Credit: K. Foglia and K.

Riedell

A Darwinian View of Life

AP Bio Ch. 22A (pp.438-444)

Linnaeus (classification)
Hutton (gradual geologic change)
Lamarck (species can change)
Malthus (population limits)
Cuvier (fossils, extinction)
Lyell (modern geology)
Darwin (evolution, nutural selection)
Mendel (inheritance)
American Revolution
1750

Wallace (evolution, natural selection)

French Revolution
U.S. Civil War
1800
1850
1900
1795 Hutton proposes his theory of gradualism.
1798 Malthus publishes Essay on the Principle of Population.
1809 Lamarck publishes his theory of evolution.
1830 Lyell publishes Principles of Geology.

18311836 Darwin travels around the world on HMS Beagle.

1837 Darwin begins his notebooks on the origin of species.
1844 Darwin writes his essay on the origin of species.
1858 Wallace sends his theory to Darwin.
1859 The Origin of Species is published.
1865 Mendel publishes inheritance papers.

Figure 22.2

Species are fixed

(unchanging). However,
he recognized
similarities between
species.
Arranged life forms on a
scale of increasing
complexity, termed scala
naturae, or scale of
nature.

Founder of taxonomy, the science

of grouping and naming.
Sought to discover order in the
diversity of life for the greater
glory of God.
Each creature was special (no
evolutionary links)
Devised classification system based
on morphology (form and
structure)

Binomial Nomenclature (naming

system that gives organisms a twopart scientific name (Genus species)

Still used today

Nested hierarchy
Taxon = classification
unit to which
organisms are
assigned
Example
Panthera is a taxon at

the genus level

Mammalia is a taxon at
he class level

Broadest category = Domain

DKPCOFGS

There are three domains of life

Founder of paleontology
Fossils: Remains of extinct
life forms
Catastrophism:
boundaries between fossil
layers represent floods,
droughts, and other
extreme events that
destroyed many species
living at that time.

Gradualism: profound
changes can result from
cumulative effect of slow
but continuous processes.
Proposed that Earth was
shaped by geological forces
occurring over very long
periods of time, and is
MILLIONS, not thousands,
of years old.
These geologic processes
are still at work.

Incorporated Huttons
ideas into a theory known
as uniformitarianism.
Geologic processes that

shaped earth are the same

geologic process that
operate today and they
happen at the same rate as
they did in the past.

Wrote essay on population

growth.
Human suffering (disease, famine,
homelessness, and war) are
consequences to human
population increasing faster than
food and other resources.
The power of population is
indefinitely greater than the power
in the earth to produce
subsistence for man.

One of several naturalists that

suggested life evolves as
environments change.
His mechanism for evolution:
Inheritance of Acquired
Characteristics
An organism can pass on

modifications it makes during its

lifetime to its offspring.

Lamarck didnt know what

genes are or how traits are
inherited.
Acquired traits are not passed
on to offspring.
. Or are they? Take a look at
epigenetics later!

1809-1882
British naturalist
Proposed idea of evolution
by natural selection.

In every day usage theory often refers to a

hunch or a speculation. When people say, I have
a theory about what happened, they are often
drawing a conclusion based on fragmentary or
inconclusive evidence.

The formal scientific definition of theory is

quite different from the every day meaning.

It refers to a comprehensive explanation of some

aspect of nature that is supported by a vast body
of evidence.

In Science a theory is a well

supported, testable
explanation of phenomena
that have occurred in the
natural world.

Example:
Cell theory
Atomic theory
Gravitational theory

Adaptation: any inherited characteristics that

increases an organisms chance of survival.

First Point: Overproduction of Offspring

Capacity to over-reproduce seems characteristic

of all species.

Second Point: Struggle for Existence

Members of each species must compete for food,

space, and resources.

Third Point: There is genetic variation in all

populations.

Fourth Point: Some organisms are more

likely to survive than others.

Fourth Point: Some organisms are more

likely to survive than others.
Fitness: ability of an organism to survive and

reproduce in its environment.

Fourth Point: Some organisms are more

likely to survive than others.
Fitness: ability of an organism to survive and

reproduce in its environment.

Survival of the fittest: organisms which are better
adapted to their environment tend to produce
more offspring than organisms without those
traits.

Over time, all of these points lead to natural

selection.
Natural selection is the differential reproductive

success of individuals that results from the

interaction between individuals that vary in
heritable traits and their environment.
Natural selection results in changes in inherited
characteristics in a population.

Populations evolve, not individuals.

Natural selection only works on heritable
traits.
A trait that is favorable in one environment
may be useless or harmful in another.

Instead of using the word evolution, Darwin

referred to this process as descent with
modification.
Each species has descended with changes from

other species over time.

This idea suggests that all living species are
related to each other and that all species, living
and extinct, share a common ancestor.