LESSON 1

There are many proposed ideas about evolution by the early scientists. In the 1700s, Swedish botanist Carolus
Linnaeus made a contribution in studying the evolutionary relationship of the different types of organisms. He
developed a system of classification to group organisms by their similarities, which shows something about evolution.
The system of classification or Taxonomic Classification is still in use by taxonomists at present.
 
In the same decade, French naturalist Georges Louis Leclerc de Buffon proposed that organisms shared
ancestors. They instead are unrelated. He also opposed the idea of the time that the age of Earth is only 6,000. He
suggested that Earth was much older.
 
The idea that "all living things were descended from a common ancestor" was proposed by Charles Darwin's
grandfather, Erasmus Darwin. This idea was expanded until Jean-Baptiste Lamarck in 1809 proposed that "all
organisms evolved toward perfection and complexity," in which he further explained that species evolved into different
features. He also proposed that organisms tend to change due to the condition of the environment and behavior to
change, resulting to the use and disuse of a structure.
 
 
Theory of Natural Selection
 
The Theory of Evolution by Natural Selection was already accepted by biologists because of many valid
explanations and evidences seen on Earth. Fossils are some of the evidence that support this theory. Charles Robert
Darwin is the most popular evolution scientist who proposed this theory to explain how the species evolved through
natural selection, which is sometimes called "survival of the fittest." To understand natural selection better, let us
explain how evolution can occur.
 
Alfred Russel Wallace and Charles Darwin both studied the huge diversity of plants and animals in the tropics
region, including the fossil records. Their ideas were presented to a group of scientists in London.
 
According to Stephen Nowicki, there are four main principles to the theory of natural selection that can result in
biodiversity: (1) variation, (2) overproduction, (3) adaptation, and (4) descent with modification.
 
 
Natural Selection Principles of Biodiversity
 
 Variation
 
It refers to the heritable differences among single species resulting from differences in the genetic traits of the living
organisms inherited from a parent or due to genetic mutations. For example, organisms show variation in appearance
like hair color, size, and number of offspring.
 
 Overproduction
 
As reproduction of offspring increases, there is a greater chance to survive. As a result of overproduction, it implies that
the ancestors of the offspring have enough food resources and shelter to reproduce and to survive.
 
In terms of size and growth, bigger animals have a better chance to survive than smaller ones due to competition for
resources.
 
 Adaptation
 
Successful organisms are able to live longer and able to reproduce more individuals when they have potential to adapt
themselves to the fast-changing type of environment.
  Descent for Modification
 
Many individuals possess the traits in every generation as long as the environment is suitable for survival and
reproduction.

Evidence of the Evolution of Biodiversity

 
 Embryology
 
Embryology refers to the scientific study of embryos and their development. Many scientists believed and observed
that during the early development of the embryo of many vertebrates such as fish, birds, mammals, and reptiles, their
evolutionary relationship is almost impossible and hard to understand. These vertebrate animals have similarities based
on the result of shared common ancestry. As they gradually improve, the vertebrate animals develop a unique
characteristic that differentiates them from the other animal species. The development of the characteristics shows the
evidence for the macroevolution ancestry of each animal.
 
 Homologous Structure
 
It refers to the physical structures of the organisms that have the same evolutionary origin and positions. For
instance, the appendages of vertebrate animals have the same evolutionary origin. As they progress, the animals
develop differently in response to the function of their appendages. The legs of amphibians are adapted for walking and
crawling, and the wings of avians are adapted to fly.
 
 Vestigial Structure
 
It refers to the structure of animals that is gradually disappearing. One of the structures of an animal usually gets
smaller compared to other animal species in earlier evolutionary lineage. A structure of an organism with few or no
function but is clearly homologous to the structure of another organism is called a vestigial structure.
 
 Genetics
 
Genetic evidence is another evidence of evolution in which organisms have the basic heredity units for all life that
consists of similar nucleotides and proteins.
 
