GRADE: XII BIOLOGY

CH-7-EVOLUTION [Study material]

Evolution

 The study of history of life forms on earth is Evolutionary Biology

 Evolution is the changes in flora and fauna that have occurred over millions
of years on earth
ORIGIN OF LIFE:
 Stellar distances are measured in light years.
 The universe is very old – almost 20 billion years old.
 The Big Bang theory attempts to explain to us the origin of universe.
The Big Bang theory:
 A singular huge explosion of a dense cosmic mass unimaginable in physical
term.
 The universe expanded and hence the temperature came down.
 Hydrogen and Helium formed sometime later.
 The gases condensed under gravitation and formed the galaxies of the
present day universe.
 In the solar system of the Milky Way galaxy, earth was supposed to have
been formed about 4. 5 billion years back.
Condition of early earth:
 Earth formed 4. 5 billion years back.
 There was no atmosphere on early earth.
 Water vapor, methane, carbon dioxide and ammonia released from molten
mass covered the surface.
 The UV rays from the sun broke up water into Hydrogen and oxygen and
lighter H2 escaped.
 Oxygen combined with ammonia and methane to form water, CO2 and
others.The ozone layer was formed.
 As it cooled, the water vapor fell as rain, to fill all the depressions and form
oceans.
Life appeared 500 Million years after the formation of earth.
Origin of life:
 Conventional religious literature tells us about the theory of special creation.
 The theory of special creation has three connotations:-

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  All the living organisms (species types) that we see today were created as
such.
 The diversity was always the same since creation and will be same in future.
 Earth is about 4000 years old.
(ii) Theory of panspermia/cosmozoic theory/extra terrestrial origin
 Early Greek thinkers thought units of life called spores were transferred to
different planets including earth. Such spores were called ‘Panspermia’.
‘Panspermia’ is still a favorite idea for some astronomers
(iii) Theory of spontaneous generation
 Life came out of decaying and rotting matter like straw, mud etc. This was
the theory of spontaneous generation.
Louis Pasteur by careful experimentation demonstrated that life comes only from
pre-existing life.
 He showed that in pre-sterilised flasks, life did not come from killed yeast
while in another flask open to air, new living organisms arose from ‘killed
yeast’.
 Spontaneous generation theory was dismissed once and for all
(iv) Oparin – Haldane theory of origin of life/(chemical origin of life)
 Oparin of Russia and Haldane of England proposed that the first form of life
could have come from pre-existing non-living organic molecules (e.g.
RNA, protein, etc.)
 Formation of life was preceded by chemical evolution, i.e., formation of
diverse organic molecules from inorganic constituents.
 The conditions on earth were – high temperature, volcanic storms, reducing
atmosphere containing CH4, NH3, etc
S.L.Miller experiment:Experimental proof to chemical evolution of life
In 1953, S. L. Miller an American Scientist created similar conditions (high
temperature, volcanic storms, reducing atmosphere containing CH4, NH3, etc)
in a laboratory
 He created electric discharge in a closed flask(sparkle discharge apparatus)
containing CH4, H2, NH3 and water vapor at 8000C
 He observed formation of amino acids.
 In similar experiments others observed, formation of sugars, nitrogen bases,
pigment and fats
 Analysis of meteorite content also revealed similar compounds indicating
that similar processes are occurring elsewhere in space.

