Transcript Designing The Theory of Evolution: A Look at Prominent

Developing The Theory of Evolution:
A Look at People who Contributed (willingly
or not)
Thomas
Malthus
Georges
Cuvier
Charles
Lyell
Charles
Darwin,
with
Alfred
Russell
1800
1830 – 1833
1858
Jean Baptiste
Lamarcke
1800 – 1822
1798 – 1826
Niles
Eldredge and
Stephen Jay
Gould
1972
Georges Cuvier
 The “Father of paleontology.”
 Findings used by evolutionists:
 The deeper the layer of rock, the older it
is.
 As you dig deeper, the fossils become
more and more different from modern
organisms.
 Extinction is common.
Jean Baptiste Lamarcke
Furthered theory of Evolution:
 The environment creates changes in
animals.
 Species start out simple and get
more complex.
 “Inheritance of Acquired
Characteristics”: Characteristics
acquired during lifetime are passed
on to offspring. (Incorrect)
Thomas Malthus
 Political economist
 Populations grow faster than their
food supply, leading to massive
competition & starvation, disease, &
war.
 This was key to Darwin’s theory
 Darwin applied it to evolution &
came up with Natural Selection.
The individuals that “win” reproduce
& pass on their adaptations.
Charles Lyell
 Geologist
 Geological features are in a slow,
continuous cycle of change.
 Estimated Earth to be much older than
generally believed
 Darwin applied this to evolution: Slow,
subtle changes (not visible at the
moment) result in massive changes (ex.
New species) over time.
Charles Darwin
 Was hired as a naturalist on the
HMS Beagle
 Sailed around the world
 Collected 1000s of specimens
 Found many examples of vestigial
features (structures that have no
function currently. Ex: appendix)
 Found homologous features
(traits that have common structures,
but different functions). Ex: hand,
hoof, fin all have same bones.
 Made him question Creation
Charles Darwin with Alfred Wallace
 Put together ideas from all scientists
mentioned previously
 Never used the term “Evolution”
because it implies progress
 Instead, he called it Descent with
Modification (in each generation,
the population becomes better adapted
or dies).
 Analyzed his findings for 20 years
before writing a journal article!
Niles Eldredge
 Punctuated Equilibrium
(with Gould): history consists of
long periods of no change
(equilibrium), punctuated by
periods of speciation.
 Species go through the most
change just after speciation event.
Stephen Jay Gould
 Punctuated Equilibrium (with
Eldredge).
 Evolution does sometimes act to make
organisms simpler (ex. parasites).
 Not all traits are selected for or against
– some just exist as by-products of
other traits.