BIO120 Lecture 2: The Evidence for Evolution

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards reviewing the four primary lines of evidence for evolution—Geology, Homology, Biogeography, and Domestication—as presented in BIO120.

Types of evidence

Geology, Homology, Biogeography, and Domestication

Geology

The study of Earth's physical structure and substances, which provides insights into the history of life and the processes that have shaped evolution over time.

Dawrin HSM Beagle

Found extinct mammal, Glyptodon, in Argentina and show relationship between modern species, Extant Armadillo by examining fossil record

Lessons From Geology

Earth is very old and novel forms derived from earlier forms, both found through fossil record

Transitional Fossils

Fossilized remains that exhibit intermediate traits between ancestral forms and modern descendants, such as the series of fossils connecting terrestrial artiodactyls to fully aquatic modern whales.

Homology

Similarity of characteristics between two or more species that is due to inheritance from a common ancestor.

Vestigial Structures

Morphological features inherited from an ancestor that have become reduced in size and function, but remain homologous to functional structures found in related species.

Organismal features

modification of pre-existing structures

Lessons from Homology

500 genes shared across all life forms, all species are related, change through time, adaption result from natural selection

Biogeography

The study of the distribution of species and ecosystems in geographic space and through geological time, providing evidence for evolution based on how species are related to their environments.

Evidence of biogeography

The 15 Galapagos islands, different islands showed differences in shell shapes

Convergent evolution

Independent evolution but adopt similar features from unrelated or distantly related species

Lessons from Biogeography

Lineages split through the process of speciation from generations of biodiversity, and it all results from natural selection

Domestication

is the process by which humans breed and cultivate plants and animals for desired traits, influencing their evolution.

Artificial selection

is the intentional breeding of organisms with specific traits to produce desired characteristics, demonstrating human influence on evolutionary processes.

Lessons from Domestication

Organisms change through time, lineages split through breeding, resulting in the generation of distinct breeds, and adaptations result from artificial selection

Radioactive decay

is the process by which unstable atomic nuclei lose energy by emitting radiation, resulting in the transformation of elements and the release of particles or electromagnetic waves.

Tiktaalik roseae

A transitional fossil discovered on Ellesmere Island, Nunavut, dated to $375\text{ million years}$ old, which documents the key evolutionary transition between aquatic sarcopterygian fish and early tetrapods.

Galapagos Finches

studied by Peter and Rosemary Grant, observed natural selection through evidence of beak variation in response to environmental changes, demonstrating adaptive radiation.

Easy vs Hard Synthesis

Easy synthesis is information that give evidence that strengthens our inferences on evolution. Hard synthesis is information that was not available to Darwin and used modern day data and science