Transcript Microevolution_Macroevolution

Microevolution &
Macroevolution
The changes of nature that shows us that some of Darwin’s
hypotheses are correct – on a small scale, within species.
CYC 2011
Could parallel evolution
occur?
 If the evolution model is valid, wings have
“evolved” four different times: in insects, in flying
reptiles, in birds, and in bats.
 If the evolution model is valid, eyes have “evolved”
at least three times independently.
 If something as complex as the eye has appeared
several times, in the squid, in vertebrates, and in
arthropods, it seems impossible that chance or
randomness alone caused its origin.
Life is complex!

Life contains an organized structure that we refer to as DNA.

Our complex systems are all, in the case of every known organism,
reproduced and assembled on the basis of “instructions” built into the
DNA molecular system.

The DNA molecule not only has information required for the synthesis of
the specific protein molecules needed by the cell, but also for its own
replication. Therefore, reproduction and inheritance depend directly
upon the DNA molecule, which is organized differently and specifically
for each type of organism.

DNA can only be replicated with the specific help of certain protein
molecules, which, in turn, can only produce at the direction of DNA.
Each depends on the other, and both must be present for replication to
take place.

DNA discoveries call the science of “evolution” completely into question.
Probability . . .
 The probability of a complex system arising
instantly by chance is calculated by modern scientist
to occur successfully at the rate of 1:10
Microevolution: what is it?
Microevolution is evolution on a small scale — within a
single population. That means narrowing our focus to
one branch of the tree of life.
If you could zoom in on one branch of the tree of life scale — the insects, for
example — you would see another phylogeny relating all the different insect
lineages. If you continue to zoom in, selecting the branch representing beetles,
you would see another phylogeny relating different beetle species. You could
continue zooming in until you saw the relationships between beetle populations.
Defining “Populations”
For animals, it's fairly easy to decide what a
population is. It is a group of organisms that
interbreed with each other — that is, they all share a
gene pool. So for our species of beetle, that might be a
group of individuals that all live on a particular
mountaintop and are potential mates for one another.
Biologists who study evolution at this level define
evolution as a change in gene frequency within a
population.
Detecting
microevolutionary change

Microevolution is defined as a change in gene frequency in a population and a population
as a group of organisms that share a common gene pool — like all the individuals of one
beetle species living on a particular mountaintop.

