Evidences for Evolution 1 Structural Adaptations Physical appearance

1. Structural Adaptations – Physical appearance change that increases an organism’s survival – Examples:

2. Physiological/metabolic adaptations • Changes in an organism’s metabolic processes • Examples: – Insect

3. Fossil Record • A record of early life and an evolutionary history of

4. Anatomy • Structural and functional similarity of a body feature among organisms •

analogous structures are similar in function but not from a common ancestor like wings

5. Embryology • Similarities of young embryos suggest evolution from a distant, common ancestor

6. Biochemistry (molecular) • Comparing DNA, RNA, and amino acids and looking for sequence

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Evidences for Evolution

1. Structural Adaptations – Physical appearance change that increases an organism’s survival – Examples: • • Mimicry – trying to look more dangerous Camouflage – trying to blend in and hide

2. Physiological/metabolic adaptations • Changes in an organism’s metabolic processes • Examples: – Insect and weed resistance to pesticides/herbicides – Antibiotic resistance in bacteria

3. Fossil Record • A record of early life and an evolutionary history of ancestral organisms • Examples – Whales were once land mammals – Horse evolution

Whale evolution

4. Anatomy • Structural and functional similarity of a body feature among organisms • Examples – homologous structures - common bone structure found in all mammals indicate a common ancestor

analogous structures are similar in function but not from a common ancestor like wings n n. Vestigial structures do not have current function but were useful to an ancestor like appendix

5. Embryology • Similarities of young embryos suggest evolution from a distant, common ancestor • Examples – Fish, reptile, bird, and mammal embryo

6. Biochemistry (molecular) • Comparing DNA, RNA, and amino acids and looking for sequence similarities (more changes = more distantly related) • Examples – Cytochrome C – Hemoglobin