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  With this limited evidence, the first part of the conjectured story, i.e.,
chemical evolution was more or less accepted

(v) Theory of biogenesis:

 The first non-cellular forms of life could have originated 3 billion years
back.
 They would have been giant molecules (RNA, proteins, Polysaccharides,
etc).
 These capsules reproduced their molecules perhaps, named as coaservates.
 The first cellular form of life did not possibly originate till about 2000
million years ago
 The first cellular forms of life were probably unicellular.
 All life forms were in water environment only
 This version of a biogenesis, i.e., the first form of life arose slowly through
evolutionary forces from non-living molecules is accepted by majority.
Question:
Life originated from the earth’s inorganic atmosphere in the post, but this no longer
happens today. Give two reasons?
Ans. Life cannot be originated in the present day atmosphere because:-
i) The temperature of present day atmosphere is much less than that of
primitive atmosphere.
ii) The present day atmosphere is oxidizing & not reducing due to presence of
oxygen

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EVOLUTION OF LIFE FORMS – A THEORY:
 Charles Darwin concluded that existing life forms share similarities to
varying degrees not only among themselves but also with life forms that
millions of years ago. His Observation made during a sea voyage in a sail
ship called H.M. S. Beagle round the world.
 Many such life forms don’t exist anymore. There had been extinctions of
different life forms in the years gone by just as new forms of life arose at
different periods of history of earth.
 There has been gradual evolution of life forms. Any population has built in
variation in characteristics.
 Those characteristics which enable some to survive better in natural
conditions (climate, food, physical factors, etc.) would outbreed others that
are less-endowed to survive under such natural conditions
 Survival of the fittest. The fitness, according to Darwin, to reproductive
fitness.
 Those who are better fit in an environment, leave more progeny than others.
These, therefore, will survive more and hence are selected by nature. He
called it natural selection.
 Alfred Wallace, a naturalist who worked in Malay Archipelago had also
come to similar conclusions around the same time.
WHAT ARE EVIDENCES FOR EVOLUTION?
1. Paleontological evidence:
 Fossils are remains of hard parts of life-forms which lived long ago and
found in rocks.
 Different-aged rock sediments contain fossils of different life-forms who
probably died during the formation of the particular sediment
 A study of fossils in different sedimentary layers indicates the geological
period in which they existed
 The study showed that life-forms varied over time.
 Certain life forms are restricted to certain geological time-span.
 New lives have arisen at different times in the history of earth.
All this is called paleontological evidence
2. Comparative anatomy and morphological evidence:
Comparative anatomy and morphology shows similarities and differences
among organisms of today and those that existed years ago.
Divergent evolution:
 Whale, bats, cheetah and human share similarities in the pattern of bones of
forelimbs

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  These forelimbs perform different functions in these animals, they have
similar anatomical structure – all of them same type of bones in their
forelimbs.
 Here, the same structure developed along different directions due to
adaptation to different needs.
 This is divergent evolution and these structures are homologous.
 Homology indicates common ancestry.
 Other examples: (a)Vertebrate hearts and brains.
(b)Thorn of Bougainvillea and tendrils of Cucurbita.
Convergent evolution:
 Wings of butterfly and of birds look alike.
 They are not anatomically similar structure though they perform similar
function.
 Hence analogous structures are a result of convergent evolution.
Examples:
 Eye of octopus and eye of mammals.
 Flippers of Penguins and Dolphins.
 Sweat potato (root modification) and potato (stem modification).
Vestigial Organs
The organs which are non –functional in the present day animals but were functional in
their ancestors and in related animals are called vestigial organs. In man nearly about 100
vestigial organs have been reported including the vermiform appendix, nictitating
membrane, wisdom teeth, body hair in male, coccyx, muscles of external ear etc.
Atavism
The reappearance of ancestral characters in the descendants is called atavism. For
example, multinippled condition, dense body hair, human body with tail etc.
Both vestigial organs and atavism are evidences of common ancestry

Biochemical evidences:
 Similarities in proteins and genes performing a given function among
diverse organisms give clues to common ancestry.
Evolution by natural selection:
Industrial Melanism (In England)
Before industrialization (1850s): There were more white winged moths than dark
winged or melanised moths
 Reason: There was white coloured lichen covered the trees. In that
background, the white winged moths survived but the dark coloured moths
were picked out by predators.

