Introduction to Evolution What is organic biological evolution Descent with modification Who s idea was biological evolution No not Charles Darwin On Origin of Species 1859 o Example Anaximander Greek 6th century b c Fish Humans Buffon Frenchman 1753 Horse and ass had a common ancestor Lamarck Frenchman 1802 Simple organisms Complex Organisms Erasmus Darwin C R Darwin s Grandfather Evolution by Lamarckian mechanisms Then what were the mahor contributions of Charles Darwin Ernst Mayr claims Darwin s Theory of evolution was actually 5 theories combined 1 Evolution is a well documented theory 2 All living things can be traced by to a single common ancestor most important theory of Biology 3 Evolution is gradual not saltational big changes in short periods of time 4 Variation Populational change evolution occurs by changes in the proportion of individuals within a population that differ in one or more hereditary characteristics Figure 1 4 in book Individuals do not evolve populations do 5 Natural Selection causes the proportions of genetically variant individuals within a population to change resulting in adaptation to the local environment A R Wallace s as well Was originally thought of by Charles Darwin Evidence Consistent with Evolution and by the way evidence consistent with special creation 1 Morphological similarites among vertebrate embryos single common ancestor passed on that trait too 2 Same bones and organizational patterns among vertebrate skeletons holds for flowers 3 Similarity of living organisms to fossil extinct organisms and the great age of Earth 4 Island groups Example Galapagos Islands often harbored distinct but closely related species on each island 5 Vestigial structures Example Whale pelvis and femur but no legs Human coccyx tailbone yet no tail are recognizable as such 6 Universal biochemical pathways Example Glycolysis 7 Universal genetic material DNA and nuclear genetic code 8 Universal protein synthetic machinery and processes DNA mRNA Protein 9 Artificial selection in lab and in agricultural practices 10 Small scale changes can be observed in nature All above ten examples can be explained by both evolutionary theory and the acts of a supernatural being Example The descent of all living organisms from a common ancestor combined with heritable change over time evolutionary theory can account for the above observations This view of the world is based on evidence observations Versus A supernatural explanation one that implies an all powerful being god or an intelligent designer not being limited by natural laws as we understand them now created the universe from nothing along with the above mentioned biological similarities This view of the world is based upon belief faith rather than evidence