Imagine that you go to the mountaintop this year, sample these beetles, and determine
that 80% of the genes in the population are for green coloration and 20% of them are for
brown coloration. You go back the next year, repeat the procedure, and find a new ratio:
60% green genes to 40% brown genes.
http://evolution.berkeley.edu
Mechanisms of microevolution
 MUTATION;
 MIGRATION;
 GENETIC DRIFT;
 Imagine that you observe an increase in the
frequency of brown coloration genes and a decrease
in the frequency of green coloration genes in a
beetle population. Any combination of the
mechanisms of microevolution might be responsible
for the pattern, and part of the scientist's job is to
figure out which of these mechanisms caused the
change.
Mutation
 Some "green genes" randomly mutated to "brown
genes" (although since any particular mutation is
rare, this process alone cannot account for a big
change in allele frequency over one generation).
Migration
 Some beetles with brown genes immigrated from
another population, or some beetles carrying green
genes emigrated.
Genetic drift
 When the beetles reproduced, just by random luck more brown genes
than green genes ended up in the offspring. In the diagram at right,
brown genes occur slightly more frequently in the offspring (29%)
than in the parent generation (25%).
Natural Selection
 Beetles with brown genes escaped predation and
survived to reproduce more frequently than beetles
with green genes, so that more brown genes got into
the next generation.
What does the Bible say about
Microevolution?
 The Bible says nothing about microevolution.
 This is a scientific process which is welldocumented within scientific research.
 Microevolution, or “evolution” within a species
does not contradict the Bible in any way.
 Biblical scholars sometimes call microevolution
“Variation” which is observable, scientific and
Biblical.
Microevolution is supported
by biologic evidence
 There are many examples of
microevolution happening within
nature.
 Here are a few:
Ancient Penguin DNA
Reveals Microevolution on
Ice:
 Using perfectly preserved, ancient DNA, scientists have
demonstrated microevolution in a single species over a
span of some 6,000 years.
 The researchers examined well-preserved bones of
Adélie penguins (Pygoscelis adeliae) found in Antarctica
and compared them to the birds' living descendants.
 The scientists discovered small changes in gene
frequency, the relative percentage of an allele compared
to nearby genes. Alleles are different forms of a gene (the
code for blue or brown eyes, for example) that are
inherited from each parent and that occupy a given space
on a chromosome.
Ancient Penguin DNA
Reveals Microevolution on
Ice:
 The evolutionary changes in the penguin genes
have several possible causes. The most likely may
be a recurring natural event in the birds'
environment—the mega-icebergs that intermittently
alter the ways the penguins migrate and breed.
 Biology professor David Lambert said that while
many people might assume that natural selection
propels evolution, "virtually all biologists define
evolution as changes in gene frequencies over time."
The size of the sparrow:
 House sparrows were introduced to North
America in 1852. Since that time, the sparrows
have “evolved” different characteristics in
different locations. Sparrow populations in the
north are larger-bodied than sparrow
populations in the south. This divergence in
populations is probably at least partly a result of
natural selection: larger-bodied birds can often
survive lower temperatures than smaller-bodied
birds can. Colder weather in the north probably
selects for larger-bodied birds. As this map
shows, sparrows in colder places are now
generally larger than sparrows in warmer
locales.
Resistance . . .
 Science has documented many examples of the evolution of
resistance — of pests to pesticides, weeds to herbicides, and
pathogens to medicines — all of which are cases of
microevolution by natural selection. In the case of antibiotic
resistance, for example, a bacterial strain's huge population size
and short generation time mean that natural selection acts
quickly. In each bacterial generation, new mutations and gene
combinations are generated. If any of these confer resistance to a
drug to which the bacteria are exposed, natural selection will
favor those gene versions. Over the course of many bacterial
generations (a small fraction of a single human lifetime), the
bacteria adapt to our defenses, evolving right out from under
our attempts to rid ourselves of them.
A few more examples of
microevolution
 This general scenario has played out many, many
times. Just a few examples include:
 mosquitoes evolving resistance to DDT
 whiteflies evolving resistance to pesticides
 gonorrheal bacteria strains evolving resistance to
penicillin
 HIV strains evolving resistance to antiviral
medicines
Macroevolution: What your
science teacher calls
“Evolution.”
 Macroevolution generally refers to evolution above the species
level. So instead of focusing on an individual beetle species, a
macroevolutionary lens might require that we zoom out on the
tree of life, to assess the diversity of the entire beetle clade and
its position on the tree.
Evolution on a large scale
 Macroevolution encompasses the grandest trends
and transformations in evolution, such as the origin
of mammals and the radiation of flowering plants.
Macroevolutionary patterns are generally what we
see when we look at the large-scale history of life.
 It is not necessarily easy to "see" macroevolutionary
history; there are no firsthand accounts to be read.
Instead, evolutionists reconstruct the history of life
using all available evidence they have found in
geology, fossils, and living organisms.
What do evolutionist
scientists say?
 Once we've figured out what evolutionary events have taken
place, we try to figure out how they happened. Just as in
microevolution, basic evolutionary mechanisms like mutation,
migration, genetic drift, and natural selection are at work and
can help explain many large-scale patterns in the history of
life.
 These scientists claim that basic evolutionary mechanisms —
mutation, migration, genetic drift, and natural selection — can
produce major evolutionary change if given enough time.
Patterns in macroevolution
 Stasis:
Many lineages on the tree of life exhibit stasis, which just
means that they don't change much for a long time, as shown in the figure
to the right.

In fact, some lineages have changed so little for such a long time that they
are often called living fossils. Coelacanths comprise a fish lineage that
branched off of the tree near the base of the vertebrate clade. Until 1938,
scientists thought the coelacanths went extinct 80 million years ago. But
in 1938, scientists discovered a living coelacanth from a population in the
Indian Ocean that looked very similar to its fossil ancestors. Hence, the
coelacanth lineage exhibits about 80 million years’ worth of
morphological stasis.
Patterns in macroevolution

Character change: Evolutions claim that lineages can change quickly or
slowly. Character change can happen in a single direction, such as evolving
additional segments, or it can reverse itself by gaining and then losing
segments. Changes can occur within a single lineage or across several lineages.
In the figure to the right, lineage A changes rapidly but in no particular
direction. Lineage B shows slower, directional change.