 Fossils
 
Fossils are the remains of plants and animals over the past 3.5 billion years. These fossils are in the form of bones,
shells, leaves, and footprints. Fossils were formed when living organisms are quickly buried in sand, mud, and gravel at
the bottom part of the different bodies of water. Due to periodic time, particles piled up and eventually became
sedimentary rocks, producing the original pattern of living organisms. To determine the age of fossilized organism,
scientists used radioisotope dating. Fossils can be found through the help of paleontologists. Fossil records are evidence
of the many life organisms that inhabited Earth in the past.
 
Concept Micro
 
o Carolus Linnaeus, Georges Louis Leclerc de Buffon, Erasmus Darwin, Jean-Baptiste Lamarck, Charles Robert
Darwin, and Alfred Russel Wallace are the scientists who made contributions in studying the evolution of
biodiversity.
 
o The fossils of plants and animals are the most important evidence of evolution.
 
o The natural selection principle of biodiversity are variation, overproduction, adaptation, and descent for
modification.
 LESSON 2

The occurrence of evolution explained in Darwin's Theory of Natural Selection happens in nature and is divided
into five parts.
 
1. Living things produce more offspring that actually survive.
 
The environment cannot support every living thing that is born. These organisms can die from diseases,
starvation, and limited space before they are able to produce.
 
2. Each organism has the ability to survive.
 
Not all organisms can survive if there are not enough food resources and shelter. Every living thing has the
ability to get what they need to survive. They should know how to protect themselves from predators.
 
The beak of some birds such as sparrow, eagle, maya, kingfisher, and duck helps them in finding and getting
food from their environment to survive.
 
3. Variation within a species
 
Species are not exactly the same. Members of a species have different characteristics. Variations of species are
easy to determine, such as differences in how fast or slow an organisms can run and walk, or the number of stripes or
spots in the case of ladybugs and zebras.
 
4. Variation of members of a species to survive and reproduce better than others
 
When organisms possess good traits to survive or reproduce, they fare better than others. A plant with more
thorns and spines grows faster and is able to survive because the thornier the plant, the more likely, it is to be left by
many animals rather than be eaten.
 
5. Living things that survive and reproduce pass their genetic traits to their offspring.
 
Animals and plants' genetic traits are passed on to their offspring. The probability of surviving increases with the
help of their traits. In the following generations, there are more and more of the population of organisms possessing
survival traits.
 
 
Factors That Can Lead to Evolution
 
 Gene Flow
 
Certain organisms join a new population and reproduce. Their alleles become part of their population's gene pool.
The transfer of alleles from the former population to another population is called gene flow. It occurs when several
animals move from one population to another. For example, during summer, many pores from fern and fungi will be
transferred and spread to new areas due to wind and water currents. The area receives the population and gene flow
increases the genetic variation. However, when gene flow does not occur, there is no chance that two populations will
evolve into different species.
 
 Genetic Drift
 
Genetic drift is a change in allele frequencies that affect an organism to be eliminated. A small population of
organisms is more likely to be affected by chance. Some alleles will decrease in frequency and become eliminated
 because of limited chance. Genetic drift is the change in allele frequencies that are due to chance alone, which
causes a loss of genetic diversity in a population.
 
 Mutation
 
New alleles can form through mutation that will create another genetic variation needed for evolution. It is one of
the bases of natural selection since mutations in germ cells may be passed to offspring. Mutation occurs in the DNA
sequence, which causes a nucleotide base to be inserted, deleted, or substituted. Some factors that cause mutation are
UV light, radiation, and some chemicals.
 
 Sexual Selection
 
Unique traits of many animals improve mating success for evolution. Female animals have a greater chance to select
their mates. Mating is an important effect on evolution of population. Both the sperm cell and egg cell of animals benefit
from having offspring to survive. The cost of reproduction for males and females is different. Males continuously
produce sperm, making the value of individual sperm relatively small. Females produce a limited number of offspring
due to their reproductive cycle.
 
There are two types of sexual selection:
 
1. Intersexual selection happens when males display unique traits that attract the females.
 
2. Intrasexual selection happens when there is competition among males. The one who will win the competition
will mate with the female.
 
