Chapter 2 The Development of Evolutionary Theory

Learning Objective Questions

Which developments in scientific thinking led to the discovery of evolution?
How was the theory of natural selection different from previous explanations
of origins of species?
How does natural selection operate on biological variation in species to cause
change?
What is fitness in relation to reproductive success?
How doe science and religon differ in explaining natural phenomena?
What is the history of the opposition to teach evolution in the U.S.?

Chapter Outline
A Brief History of Evolutionary Thought
The Discovery of Natural Seleciton
Natural Selection
Natural Selection in Action
Constrains on 19th century Evolutionary Theory
Opposition to Evolution Today

Why Learn Evolutionary Theory?
To have a basic understanding of biological sciences and processes;
To know how humans came to be and how oranisms adapt;
To know how the mechanics of evolution came to be discovered;
To understand and critically assess current controversies and be able to
explore social and political influences.

Brief History of Evolutionary Thought

Western European scientific thinking dates back to the 16th century, having
borrowed ideas from many cultures
Charles Darwin was the first person to successfully explain the basic
mechanics of the evolutionary process using natural forces
Alfred Russel Wallace independently reached recognized the singular
importance of natural selection

Obstacles for Darwin and Wallace
Feudal European society and a powerful religious system
Fixity of species was the belief that life-forms could not change: to question
this was a crime!
The plan of the universe was believed to be Gods design.- Each creation
served a purpose; ultimately to benefit mankind
Another issue was the presumed recent date of the Universe.
The earth was created on October 23, 4004 B.C., according to James Ussher.
Aristotles and Ptolemaic Worldview
17th Century map of the universe ~Earth at the center, orbiting moon, sun and 5
known planets
 Pre-scientific View
In the middle ages, the predominant world was stasis, the world was fixed
and unchanging.
The great chain of being held that life was arranged from simplest to most
complex.
It was believed that the earth was full and nothing new could be added.
The world was seen as the result of a grand design - Gods design.

Scientific Revolution
16th and 17th Century European scientists revolutionize scientific thought
However, the idea that living forms could change over time remained
unknown.
16th century Copernicus challenged Aristotles notion, supported by
Christianity, that earth was center of universe.
17th century Galileo Galilei supported Copernicus Heliocentric (Sun-
Centered) claim using logic and math

Precursors to the Theory of Evolution

Circumnavigating the globe in 15th century brought awareness that the earth
had greater biological diversity than Scripture suggested.

Carolus Linnaeus taxonomic binomial nomenclature with genus and
species names, e.g. Homo (genus) sapiens (species)
Heirarchical System with groups within groups within groups- not linear
Great Chain of Being - Groups based upon shared similarities.
Plants and animals are different in their ability to mate with one another and
reproduce fertile offspring.
Reproductively isolated organisms are species.

Change Means Differences

Differences Stem from Environments [Early Evolutionary Speculations]
Georges-Louis Leclerc de Buffon (1749) recognized that alterations in
climate, for example, were agents of change.
Erasmus Darwin (Charles poet, physician and intellectual grandfather)
viewed origins of life in seas and descent from common ancestor.

Jean-Baptiste Lamarck - Inheritance of Acquired Characteristics
Lamarck had an evolutionary theory but it was mystical and assumed the
truth of an incorrect mechanism
Animals Accommodate Environmental Changes
Continued use, but in different ways may bring changes in form; Disuse may
produce loss of the feature
Changes made in one lifetime are passed on to offspring. However, today we
know this to be wrong! Only genetic traits can be inherited.
 Forms have an internal drive to improve

Lamarck vs. Darwin-Wallace: Giraffes- stretch neck each generation;

The physical effort is somehow passed on reproductively to the offspring
who will have thus acquired what the parents did; they will improve that
further
Lamarck vs. Darwin-Wallace: Giraffes
(b) The Darwin-Wallace theory of natural selection is among giraffes
there is variation in neck length. If having a longer neck provides an
advantage for feeding, the trait will be passed on to a greater number of
offspring, leading to an overall increase in the length of giraffe necks over
many generations.

