EVOLUTION OF LIVING

THINGS
 EVOLUTION OF LIVING THINGS

Evolution explains similarities and differences between

species as well as the changes in life forms. Using fossil
records, it was found out that that life has changed over
time.
 EVOLUTION OF LIVING THINGS

Species become extinct when the animals can no longer

compete or adapt to gradually changing environment.
 EVIDENCE OF EVOLUTION

Evolution is the theory that species change over time.

According to this theory, new species form from existing
species through variation and natural selection.
FOSSIL RECORDS

Evidence of species that no longer exist have been found by scientist

through fossils.
Fossils are mineralized/hardened traces of dead organisms most
commonly found in layers of sedimentary rocks. These are formed
when organisms, footprints, or burrows are buried in sand or
sediment.
FOSSIL RECORDS

The fossils and the order in which the fossils appear are called the
fossil records.
Fossil records provides evidence of when organisms lived on Earth,
how species have evolved, and how some species have gone extinct.
It also shows how environmental conditions on Earth may have
changed over time.
TYPES OF FOSSILS

Imprint – Is a type of fossil in which a film of carbon remains after the other
elements of an organism have decayed.

Mold – is a type of fossil in which an impression of the shape or track cast forms
when sediments fill in the cavity left by a fossil mold.
 METHODS TO DETERMINE THE AGE OF A FOSSIL

Relative dating – determines whether the fossil is younger or older

than other fossils and is based on where fossils are found in the
stratified rock layers
Index fossils – represent species that have lived for a short
period of time but over a wide geographic range and are used as
indicators of a particular geologic period.
 METHODS TO DETERMINE THE AGE OF A FOSSIL

Radioactive dating
Carbon-14 dating – determines the age of a fossil fewer than 50, 000 years
old

Half-life corresponds to the length of time required for one half of the
radioactive sample to decay.
 HOMOLOGOUS BODY STRUCTURES

Homologous structure indicates the evolution of limbs from the

same common ancestors.
 ANALOGOUS STRUCTURE

Analogous structure are features that resembles each other

(as a result of parallel evolution of separate lineages) but
originated from different ancestors.
 VESTIGIAL STRUCTURE

Vestigial Structure are structures found in living things but

serves no purpose.
SIMILARITY OF EMBRYOS
EVOLUTION OF LIVING THINGS

Evolution explains similarities and differences between

species as well as the changes in life forms. Using fossil
records, it was found out that that life has changed over
time.

Species become extinct when the animals can no longer

compete or adapt to gradually changing environment.
BIOCHEMICAL EVIDENCES

Closely-related species will show more similarities in the

amino acid sequences of their proteins.

If the genes of several species are compared, closely-

related species would show more similarities in their
nucleotide sequences than distantly-related species.
GEOGRAPHICAL EVIDENCE

The movement of the continents is explained by the

theory of plate tectonics, which states that Earth’s
continents were once a huge landmass.
ORIGIN AND EXTINCTION OF
SPECIES
MACROEVOLUTION

Macroevolution is evolutionary change on a grand scale,

encompassing the origin of novel designs, evolutionary
trends, new kinds of organisms penetrating new habitats,
and major extinction episodes.
CHARLES DARWIN
CHARLES DARWIN’S THEORY OF EVOLUTION

Focuses not on how new species are formed from old ones,
but on how changes occur within species.

Population- a group of interbreeding organisms that

occupy a given geographic area.
NATURAL SELECTION

Main process by which microevolutionary changes occur.

The essence of his theory is that progressive adaptation to
the environment by natural selection is responsible for
evolutionary changes within a species.

Microevolution- changes that occur within a population

ORIGIN OF SPECIES

Species is a group of individuals that can interbreed and

produce fertile offspring but cannot breed with any other
group.
JEAN BAPTISTE LAMARCK
Biologist Jean Baptiste Lamarck stated that organisms
change because they need to respond to stimuli
from their environments. His theory states that if an
organism uses a particular structure less, it becomes
weak, less developed and eventually disappears.
Lamarck also believes that once these structure
change, based on use or disuse, then these
characteristics could be passed on to their offspring.
Ecological races are made up of organisms of the
same species that may differ genetically since they
have adapted to different living conditions.
The accumulation of differences between species or
population is called divergence. Divergence occurs
because natural selection favors different survival
strategies in different environments.
Evolution has always been assumed to occur as a slow and
steady change which is gradual in nature. The hypothesis that
evolution occurs in a slow, constant rate is called gradualism.

The hypothesis that evolution occurs at an irregular rate is

known as punctuated equilibrium. The theory of punctuated
equilibrium states that the population of species may exist for a
relatively long time at or close to genetic equilibrium.
Genetic equilibrium occurs when gene frequencies of a
population do not change from generation to generation.
EXTINCTION OF SPECIES

There have been several periods in Earth’s history when a

large number of species died out at the same time. These
large-scale extinctions are called mass extinctions.

Extinction may be caused by major changes in Earth’s

climate or atmosphere.
CARL LINNAEUS
CARL LINNAEUS

He introduced the system of assigning standard, two-

word Latin name to each organism known in his time.
This system is called binomial nomenclature,
referring to the species scientific name.
CONVERGENT EVOLUTION

Organisms evolved similar features independently, often because

they lived in similar habitats. Similar features that have evolved
through convergent evolution are known as analogous
characteristics.

Analogous characteristics are characteristics in organisms that which

are similar because of similar selection.
Phylogeny- a branching tree that reflects the evolutionary
relationship among species
Clade- a group of organism related by descent
Cladistics- constructing a phylogency
- determine the order in which evolutionary lines
derived or branched
Derived characteristics- unique characteristics of organism