Evolution - Process of adaptation and change leading to genetic diversity and new life forms - Accomplished by o Natural Selection,

mutation, genetic drift and genetic shift Theories of Evolution - Lamarcks Inheritance of Acquired Characteristics Theory o Concept of use and disuse o Organs that were most used were developed, and those not used would atrophy o The changes were termed acquired characteristics - Darwins Natural Selection Theory o Organism produce offspring, some of which survive to reproductive maturity o Chance variations in individuals of population is inheritable Favorable if it confers advantages o Individuals with more favorable variations are more likely to survive and reproduce, resulting in natural selection determining species present o Fitness: Reproductive success of an individual - Neodarwinism (The Modern Synthesis) o Update on Darwinism to include modern genetics o If mutation or recombination results in favorable variation, it will likely to pass on to the next generation Process is differential reproduction o Results in more successful organism being pervasive in gene pool Gene pool is sum total of all genes from all individuals in the population at a given time - Punctuated Equilibrium o Changes in species occur in rapid bursts rather than evenly over time Evidence of Evolution - Paleontology o Study of complete fossil record o By dating fossils to their anatomies and relative abundances, we can determine the chronological succession of species in the fossil record - Biogeography o Does not occur equally in all places, can depend on environment o Divergence migration or drift that results in one species evolving away and in isolation to the other - Comparative Anatomy o Comparing structures to determine similarity and hence evolutionary relationships o Homologous Structures

Similar in structure and share common evolutionary origin even if they dont have similar appearance, shape or form E.g Human arms and bat wings o Analogous Structures Serve a common purpose but evolved separately in each species E.g Birds and Insects wings allow flight, but do not evolve from same origin o Vestigial Structures Remnants of organs that have lost ancestral function E.g Human tailbone and appendix Comparative Embryology o Analyzing similarities between embryos of different species to gain insight into evolutionary patterns E.g Gills which are present in all chordates during embryogenesis Molecular Biology o Comparing DNA sequence between different species to predict degree of similarity between two organisms o E.g Chimpanzee share 95% genome with humans vs. Mouse only 85%

Genetic Basis of Evolution - Hardy- Weinberg Equilibrium o Gene Frequency: How often an allele appears in a population o Criteria Population is very large No mutations that affect gene pool Random Mating in population No genetic drift No natural selection o If all conditions met, population is in Hardy- Weinberg Equilibrium o p+q=1 o p2 + 2pq + q2 =1 p2 = dominant homozygote 2pq = heterzygote q2 = recessive homozygotes - Microevolution o However, in reality, not all Hardy- Weinberg conditions will be met o Natural Selection Frequency of favorable genes will increase within gene pool o Mutation Change allele frequency in population, shifting gene equilibria o Assortive Mating Mating selected according to criteria like phenotype and proximity

E.g Tay- Sachs in Ashkenazi Jewish population much greater if they have intramarriage vs if intermarriage o Genetic Drift Changes in composition in gene pool due to chance More pronounced in smaller populations E.g Founders effect, when small population is in reproductive isolation due to barrier or time o Gene Flow Migration of individuals between populations will result in a loss or gain of genes and thus change the composition of a populations gene pool Modes of Natural Selection - Stabilizing selection o Phenotypes kept in specific range by eliminating extremes o E.g Human birth weight - Directional Selection o Adaptive pressure leads to emergence and dominance of initially extreme phenotypes - Disruptive Selection o Both extremes are selected over the norm o E.g Beak sizes of Darwins finches

Altruistic Behavior - E.g Insect works that are sterile but work for benefit of the whole colony o Theory: Kin selection, organism will only behave altruistically if they are closely related to successfully reproductive organisms - Inclusive fitness: Refers to the number of alleles that an individual passes on to the next generation, even if only indirectly through altruistic behavior

Speciation - Emergence of new species, a group of individuals who can interbreed freely with each other but not with members of other species - Reproductive Isolation that can occur prezygotically or postzygotically - Prezygotic Isolating Mechanisms o Temporal Isolation 2 species bred during different times, thus preventing interbreeding o Ecological Isolation Live in same territory but in different habitats and thus rarely meet or mate o Behavioral isolation Not sexually attracted due to different pheromones or courtship displays o Reproductive isolation Genitalia of 2 species are incompatible o Gametic Isolation Intercourse can occur, but not fertilization - Postzygotic Isolating Mechanisms o Hybrid Inviability Genetic incompatibilities aborts hybrid zygote develop even if fertilization occurs o Hybrid Sterility Hybrid offspring are sterile and cannot reproduce o Hybrid Breakdown 2nd generation hybrid are inviable or infertile Occurs more in plants than in animals Adaptive Radiation - Single ancestral species gives rise to a number of different species - Each species then diverges to point of being able to occupy a unique ecological niche - E.g Darwins Finches Patterns of Evolution - Convergent Evolution o Independent development of similar characteristics in 2 or more lineages not sharing a recent common ancestor o E.g Fish and dolphin resemble each other though they do not have recent common ancestor (rather, due to need of aquatic life) - Divergent Evolution o Independent development of dissimilar characteristics in 2 or more lineages sharing common ancestry o E.g Seals and Cats, common ancestor but evolved differently due to environmental pressures - Parallel Evolution

o Related species evolve in similar ways for a long period of time in response to analogous environmental selection pressures Origin of Life - Conditions of early earth favored creation of organic molecules - Primordial soup of mainly hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen atoms o Large energy input from sun, lightning, radioactive decay, volcanic activity causes bond formation between atoms - Formation of these molecules presented in experiments Formation of Protobionts - Collection of organic polymers believed to have been the primitive ancestors of living cells - Lab experiments showed abiotically produced polymers spontaneously assemble into microspheres o Maintain separate internal conditions from environment Formation of Genetic Materials - Hypothesize that short strands of RNA were first molecules capable of selfreplication and storing and transmitting information to next generation - Experiments show that o Free bases can align with complementary bases on short RNA chains - Natural selection favors faster RNA replication and stability o Eventually leads to DNA as storage