Trilobites, animals in the same clade as modern insects and crustaceans, are
believed to have lived over 300 million years ago. As shown below, their fossil
record suggests that several lineages underwent similar increases in segment
number over the course of millions of years.
Patterns in macroevolution
 Lineage-splitting (or speciation):
Patterns of lineage-splitting
can be identified by constructing and examining a phylogeny. The phylogeny
might reveal that a particular lineage has undergone unusually frequent
lineage-splitting, generating a "bushy" tuft of branches on the tree (Clade A,
below). It might reveal that a lineage has an unusually low rate of lineagesplitting, represented by a long branch with very few twigs coming off (Clade
B, below). Or it might reveal that several lineages experienced a burst of
lineage-splitting at the same time (Clade C, below).
Patterns in macroevolution
 Extinction: Extinction is extremely important in the history
of life. It can be a frequent or rare event within a lineage, or it
can occur simultaneously across many lineages (mass
extinction). Every lineage has some chance of becoming
extinct, and overwhelmingly, species have ended up in the
losing slots on this roulette wheel: over 99% of the species that
have ever lived on Earth have gone extinct. In this diagram, a
mass extinction cuts short the lifetimes of many species, and
only three survive.
 http://evolution.berkeley.edu
Is evolution true?
 We must examine evolution from both a Biblical
perspective and a scientific perspective.
 Evolution is sometimes referred to as “Darwinism”
because the work of Charles Darwin in The Origin of the
Species is the work that sparked the concept .
 Darwin was open to many new and different ideas in his
day, and many believe would be appalled at the way
that “evolutionists” who believe in a theory through
which they filter scientific data refuse to consider the
possibility that scientific evidence may be interpreted
differently.
Darwin did not answer the
“question”
 Although many would like to say he did, Darwin did not
identify the “origin” of anything.
 Darwin focused on the processes he observed in science.
 He did not determine who or what caused things to be.
 Today, most evolutionists believe that the earth cooled
and formed into rock, which was rained upon for
millions of years, creating a “soup” of chemicals. The
chemicals came together and formed the first living
creatures, which have evolved into all the species we see
today.
Where did we come from?
What does the Bible say?
 Scientists and philosophers, theologians and
common people have been trying to answer this
question throughout time.
 There are several arguments for the existence of
God, besides the argument “The Bible says so.”
 These arguments are referred in the philosophy of
religion as “cosmological” and “teleological” .
 These arguments search for the “First Cause” of the
universe.
Intelligent Design
 The design model is a theory of origins asserting
that all life forms were designed to experience only
limited genetic variations (microevolution) in order
to adapt to and survive the stresses caused by
environmental changes.
Darrel Kautz, The Origin of Living Things
There is a creator
 The Bible says there is a creator, who designed the
earth. We will call God the “First Cause.”
 In Genesis we know that God created our world
and all the living things in the world
 Since the Bible is not a science book, it does not
address changes within species; only that an
intelligent, loving creator designed them all.
 If this is true, and I believe it is, we become more
involved with moral truth and responsibility, than
with random biological changes of species.
Evolutionary theories
 Gradualism: Organisms change at a VERY slow pace
which moves from micro evolutionary changes to the
emergence of new life forms.
 Punctuated Equilibria: Organisms remain relatively
static for long periods of time, when sudden
environmental pressures cause sudden punctuations, or
the bursting forth of new life forms.
 Theistic Evolution: Where God is the “First cause” but
then macroevolutionary theory is his vehicle for creation.
 Mutation: The method whereby one species transitions
into a new species.
Mutation in macroevolution
 Mutation is the most important component in
macroevolution; this is the mechanism to produce the
required upward progress in complexity. There are
serious problems with mutations.
 Mutations are random; not directed
 Mutations are rare.
 Good mutations are very, very rare.
 The net effect of all mutations is harmful
 Mutations affect and are affected by many genes
Probability . . .
 Scientists have proven that a organism composed of only
100 integrated parts, with each part fulfilling a unique
function, would have the probability of a successful
chance linkage of only 1:10 158th power (that’s 10 with
150 zeros!)
 NASA researchers found that the simplest type of living
protein molecule was made of a chain of at least 400
linked amino acids . . .
 The probability of a DNA molecule linking, with its
thousands of functioning enzymes, is incredibly
improbable – 41000 (which equals 10600)
Intelligent Design’s
Progressive Model
Stages
Genesis Event
Verses
Science
1-2
Creation of the
space-time
universe
1-5
Big Bang of
cosmology (light
bursts forth
from darkness)
2-3
- Earth formed
- Water begins
to condense
- Global sea
emerges
- Atmosphere
created
(expanses)
6-8
-Volcanic
activity ends
-Atmosphere
forms over the
sea (troposphere
– greenhouse
effect)
Intelligent Design’s
Progressive Model
Stages
Genesis Event
Verses
Science
3-4
- Dry land
created
- Earth-moon
system
created
- Atmosphere
becomes
transparent
- Single-celled
plant life
created by
now
4, 9-10
-Origin of
double planet
system
(theory of the
origin of the
moon from the
earth who create
a basin in the
earth for water
to gather to one
side)
Intelligent Design’s
Progressive Model
Stages
Genesis Event
Verses
Science
4-5
-Creation of sea
animals
(multicellular to
amphibians/rep
tiles/winged
animals)
-Creation of
Great reptiles
(i.e. dinosaurs)
14-19
Cambrian
explosion/age
of fish (array of
