Transcript history of evolutionary thought

WHAT IS EVOLUTION?
WHAT IS YOUR OPINION?
How would you explain the evolution of this trait?
• Cave salamanders are blind (their eyes are nonfunctional). How could a biologist explain how this
inability evolved from sighted ancestors?
PRE-DARWIN IDEAS
• Earth is young
• Earth is not changing
HISTORY: In the beginning…
Plato and Aristotle (mid 300 B.C.)
• Scale of Nature
EVIDENCE FROM GEOLOGY
James Hutton
• He proposed the theory of uniformitarianism
Charles Lyell
• 1830 wrote Principles of Geology that Darwin
read on his journey supporting Hutton’s work
JUDEO CHRISTIAN CULTURE
Exploring God’s work
• Carlos Linnaeus (1700s):
___________________________
• George Cuvier (late 1700s):
- Paleontology: Found that fossils were dissimilar
to modern life
- Species can become _________________
- Species can ___________________________
Erasmus Darwin
• Grandpa!
• Termed _______________
• Life developed from a single
sources
• Humans close to primates (how
dare he!)
O.K. ORGANISMS EVOLVE BUT
WHAT MAKES THEM EVOLVE?
MECHANISMS BEHIND EVOLUTION
Jean Baptiste Pierre Antoine de Monet, Chevealier
de Lamarck…a.k.a. Lamarck!
• Published in 1809 when baby Darwin was born 
• _______________________________________
_______________________________________
• Idea #1: _______________________________
• Idea #2: _______________________________
• Idea #3:________________________________
LAMARCK’S IDEA
Charles Darwin (1809-1882)
• Beagle voyage
around the world
• Looked at living
organisms and
fossil record
VOYAGE ON THE BEAGLE
PATTERNS IN DIVERSITY
1.
Rheas in South America
Emu in Australia
Ostrich in Africa
Darwin questioned why are marsupials
only found in Australia even though
Europe had a similar environment.
Unique South American
Character
• A South American
tropical lizard more
similar to a S.A.
desert lizard than
another lizard
elsewhere
2. Species Vary Locally
• What does the
difference in
structure
between the
two tortoises
tell you about
the island they
occupy?
Galapagos Tortoises
3. Species vary over time
• Ancestor of
armadillo
was much
bigger
• Darwin also observed the
geological process Hutton and
Lyell observed on his journey
Working towards a theory of
Natural Selection
• Malthus’ work:
population size can
increases
exponentially but it
remains stable
over time…why?
Darwin - Descent with Modification
• Today known as
“evolution”
3 Points To Darwin’s Theory of
Natural Selection (Mechanism)
1.
2. _________________________________
3. _________________________
The environment plays a
role in keeping
populations in check
• Natural selection __
_____________________
_____________________
____________________
____________________
• “Survival of The Fittest”:
those that can survive
and reproduce the most
viable offspring are the
most fit
Alfred Wallace (1823-1913)
• I have this theory about natural selection
charlsey boy, what do you think?
Darwin’s Origin of Species
• Decent with modification (evolution)
• Natural Selection
• Decent of Man was also then published
Lamarck vs. Darwin