 
Concept Micro
 
o The occurrence of evolution in Darwin's Theory of Natural Selection is divided into five parts: (1) living things
produce more offspring that actually survive, (2) each organism has the ability to survive, (3) variation within a
species, (4) variation of members of a species to survive and reproduce better than others, and (5) living things
that survive and reproduce pass their genetic traits to their offspring.
 
o Gene flow, genetic drift, mutation, and sexual selection are the factors that can lead to evolution.
 
LESSON 3

Speciation and extinction are the processes by which new species arise and existing species lose and cease to
exist respectively. Speciation and extinction events are integral parts of evolution in which many organisms are affected
all the time. It was noted that during evolutionary history, speciation rates increase and mass extinctions of species are
sudden, leading to individual differences and variations.
 
Speciation refers to the formation of two or more new species from one existing species. There are three types
of speciation: allopatric, sympatric, and parapatric.
 
Types of Speciation
 
1. Allopatric speciation occurs when there is an imbalance of gene flow between two populations due to physical
barrier. As the population of species adapt to their environment, there is a change in their gene pools.
 
2. Sympatric speciation happens if there is an overlapping range of the two diverging species within a region or
locality. Reproductive isolation occurs within an area by mutation. Study Figure 8.19. It started with one
population. Each individual causes them to select different habitats, resulting to non-random mating into two
genetically distinct and separate populations.
 
3. Parapatric speciation happens when there is a limited gene flow of the two species that may diverge from a
single species following hybridization of a population. Divergence of nonhybridized species would result in
speciation.
 
 
Speciation Through Isolation
 
 Reproductive Isolation
 
Reproductive isolation happens when members of different populations of species can no longer mate successfully
or do not interbreed. The type of environment that they inhabit, such as bodies of water and mountain ranges, affects
their reproduction. Reproductive isolation between populations is the final step in becoming separate species. Through
evolution, many species change their mating location, mating time, and mating rituals. Genetically based changes to
these factors of mating could result in a complete process of reproductive isolation and speciation. Reproductive
isolation can develop through behavioral isolation, temporal isolation, and geographical isolation.
 
1. Behavioral isolation occurs when populations have different courtship rituals or behaviors involved in
reproduction.
 
2. Temporal isolation occurs when populations reproduce at different times.
 
3. Geographical isolation occurs when there are changes or disruptions in the ecosystem or by means of physical
barriers such as a mountain rise, continent drift, or when a population of species migrates. Many organisms may
be unable to mate due to unfavorable conditions of their habitat. Moreover, population species separate due to
evolutionary path. The following are factors caused by geographic isolation:
 
a. Isolation barrier prevents species to mate with another species due to physical barriers such as mountain ranges
and bodies of water. For instance, two types of goats cannot reproduce from mating due to the shape and
characteristics of different mounting ranges.
 
a. Isolation by distance prevents animals to separate from a larger group mate due to long distance, resulting in a
less varied gene pool.
 
 a. Isolation after an event is another factor for an animal to mate because two populations of species become
separated by normal occurrences like an earthquake.
 
 
Modes of Speciation
 
Most plants can reproduce asexually, and some plants reproduce by fertilizing other individuals or clones of
themselves through vegetative reproduction. Most animals reproduce sexually. In terms of reproduction, plants have
many alternatives than animals. There are two modes of speciation, which are very common in plants:
 
1. Speciation by hybridization
 
It refers to a strong mating of two different species that later develop into a new species. The original traits of the
species will be enhanced into a unique appearance. In plants, the petals and the leaves will become larger. The hybrid
plant will become more resistant to drought.
 
2. Speciation by ploidy changes
 
The term ploidy means multiplying the number of chromosomes of the species. Changes in the number of
chromosomes are common in plants, which inhabit land. The plants are often produced as a new species that is
reproductively isolated.
 
 
Concept Micro
 
o The three major types of speciation are allopatric, sympatric, and parapatric.
 
o Isolation barrier, isolation by distance, and isolation by event, are the factors caused by geographic isolation.
 
o Speciation through hybridization and by ploidy changes are the two modes of speciation which are very common
in plants.
 
o Divergence of nonhybridized species would result in speciation.
 