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After industrialization (1920): More dark winged moths and less white winged
moths.
 Reason: The tree trunks became dark due to industrial smoke and soot. No
growth of lichens. Under this condition the white winged moth did not
survive because the predators identified them easily. Dark winged moth
survived because of suitable dark background.
Evolution by anthropogenic action:
 Excess use of herbicides, pesticides or antibiotics etc resulted in selection of
resistant varieties
 Evolution is a stochastic process based on chance events in nature and
chance mutation in the organisms.

ADAPTIVE RADIATION
(i) Darwin’s Finches: (Divergent evolution)
 In Galapagos Islands Darwin observed small black birds later called
Darwin’s Finches.
 There were many varieties of finches in the same island. All the varieties,
he came across, evolved on the same island itself.
 From the original seed-eating features, many other forms with altered
beaks arose, enabling them to become insectivorous and vegetarian
finches
 This process of evolution of different species in a given geographical area
starting from a point and literally radiating to other areas of geography
(habitats) is called adaptive radiation.
(ii) Australian marsupial: (Convergent evolution)
 A number of marsupials each different from the other evolved from an
ancestral stock. But all within the Australian island continent.
 When more than one adaptive radiation appeared to have occurred in an
isolated geographical area (representing different habitats), it is called as
convergent evolution.
 Placental mammals in Australia also exhibit adaptive radiation in
evolving into varieties of such placental mammals each of which appears
to be ‘similar’ to a corresponding marsupial
(e.g. placental wolf and Tasmanian wolf marsupial).
BIOLOGICAL EVOLUTION:
 The essence of Darwinian Theory is natural selection.
 The rate of appearance of new forms is linked to the life cycle
or the life span.

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  There must be a genetic basis for getting selected and to evolve.
 Some organisms are better adapted to survive.
 Adaptive ability is inherited. It has genetic basis.
 Fitness is the end result of the ability to adapt and get selected by
nature.
 Branching descent and natural selection are the two key concepts of
Darwinian Theory of Evolution.
Lamark’s theory of evolution: (theory of inheritance of acquired characters)
 French Naturalist Lamark had said that evolution driven by use and
disuse of organs.
 He gave the example of Giraffes which had stretched their necks so as to
reach at heights in an attempt to forage leaves on tall trees.
 This caused elongation of their necks.
 They passed on this acquired character of elongated neck to succeeding
generations.
 Giraffes, slowly over the years, came to acquire long necks.
MECHANISM OF EVOLUTION:
In the first decade of twentieth century, Hugo deVries based on his work on
evening primrose put forward the idea of mutations
 Mutations are the sudden heritable large scale changes in an organism.
 It is the mutation which causes evolution and not the minor variations
that Darwin talked about.
 Mutations are random and directionless while Darwinian variations are
small and directional.
 Evolution for Darwin was gradual while deVries believed mutation
caused speciation and hence called it saltation (single step large
mutation).
HARDY – WEINBERG PRINCIPLE:
 In a given population frequency of occurrence of alleles of a gene is
supposed to remain fixed and even remain the same through generations.
 Hardy-Weinberg principle stated it using algebraic equations.
 The principle states that allele frequencies in a population are stable
and is constant from generation to generation.
 The gene pool (total genes and their alleles in a population) remains a
constant. This is called genetic equilibrium:
 Sum total of all the allelic frequencies is 1.
 (p + q)2 = p2 + 2pq + q2 = 1.

