Evolution Origin of Life and Speciation Explain how

Evolution Origin of Life and Speciation

Explain how the giraffe could have evolved:

What is Natural Selection? Who came up with theory of natural selection? n Name some criteria necessary for natural selection to occur. n

Name types of evidence for evolution.

Name types of evidence for evolution. Fossil record n Homologous structures n Vestigial structures n Embryonic structures n Molecular record n

What do we mean by survival of the fittest? Give some examples.

Origin of Life We have said that all organisms have ancestors, but not all organisms have descendants. What do we mean by that? n What about the first organism? How do you think life first began on Earth? n

Origin of Life n What do you think the first organism was like?

Early Earth n Early Earth was formed about 4. 6 billion years ago and was very different than earth today. n How do you think it might have been different?

Early Earth The atmosphere was very different than it is now, containing little or no oxygen. n Earth was too hot for liquid water. n Once the surface cooled enough for rocks to form, the surface was covered with volcanic activity. n

Early Earth About 3. 8 billion years ago the Earth cooled enough for liquid water to remain. n Thunderstorms drenched the planet and oceans covered most of the surface. n

Could organic molecules have evolved under these conditions? n In the 1950’s Stanley Miller and Harold Urey tried to simulate the conditions of early Earth. n They showed how several amino acids could be created under those conditions.

Miller and Urey’s Experiment n They passed sparks (representing lightening) through a mixture of hydrogen, methane, ammonia, and water (representing the atmosphere)

The Big Picture n Miller and Urey showed that the mixtures of organic compounds necessary for life could have arisen on primitive earth!

Hypothesis of the Origin of Life n n The leap from a mixture of organic molecules to a living cell is large. Tiny bubbles of organic molecules (called proteinoid spheres) have characteristics of living systems such as selectively permeable membranes and means of storing and releasing energy. They may have become more and more like living cells over time.

Hypothesis of the Origin of Life n Experiments have shown that under the conditions of early Earth, small RNA sequences could have formed and replicated on their own. This could have created a simple RNA-based form of life from which the DNA system could have evolved.

Hypothesis of Origin of Life n How certain do you think this hypothesis is? Do you think it will ever be changed? Do you think it will be changed during your lifetime?

Origin of Life n Evidence indicates that about 200 -300 million years after the accumulation of liquid water on Earth, cells similar to modern bacteria were common.

Changing Earth n Photosynthetic bacteria became common and oxygen began to accumulate in the atmosphere and the ozone layer formed. n The rise in oxygen caused some life forms to go extinct, while others evolved ways to use oxygen for respiration.

Hypothesis of Origin of Eukaryotic Cells-Endosymbiotic Theory What is a eukaryotic cell? n Prokaryotic cells began to evolve internal cell membranes- this was the ancestor to eukaryotic cells. n Smaller prokaryotes began living inside this ancestor and over time it became an interdependent relationship. What does this mean? n

Lynn Margulis’ Endosymbiotic Theory One group which entered the cell had the ability to use oxygen to generate ATP. These evolved into mitochondria. n Another group of prokaryotes which carried out photosynthesis evolved into chloroplasts. n

Evidence for Endosymbiotic Theory Mitochondria and chloroplasts have many characteristics of free living bacteria: 1 - contain DNA similar to bacterial DNA 2 - have ribosomes of similar size and structure to those of bacteria 3 - reproduce by binary fission like bacteria n

Any Questions?

Speciation n Speciation: the formation of new species n What is a species? n As new species evolve, the populations become reproductively isolated from each other. (cannot interbreed and produce fertile offspring)

How could speciation occur?

Isolating Mechanisms: Behavioral Isolation: differences in courtship or reproductive strategies that prevent breeding n Geographic Isolation: populations separated by physical barriers n Temporal Isolation: reproduce at different times n

Geographic Isolation

Patterns of Evolution n Adaptive Radiation: when a species evolves into several different forms that live in different ways n Can you think of an example we have discussed, or any other example, of adaptive radiation?

Patterns of Evolution n Example of adaptive radiation: Darwin’s finches-more than a dozen species evolved from a single species

Patterns of Evolution Convergent Evolution: unrelated organisms come to resemble one another due to similar selective pressures n Example? n What is divergent evolution? n

Divergent Evolution n n occurs when two or more biological characteristics have a common evolutionary origin but have diverged over evolutionary time. This is also known as adaptation or adaptive evolution. example, the vertebrate limb is one example of divergent evolution. The limb in many different species has a common origin, but has diverged somewhat in overall structure and function.

n Structures that are similar due to evolutionary origin, such as the forearm bones of humans, birds, porpoises, and elephants, are called homologous. Structures that evolve separately to perform a similar function are analogous. The wings of birds, bats, and insects, for example, have different embryological origins but are all designed for flight.

Patterns of Evolution Coevolution: when two species evolve together, in response to changes in each other n Can you think of an example? n

Coevolution n Example: flowers and pollinators, flowers and plant-eating insects

Gradual versus Punctuated Evolution Gradual: slow and steady change Punctuated: long, stabile periods interrupted by brief periods of rapid change

Any Questions?

Can we see evolution occur? n Can you think of an example of an organism that evolves “quickly”? One that has evolved during your life time?

Bacterial Evolution What allows bacteria to evolve so quickly?

Insect Evolution

Population Genetics n The study of traits and changes in populations.