Baron Cuvier Father of Paleontology

Catastrophism : Extinction Caused by Catastrophes-
Did not accept evolution- based on the fossil record as it was then known
-he believed that there were multiple extinctions followed by many new creations
-eventually though there were many smaller additional extinctions, smaller
creations

Charles Lyell Father of Modern Geology

Geological Changes Over Time explained by Uniform Natural Laws
Climate, plants, animals, and land surfaces vary through time, but underlying
influences (physical laws) are constant
Wind, water erosion, local flooding, frost, decomposition, volcanoes,
earthquakes, and glaciers in the past produced geography and geology we
see today.
Lyell is famous for Uniformitarianism, or uniform processes (though not
rates) over time.
Deep Time is inferred from the thousands upon thousands of layers of
strata of slowly accumulating beds.

Reverend Thomas Malthuss An Essay on the Principle of Population (1800)

Led both Darwin and Wallace to the principle of natural selection.
Human Population Increases Exponentially Relative to Resources which
cannot keep up; this produces competition for limited resources
Conflicts over food, water, shelter, fuel, medical treatment, etc. leads to war,
theft, gluttony, human evils and sins according to Malthus
Darwin and Wallace recognized the competition for food and water is the key
to understanding natural selection!
Those with traits that allow more successful survival and reproduction will
have more surviving offspringthen what?
 Charles Darwin (1809-1882)
Doubts about fixity were formed while serving as a naturalist on the voyage
of the HMS Beagle (1830-1836) but his theory not finalized until his return
Darwin saw the importance of biological variation within a species.
Recognized the importance of sexual reproduction in increasing variation.
By 1844, Darwin had complete the work that he would publish fifteen years
later.
Travel with Darwin

Similarities and Variations in Species

Similarities and Variations in Species
All domestic dog breeds share a common ancestor, the wolf. Todays
variation among dog breeds results from artificial selection to emphasize
specific characteristics. [Analogy from Domestication and Breeding]

Darwins Theory of Evolution BY Natural Selection

Struggle for Survival
Population size is limited by food and available water, hence struggle for
existence. [Malthus]
Favorable variations tend to be preserved; unfavorable, destroyed.
The result, over long periods, is the formation of a new species.
Independent Discovery to Natural Selection
Alfred Russell Wallace, 1858, On the Tendency of Varieties to Depart Indefinitely
from the Original Type

Processes of Natural Selection

1. Species can produce offspring at a faster rate than food supplies increase
(Malthus).
2. There is biological variation within all species.
3. In each generation, more individuals are produced than can survive.
4. Individuals that possess favorable traits or variations are more likely to
survive and produce offspring.
5. Those offspring will have similar traits as the parents, and thus benefit. If
their offspring vary, those with more fit variants will pass on those traits, etc.

6. Environmental context determines whether a trait is beneficial or not.

7. Variations accumulate over long periods of time, so later generations may be

distinct from ancestral ones (new species in a lineage).
8. If populations in different places respond to different pressures over time,
they may become distinct species, descended from a common ancestor.
{speciation]

Witnessing Natural Selection

 Industrial Melanism Experiments by Kettlewell

Fundamentals
A trait must be inherited if natural selection is to act on it.
Natural selection cant occur without population variation in inherited
characteristics.
Fitness is a relative measure that changes as the environment changes.
Natural selection can only act on traits that affect reproduction.

19th Century Questions/Problems

The 19th Century constraints included questions such as these:
Where does variation come from?
How are traits passed to offspring?
Now we know:
The principles of inheritance (Mendelian Laws)
The structure of DNA (Discovered 1953)- Mutation~ the ultimate cause of
genetic variation
The sequence of the human genome (2003)- we all have hidden mutations

Current Critics of Evolution

About half of all Americans dont believe that evolution occurs.
The mechanisms of evolution are complex and not easy to understand.
People want definitive, clear-cut answers.
Science does not establish Moral Truths or prove facts. (all theories are
potentially falsifiable, based upon new evidence).
Belief systems do not deal with objective, biological explanations.

Creationism
Christian fundamentalist have worked to eliminate evolution from public
school curricula. Their efforts have led to the emergence of scientific
creationism or intelligent design (ID).