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  When frequency measured, differs from expected values, the difference
(direction) indicates the extent of evolutionary change.
 Disturbance in genetic equilibrium, or i. e. change of frequency of alleles
in a population would then be interpreted as resulting in evolution.
 Five factors are known to affect Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium:
 Gene migration or gene flow
 Genetic drift
 Mutation
 Genetic recombination
 Natural selection
 Gene migration: When migrations of a section of population to another
place occur, gene frequencies change in the original as well as in the new
population. New genes /alleles are added to the new population and these
are lost from the old population.
 Gene flow: Gene migration occurs many time is termed as gene flow
 Genetic drift: change in gene frequency takes place by chance
 Founder effect: Sometimes the change in allelic frequency is so different
in the new sample of population that they became a different species. The
original drifted population becomes founder species and the effect is
called founder effect
 Operation of natural selection on different trait:
 Natural selection is of three types:
 Stabilizing selection: in which more individuals acquire mean
character value.
 Directional selection i. e. more individuals acquire value other than
the mean character value.
 Disruptive selection: more individuals acquire peripheral character
value at both ends of the distribution curve.
Question:
Sixteen percent of the population of Europe is Rhesus negative. Use the Hardy –
Weinberg equation to calculate the percentage of this population that you would
expect to be heterozygous for the Rhesus gene. Show your calculation.
q2 = 16
100
q = √�. �� = 0.4
p = 1 – 0.4 = 0.6
2 pq = heterozygotes = 2 x 0.6 x 0.4 = 48%

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Founder effect
When a new population is established in isolation, its gene pool is not identical
with that of the parent population because the founders (migrant) represent only a
minute sample of the parent population. The word founders means those who are
going to establish a new population.
For example, from a large population 10 members are migrated to an island to
establish new population. These 10 members are called founders. The original
drifted population becomes founders and the effect is called founder effect

BRIEF ACCOUNT OF EVOLUTION:

 About 2000 million years ago (mya) the first cellular forms of life
appeared on earth.
 Some cellular form had the ability to release O2.
 Slowly single cell organisms became multicellular life forms.
 By the time of 500 mya invertebrates were formed and active.
 Jawless fish probably evolved around 350 mya.
 Sea weeds and few plants existed probably around 320 mya.
 Coelacanth a lobe finned fish discovered in South Africa in 1938 evolved
into first amphibians that lived on both land and water. These were
ancestors of modern day frogs and salamanders.
 The amphibian evolved into reptiles.
 Reptiles’ lays eggs which don not dry up in sun unlike those of amphibians.
Giant ferns (pteridophytes) were present but they fell to form coal deposits
slowly.
 Some of the reptiles went back into water to evolve into fish like reptiles
probably 200 mya ( Ichthyosaurs)
 The land reptiles were the dinosaurs.
 The biggest dinosaurs are Tyrannosaurus rex. It was about 20 feet in height
and had huge fearsome dagger like teeth.
 About 65 mya the dinosaurs suddenly disappeared from the earth.
 Some of them evolved into birds.
 The first mammals were like shrews. Their fossils were small sized.
 Mammals were viviparous and protected their unborn young inside the
mother’s body.
 Due to continental drift, pouched mammals of Australia survived because of
lack of competition from any other mammals.
ORIGIN AND EVOLUTION OF MAN:
 About 15 mya primates called Dryopithecus and Ramapithecus were
existing.They were hairy and walked like gorillas and chimpanzees.
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 Ramapithecus was more man like while Dryopithecus was more ape-like.
 Few fossils of man-like bones have been discovered in Ethiopia and
Tanzania. These revealed hominid features leading to the belief that about
3-4 mya, man-like primates walked in eastern Africa
 Two mya Australopithecines probably lived in East African grasslands.
They hunted with stone weapons. Essentially ate fruit.
 The first human-like being the hominid and was called Homo habilis. Brain
capacity between 650–800 cc. They did not eat meat.
 Fossils discovered in Java in 1891 revealed the next stage i. e. Homo
erectus about 1. 5 mya. Had large brain around 900 cc. Probably ate meat.
Neanderthal man:
 Brain size 1400 cc
 Lived in east and central Asia between 1, 00,000-40,000 years back.
 They used hides to protect their body.
 Buried their dead.
Homo sapiens:
 Arose in Africa and moved across continents and developed distinct races.
 During ice age between 75,000-10,000 years ago modern Homo sapiens
arose.
 Pre historic cave art developed about 18,000 years ago.
 Agriculture came around 10,000 years back and human settlement started.

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