The Five Evidences of Evolution SB 5 Students

The Five Evidences of Evolution SB 5: Students will evaluate the role of natural selection in the development of theory of evolution.

Support for Evolution 1 ) The fossil record Fossils provide a record of species that lived long ago. Fossils show that ancient species share similarities with species that now live on Earth.

Evidence of Evolution 2) Anatomical Evidence A) Derived traits are newly evolved features, such as feathers, that do not appear in the fossils of common ancestors. B) Ancestral traits are more primitive features, such as teeth and tails, that do appear in ancestral forms. C) Homologous structures are anatomically similar structures inherited from a common ancestor.

D) Analogous structures can be used for the same purpose and can be superficially similar in construction, but are not inherited from a common ancestor.

E) Vestigial Structures that are the reduced forms of functional structures in other organisms Evolutionary theory predicts that features of ancestors that no longer have a function for that species will become smaller over time until they are lost.

Evidence of Evolution 3) Comparative Embryology Vertebrate embryos exhibit similar structures during the early phases of development.

Evidence of Evolution 4) Comparative Biochemistry Organisms have similarities in DNA that scientists use to classify them.

5) Geographical Distribution The distribution of plants and animals that Darwin saw during his South American travels first suggested evolution to Darwin. He noticed that animals and plants that were on the same islands had evolved similar traits but they still were more similar to organisms from their native country/island. Picture of a English rabbit and Mara