These notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor’s lecture. GradeBuddy is best used as a supplement to your own notes, not as a substitute. Lecture 2 Outline of Last Lecture I. What is evolution? II. Evidence that evolution has occurred Outline of Current Lecture II. Continuation of Evidence that evolution has occurred a. More on Homology b. Vestigial traits III. Evidence of Change over time a. Viewing evolutionary change IV. View of Evolution Pre-naturalist Era a. 17th century groundwork Current Lecture Evidence That Evolution Has Occurred Continued: • Humans and mice haven’t had a common ancestor for 65 million years but we both have very similar DNA sequences! homology • More differences in DNA! the more distantly related they are in an evolutionary standpoint • Synapomorphies! fossils and bones from different organisms that share a number of vital skeletal traits • Vestigial Traits: type of homology? no longer used for the function of which it was evolved. o Whales and snakes have lost their limbs over time, however they have remnants of hind limb bones! hip bones! inherited from common ancestors maybe shared from salamanders o Ostriches! still have wings but they cant fly! wings are vestigial o Human tail bone • Molecular vestigial traits: o The GULO psudogene o L-gulono-y-lactone oxidase o Almost all animals have this pathway that converts glucose to vitamin C! humans cant make this anymore. The gene is still there, but it is mutated to the point where it no longer functions anymore. It is now a Pseudogene. Evidence of Change Over Time: • Evidence of change over time: o Fossils: structures left from organisms that no longer exist anymore. Pointing to a change over time! extinct organisms o “Law of succession”! because of these fossils series, we will tend to find ancestor fossils in the same place we find their living decedents. BIO 280 1st Edition" Ex) New Mexico armadillos! fossil of ancestor armadillos found in New Mexico o Fossil series/ Transitional forms! progression of organisms with moderate changes that lead to a change over time " Transitional forms! show the transition from one organism to another over time! these are the fossils in fossil series. • Viewing evolutionary change: o Over a period of 30 years, the Grants noticed that there was a significant change in beak size average of Galapagos Island finches. o Sampling error: Measured a sample that was supposed to represent the entire population: Got the average of a few random samples. The difference in therse averages is the sampling error! this is where the 95% Confidence interval comes from. Using this technique, the Grants could say that they are 95 percent confident that their estimated mean represents the population mean. o The true mean could realistically be in a range but its 95% confident that we have seen it in the average. o So what did happen between 1977 and 2004? o The Finches experienced adaptive changes to the environment over time Pre Naturalist Thought (17th century): • Biblical Literalism and Special creation was the still mainstream view in 1650 o James Ussher, Bishop of Armagh o Using the Bible, He Estimated life began on Sunday October 23, 4004 BC, Some time around mid-day • Druing this time period there was scientific revolution o Copernicus, Galileo, Descartes, Newton; Great thinkers or the era theorized; o Earth was a part of a Larger universe. o The Physical world obeyed mechanistic laws. • In the time of Darwin, the Earth was only believed to be thousands of years old rather than billions • 17th century groundwork o The idea tha Human’s having a prehistory arose o Theories of the Earth arose o Meanings of fossils and remnants of animals was being explored! People didn’t know what fossils were. o Robert Hooke had a theory about fossils. He looked under a microscope ! saw that petrified wood looked very similar to modern wood on a cellular level. He came to the conclusion that wood must be a descendant of petrified wood. o Natural Theology: The idea that when we see a beautiful, complicated, and naturally perfect structure in nature, this is God’s plan! He designed these perfect structures and understanding these structures was considered being a good Christian and showing devotion to