
resulting in smaller and smaller cells. Scientists have illustrated that in the earliest stages
of development, the embryos of organisms that shared a recent common ancestor are very
similar in appearance. As the embryos develop, they grow less alike. For example, the
embryos of cats and dogs, both members of the mammal group Carnivora, are more
similar in the early stages of development than just before birth. The same is true for
human and ape embryos.

Modern human beings, like gorillas, tarsiers, and chimpanzees, are primates. Sometime
along the course of primate evolution, human development deviated from that of gorillas
and other primates. Scientific evidence shows that the physical and behavioral traits shared
by people evolved over a period of at least 6 million years. Physical and genetic
similarities show that the modern human species, Homo sapiens sapiens, has a very close
relationship to the apes, another group of primate species. Humans and the great apes
(large apes) of Africa—chimpanzees and gorillas—share a common ancestor that lived
sometime between 8 and 6 million years ago. The earliest humans evolved in Africa, and
much of human evolution occurred there. The fossils of early humans who lived between 6
million and 2 million years ago come entirely from Africa.
Humans have experienced major structural changes over the course of evolution.
Diagram 3 depicts Australopithecus afarensis (center), the earliest of the three species;
Homo erectus (left), a transitional species; and Homo sapiens sapiens (right), a modern
human. Homo erectus and modern humans are much taller than Australopithecus afarensis
and have flatter faces and much larger brains. Modern humans have a larger brain than
Homo erectus and an almost flat face beneath the front of the braincase. Unlike their ape
ancestors, early humans had anatomical adaptations for upright walking (refer to diagram
4). The early human species Australopithecus afarensis had a wide and short pelvis and
femurs (upper leg bones) that inclined inward toward the knees. These adaptations
provided side-to-side balance and a support for the hip muscles to hold the torso erect.
Scientists have several ideas about why Australopithecus first split off from the apes,
initiating the course of human evolution (Diagram 5). Practically all hypotheses suggest
that environmental change was an important factor, especially in stimulating the evolution
of bipedalism (walking on 2 legs).
 Diagram 1

Diagram 1

Diagram2

Diagram 3

Diagram 2 Diagram 4
Diagram 5

The Evolution Process

Evolution is the change with time of the gene pool of a species. The mechanisms of
evolution are mutation, natural selection, recombination and gene flow.

Mutation provides all initial change. A mutation occurs when the DNA does not
replicate perfectly. When a mutation occurs, a new allele is created. As a first
approximation, these accidents (mutations) are random (can occur at any location
along the DNA). The rate of these accidents is relatively constant within a given
species. If the accident occurs in a critical location (believed to be less than 10% of
the total in man), the result is usually disastrous. Other areas will accept change with
no immediate consequence. Once made, the mutation is perpetuated and variability
within the gene pool of the species is increased. Mutations add variability to the gene
pool.

Natural selection occurs when the viability of an allele is tested in real life. It
makes only one test. Contrary to popular opinion, evolution does not select the fittest,
strongest, or most superior organism. It is instead a question of how many offspring
the organism will have which in turn will reach sufficient maturity to have its own
offspring. If the effect is positive, the allele will become a permanent part of the gene
pool. If the effect is very successful, it will quickly become a dominant allele. If the
effect is neutral or negative, the allele will not spread rapidly through the gene pool
and, usually, will disappear from the gene pool. If more than one mutation is being
tested at the same time, usually the case, then it is the summed effect tested. Not all
good mutations make it. Some mutations would be good at one time and bad at
another, depending on the environment then. A mutation that was necessary at one
time may become unnecessary at another time and be consequently negated. Most of
the time, the alleles removed or negated are those that harm the organism in that
environment. Natural selection removes variability from the gene pool.

The environment which an organism faces and must survive is a complex one, one
which is more than climate and food supply, although those are the essential elements
that serve as a starting point in the study of evolution.

First of all, the mutation process is not altogether random. An intricate process called
recombination developed early in sexual animals. This process serves to mix the
alleles available in the two parental gene sets to provide more variability against the
environment. It also results in many reproduction errors (mutations). Repair functions
were developed by evolution for DNA errors to offset this error propensity. Since
both the dissection means and the repair means are relatively fixed processes, then
both the dissection errors and the errors in repair will follow certain patterns. When
these coincide, a new allele is formed. Mutations, then, occur in clusters around
particular loci not yet known or cataloged. Certain defects occur, therefore, with a
given frequency, which are wholly the result of the process and not the assumption of
a defective ancestral gene.

Another factor which enters into genetic change is that the product of a purely random
process (and a large part of human mutations fit that description) will drift to one side
or another until an outside force interferes with the drift. For example, the human is
now growing larger. If this is the result of genetic drift, it will continue until some
other process interferes, such as a shortage of food.

Most of the struggle in life is the struggle for enough food to avoid starvation and an
ability to survive the climate. This was the entire struggle at the beginning, but as life
became more complex, the selection process also became more complex. Once life
began, however, other life became a part of its environment. The food chains were
started.

The basic element of species survival is the ability of the individual to survive long
enough to insure the survival of its offspring to the point when they also have
offspring. If the offspring require no care, then the immediate death of the parent is of
no consequence. In the case of the higher animals, those which require care during
their maturation, the life of the caring parent must extend through that maturation
period (and, of course, the parent must perform its function properly).

If an animal must endure an environment in which its population is normally

controlled by predators, it is usual that the young suffer a higher death rate than the
adults. In such cases the parents will usually live through several breeding seasons, to
offset losses of their young. Some animals resort to large numbers of offspring,
thereby feeding the predators, with enough left over to continue the species.

As animals became more complex, they themselves began to be an appreciable part of

their own selection (survival) environment. Herein lies the most complex of all
genetic processes, and examples abound. Sexual selection (based on an appearance
which is sexually attractive) is probably (not for sure) the most common of these.
There are times when sexual selection actually harms the ability of the species to
survive. There are thousands of examples, but to select one, consider the Cardinal, a
beautiful small bird that is quite common in North America. Somewhere back in time,
the drab little hens, who had drab little roosters as soul-mates, took a liking to the
color red and began choosing mates based on a hint of red in their feathers. Since they
mated with roosters who had red in their makeup, their offspring tended to have red in
their feathers, which suited the next generation of hens just fine. Quite quickly the
rooster was a bright red, and the best target in the world for a predator. The predator,
usually a hawk, could lock on to that bright red target and have a meal in no time. As
a result the Cardinal rooster is quite skittish, and he should be, but without the red
there is no sex and his genes end.

Recombination occurs in sexually reproducing organisms, such as the human. The

parent has two sets of chromosomes in each cell, one from its father, the other from its
mother. The sperm and the egg carry only one set in each. The one set carried by the
sperm or egg is not a whole set from either grandparent but is a mixture of the two.
Both original sets of chromosomes, in the case of each parent, are dissected and
scrambled, then reformed with entirely new combinations of alleles from both
grandparents. This process adds variability to the offspring and allows testing of new
allele combinations. Recombination allows new combinations of the variability in the
gene pool

Gene flow occurs when populations of a species that have been separated are united
and the differing sets of alleles in each gene pool flow into the gene pool of the other.
Our species, suddenly reunited with widespread transportation, is an excellent
example of this effect. Gene flow distributes the variability in the gene pool.