LESSON 4

There are many environmental and biological changes that happened throughout the history of Earth. The
changes that happened in living organisms like genetic changes affected their characteristics, which influenced their
abilities to survive. On the other hand, environmental changes like the gradual cooling of Earth may also affect
organisms, which can result in extinction-the complete loss of a species.
 
 
Atmosphere
 
Earth has changed over the past 4 billion years due to the chemical composition of the atmosphere. The
increase of oxygen is one of the changes that occurred on Earth. The grouping of organisms that have the capacity to
undergo photosynthesis added oxygen in the atmosphere. Before, the O, levels are relatively few in amount but at
present, Earth's atmosphere contains about 21 percent of it. The increase in the level of O₂ plays an important role for
living things to survive and undergo the process of reproduction.
 
 
Temperature
 
The last 2 billion years of Earth's temperature has fluctuated. Temperatures vary due to the greater amounts of
gases in the atmosphere, which affected climatic changes to which the organisms were able to adapt to the drastic
effects of temperature. Temperature caused many species to go extinct.
 
Climate is one of the abiotic factors that affect the life of many living organisms on Earth. The rapid increase of
temperature due to greenhouse gases can alter weather conditions. Greenhouse gases, such as carbon monoxide from
the emission of automobiles and sulfur oxides through coal burning, contribute to heat increase in the atmosphere.
Most species are not used to adapt to abrupt changes of weather conditions. Species that cannot adapt to the changing
climate on Earth will have difficulty finding food for survival, which cause the species to die and become extinct.
 
 
Flood and Glaciation
 
The temperature on Earth gets warmer and warmer, which has caused the glaciers in the Arctic regions to melt.
Due to glaciation, the sea level rises, that causes catastrophic floods in different places. Many species can drown and die.
The nonstop increase of temperature causes global warming. Glaciers in the polar region can melt, which can cause the
rising sea levels. Water flows on land, creating flood and making it unsuitable for some species and, therefore, can lead
them to become extinct.
 
 
Cosmic Radiation and Asteroid Impact
 
Cosmic radiation is emitted from outer space and the sun. Once living organisms are exposed to too. much
cosmic radiation, they can mutate genes, which can weaken the gene pool of the species in the future. An asteroid that
can reach the surface of Earth will have a strong force impact for the species to become extinct.
 
 
Diseases
 
Just like humans, animal species have defense immunities as mechanisms to fight diseases. With the changing
weather conditions, many species are declining in their potential to defend themselves and become more susceptible to
diseases, which can lead to their eventual extinction.
 
 
Spread of Invasive Species
 
Invasive species can be any kind of living organism such as amphibians, insects, fishes, plants, bacteria, and
many others. They are invasive species because they are not native to an ecosystem, can reproduce quickly, and have
the ability to spread aggressively, which causes harm to many organisms. Invasive species invade the habitat of other
species. They use resources that the other species rely on. Once competition gets too great, the survival of the fittest will
start and the natural species usually die.
 
There are several species of plants and animals that can immediately adapt to the fast-changing climate on land
and in the ocean. These species can survive and protect themselves through their special structures. However, there are
some species, most especially animals, that cannot really survive due to the abnormal condition of the atmosphere.
 
 
Animals That Adapt to Environmental Changes
 
 Giant Panda
 
Recent study shows that giant pandas have a high genetic diversity within their immune system. The bear is capable of
fighting a pathogen that protects itself from abrupt environmental changes, such as climate, temperature, and diseases.
 
 Bar-headed Goose and Sperm Whale
 
The bar-headed goose and sperm whale have evolved special types of blood composition. They have the ability to store
more oxygen in their blood compared with other animals. The sperm whale can hold its breath for a long time, while the
bar-headed goose has an energetic flight, which serves as adaptation from poor oxygen in the environment, especially in
high-altitude areas.
 
 Lungfish
 
The lungfish has the ability to produce a mucus sack to protect itself from fast-changing environments, especially during
drought. Some species of catfish and eel have the ability to travel on land because they are able to take oxygen not
through their lungs or gills but through their intestines.
 
Concept Micro
 
o Atmosphere, temperature, flood and glaciation, cosmic radiation, asteroid impact, diseases, and invasive species
can affect many species, which can lead to extinction.