Gene Pool All mechanisms of evolution involve changes in the gene pool. n A gene pool is the combined genetic material of all the members of a given population. n

Microevolution The change in a population’s alleles over a period of time. n These changes manifest themselves in the organism’s phenotype. n Since individuals do not evolve, a population must be watched to detect any change in genetic modification. n

Allelic Frequencies The number of each allele is a fraction of all the genes for a particular trait. n These fractions are known as allelic frequencies. n The constant state of allele frequencies is called genetic equilibrium. n

Hardy-Weinberg Principle Developed to determine if a population is evolving. n Authors of theorem set up parameters, which do not exist in nature, to be followed when determining the allele frequencies of any population… n

Hardy Weinberg conditions The population must be very large in size. n It must be isolated from other populations (no gene flow) n No mutations n Random mating n No natural selection n

Mathematical Wedding of Mendel and Darwin: The Hardy Weinberg Theorem n n p+q = 1 p 2 + 2 pq + q 2 = 1 ¨p represents the frequency of the dominant allele ¨ q represents the frequency of the recessive allele ¨ p 2 represents the frequency of the homozygous dominant phenotype ¨ 2 pq represents the frequency of the heterozygous phenotype ¨ q 2 represents the frequency of the homozygous recessive phenotype

Hardy Weinberg Problems

1. Causes for Microevolution Genetic Drift : The random change in gene pools due to random events. • Examples: migrations, natural disasters, isolation • Bottleneck effect: genetic drift occurring after a random population reducing event • Founder’s effect: the effect of establishing a new population by a small number of individuals, carrying only a small fraction of the original population's genetic variation. • As a result, the new population may be distinctively different, both genetically and phenotypically, from the parent population from which it is derived. • In extreme cases, the founder effect is thought to lead to the speciation and subsequent evolution of new species.

Genetic Drift and the Founder n Polydactyly -- extra fingers Effect or sometimes toes -- is one n n symptom of Ellis-van Creveld syndrome. The syndrome is commonly found among the Old Order Amish of Pennsylvania, a population that experiences the "founder effect. " Genetically inherited diseases like Ellis-van Creveld are more concentrated among the Amish because they marry within their own community, which prevents new genetic variation from entering the population.

Causes for Microevolution 2. Gene Flow The movement of alleles into and out of a population ¨ Migration of an organism into different areas can cause allelic frequency changes ¨ n n Immigration Emigration

Causes for Microevolution 3. Mutations ¨ These change the genome of an organism and are an important source of natural selection

Causes for Microevolution Nonrandom Mating Natural Selection 4. 5. • Those individuals who leave behind more offspring, pass on more of their alleles and have a better success rate in dominating the population.

Normal Distribution n n Most common in nature Bell-shaped curve

Directional Selection n A change in the environment favors an extreme phenotype

Examples of Directional Selection n n Evolution in horse limb morphology illustrates directional selection-over time, natural selection favored individuals with limbs adapted for running on open grassland areas. Yet another soon-to-beclassic example of directional selection at work: antibiotic resistance in bacteria.

Disruptive Selection n n An environmental change makes it unfavorable to have the medium phenotype Batesian mimicry gives an example of disruptive selection. Some places in Africa have three species of bad tasting butterflies. Different females of edible swallowtail butterflies mimic each of the distasteful species.

Class Activity: Fishy Frequencies (or How Selection Affects the Hardy -Weinberg Equilibrium) n Introduction: ¨ Understanding natural selection can be confusing and difficult. People often think that animals consciously adapt to their environments - that the peppered moth can change its color, the giraffe can permanently stretch its neck, the polar bear can turn itself white - all so that they can better survive in their environments. ¨ In this lab you will use fish crackers to help further your understanding of natural selection and the role of genetics and gene frequencies in evolution.

Background: Facts about the 'Fish' n n n These little fish are the natural prey of the terrible fish-eating sharks YOU! Fish come with two phenotypes of gold and brown: ¨ gold: this is a recessive trait (f); these fish taste yummy and are easy to catch. ¨ brown: this is a dominant trait (F); these fish taste salty, are sneaky and hard to catch. You, the terrible fish-eating sharks, much prefer to eat the yummy gold fish; you eat ONLY gold fish unless none are available in which case you resort to eating brown fish in order to stay alive. New fish are born every 'year'; the birth rate equals the death rate. You simulate births by reaching into the container of 'spare fish' and selecting randomly. Since the gold trait is recessive, the gold fish are homozygous recessive (ff). Because the brown trait is dominant, the brown fish are either homozygous or heterozygous dominant (FF or Ff).

Hardy-Weinberg: n n For fish crackers, you assume that in the total population, you have the following genotypes, FF, Ff, and ff. You also assume that mating is random so that ff could mate with ff, Ff, or FF; or Ff could mate with ff, Ff, or FF, etc. In addition, you assume that for the gold and brown traits there are only two alleles in the population - F and f. If you counted all the alleles for these traits, the fraction of 'f' alleles plus the fraction of 'F' alleles would add up to 1. The Hardy-Weinberg equation states that: p 2 + 2 pq + q 2 = 1 This means that the fraction of pp (or FF) individuals plus the fraction of pq (or Ff) individuals plus the fraction of qq (ff) individuals equals 1. The pq is multiplied by 2 because there are two ways to get that combination. You can get F from the male and f from the female OR f from the male and F from female. If you know that you have 16% recessive fish (ff), then your qq or q 2 value is. 16 and q = the square root of. 16 or. 4; thus the frequency of your f allele is. 4 and since the sum of the f and F alleles must be 1, the frequency of your F allele must be. 6 Using Hardy Weinberg, you can assume that in your population you have. 36 FF (. 6 x. 6) and. 48 Ff (2 x. 4 x. 6) as well as the original. 16 ff that you counted.