multicellular
animals having
the body plans
of virtually all
creatures that
now swim, fly or
crawl
throughout the
world.)
Intelligent Design’s
Progressive Model
Stages
Genesis Event
Verses
Science
5-6
-Creation of
land animals
(domesticated
livestock, nondomesticatedwild )
-Creation of
mammals/hum
an life
24-27
-Age of
amphibians/rep
tiles
-Age of
mammals/hum
anity
Intelligent Design’s Young
Earth Model
 The young earth model views creation
from a literal 6 day, 24 hr. creation. The
universe is created with the appearance of
age. Adam, for example, was not created
as a baby, but as a full-grown man with the
appearance of age. The same can be said
for the creation of wine at Cana, Jesus
created wine from water; a process that
normally takes time; the wine had an
appearance of age, despite having been
created just moments prior. Supernatural
events are not subject to the physical
world. The creation of the universe is a
supernatural event. Matter, space and time
exploded into existence at God’s creation of
the universe.
Young Earth Model
Citation
Bible
Event
Genesis 1:1-2
(Preparation)
In the beginning God created
Creation of matter,
the heavens and the earth. The space, and time.
earth was without form, and
void; and darkness was on the
face of the deep. And the Spirit
of God was hovering over the
face of the waters.
BIG BANG
Genesis 1:3-5 (Day 1)
Then God said “Let there be
Creation of light and
light” and there was light. And its physical
God saw the light, that it was
properties.
good; and God divided the
light from the darkness. God
called the light Day, and the
darkness He called Night. So
the evening and the morning
were the first day.
Young Earth Model
Citation
Bible
Event
Genesis 1:6-8
(Day 2)
Then God said “Let there be a firmament in the midst of
the waters and let it divide the waters from the waters.
Thus God made the firmament, and divided the waters
which were under the firmament from the waters which
were above the firmament; and it was so. And God
called the firmament Heaven. So the evening and
morning were the second day.
Condensation of
matter to form
the earth;
Creation of the
watery planet
Genesis 1:913(Day 3)
Then God said “Let the waters under the heavens be
gathered together into one place and let the dry land
appear;” and it was so. And God called the dry land
Earth, and the gathering together of the waters he called
the seas. And God saw that it was good.
Then God said, “let the earth bring forth grass, the
herb that yields seed, and the fruit tree that yields fruit
according to its kind, whose seed is in itself, on the
earth;” and it was so. . . . And God saw that it was good.
So the evening and the morning were the third day.
The appearance
of land, and
separation from
water.
Plants are created
with genetic
variety.
Young Earth Model
Citation
Bible
Event
Genesis 1:1419 (Day 4)
Then God said, “Let there be lights in the firmament of
the heavens to divide the day from the night; and let
them be for signs and seasons, for days and years; and
let them be for lights in the firmament of the heavens to
give light on earth.” and it was so. Then God made two
great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the
lesser light to rule the night. He made the starts also. . .
. And God saw that it was good. SO the evening and
the morning were the fourth day.
The matter in the
universe is
organized and
turned on. The
light and light
sources are
created; the sun,
moon, and stars.
Genesis 1:2024 (Day 5)
Then God said, “Let the waters abound with an
abundance of living creatures, and let birds fly above
the earth across the face of the firmament of the
heavens.” So God created great sea creatures and every
living thing that moves, with which the waters
abounded, according to their kind, and every winged
bird according to its kind. And God saw it was good.
And God blessed them, saying “Be fruitful and
multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds
multiply on the earth. So evening and the morning
were the 5th day.
All varieties of
birds, sea animals
are crated with
genetic variety
and limitations
(kind).
Citation
Genesis
1:25-31
(Day 6)
Bible
Event
Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth the living creature
according to its kind: cattle and creeping things and beast of the
earth, each according to its kind;” and it was so. And God made
[them]. . . . And God saw that it was good.
Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to
Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea,
over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth,
and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. So God
created man in His own image; in the image of God He created
him; male and female He created them. Then God blessed them
and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth
and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the
birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the
earth.”
And god said, “See I have given you every herb that yields
seed which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose
fruit yields seed to you it shall be for food. Also, to every beast
of the earth, to every bird of the air, and to everything that
creeps on the earth, in which there is life, I have given every
green herb for food;” and it was so. Then God saw everything
that He had made, and indeed it was very good. So the evening
ad the morning were the sixth day.
Land animals
and insects
with genetic
variety and
kind are
created.
Man is created
in the image
of God (the
First Cause)
Spotted in 1959 and
photographed by a Turkish airforce pilot. Noah’s Ark?
Noah’s Ark & the Flood
 The deposits of coal and oil under the Earth’s surface
show that living matter was covered by sedimentary
deposits – reasonably during the great flood. Oil and
coal are the remains of living matter that has died.
 Fossils occur only if living matter is immediately buried.
The large number of fossils are the result of a
catastrophic event: the flood of Noah’s day.
 Sea life fossils are on the top of Mount Everest, in
addition to the rest of the mountain chains.
 http://www.truthnet.org