Although some fossils may be missing, fossil
evidence still shows how much/how little
evolutionary change has occurred in a particular
organism over a period of time.
Evolution of horses
Over time, it evolved from a
dog- like animal whose habitat
was in a forest, into a tall
animal that adapted to living
on the plains. In the process
its feet also adapted to its
environment in order for it to
be successful.
Evolution of birds
Birds are considered
descendants of
certain dinosaurs -
as opposed to
descendants of some
other group of
reptiles.
Paleontologists and zoologists have long
accepted that birds and reptiles are
related. The two groups share a lot of
characteristics; skeletal features, the
laying of shelled eggs, and the
possession of scales, although in birds,
scales are limited to the legs.
Evolution of mammals
In mammals, each
half of the lower jaw
is a single bone called
the dentary; whereas
in reptiles, each half
of the lower jaw is
made up of three
bones.
Anatomy
By comparing how one species body structures and
adaptions are similar to another species, it helps to
determine whether or not they both share
evolutionary relationships and a common
ancestor(s). Thus, anatomy assists in classifying
organisms.
Birds
Hoatzin chicks as well as some chickens and
ostriches have wings with claws. Proving
that ancestors of birds had clawed hands
Turtles, Dolphins, humans ,
horses, birds, bats
The bones of these animals are similar,
proving that they all inherited their
structures from a common ancestor
and only changed to adapt to different
ways of life
Flying fox, Giraffe, Human
The traits are are
homologous. All three
limbs have similar bone,
muscle, and nerve
structures. The limbs were
adapted for different
needs through natural
selection from the limb of
the common ancestor of
all three of these
mammals.
(From left to right) Skeleton of human, flying fox, and giraffe
Embryology
An embryo is an unborn organism (animal or
human) in its beginning stages. It shows
whether the animals are similar; portraying
that they are related, have common
ancestors and that they started out the same.
Fish vs chickens/ humans
Both have slits for gills but fish develop
gills, whereas humans gills and chickens
gills disappear before birth.
Still poving that they both share a common ancestor
with fish
hippo, frog, and rabbit
embrryos looked
alike when they
were devoloping
Although they evolved into
different traits, it implies that
they are all similar and
shared an ancestor
Human VS dogs, horses, and monkey
human embryos have a well-defined tail by
the fourth week of growth, similar to other
mammals
After reaching its max length, the
tail eventually shortens, persisting
only as a rudiment in the adult
coccyx.
Biogeography
Biogeography is the study of the
distribution of plants and animals
Marsupials In
Australia
Another example of how an isolated region
seems to produce different animals that are
nonetheless related to the nearest larger
landmass
Even though Marsupials can live thousands of
miles away, Marsupias in South America and
Australia appear to be related.
Darwin didn't understand the concept
at the time, this is probably due to the
reason of plate tectonics.
When Australia and South America were
united in a single continent, an "original"
marsupial lived there, and then as the
two contient gradually evolved into
different species to better adapt to there
new environment
Lack of Mammals
on Islands
One of the most significant peices of
biogeographical evidence in favor of
evolution was the fact that mammals
were almost never naturally present on
islands that were more than 300 miles
from the nearest landmass.
Darwin felt that it was hard for large
terrestrial animals to get to isolated
islands that were 300 miles from
land, because it required traveling
over large masses of water.
Such as, lack of mammals on islands
suggests that mammals never made it to
such islands, and thus never had a
chance to evolve and adapt to those
evnironments
Oceanic Islands
South America's
Galapagos Islands
To show how isolated environments
seemed to give rise to new species
Darwin observed that the species on both
islands appeared to be closely related to the
species on the nearest continent. He also
included that the animals on these isolated
islands must have been originally from the
nearby continentn but because they were
separated from the other species on the
continent, they gradually evolved into
something different over thousands of
years.
Molecular Biology
The branch of biology that deals with the
structure and functions of the
macromolecules (E.g., proteins and
nucleic acids) essential to life
Mastodons and
Mammoths
Both animals were herbivores, but
mastodons had cone-shaped cusps
on their molars designed to crush
leaves, twigs and branches.
Mammoths, however, had ridged
molars that allowed them to cut
through vegetation and graze like
modern-day elephants.
Mammoths VS elephants
Share DNA; which
proves they have a
recent common
ancestor
Roundworms, for
example, share 25%
of their genes with
humans.
Although the genes are
different in both species,
they are still similar; proving
that they share an ancestor
(s)
Human molecules are similar to
those of chimpanzee, unlike
cows, and very unlike slime
molds.
Words To know
Amino Acid: An organic compound
from which proteins are made
Nucleotide: A unit from which
DNA molecules are made
Cell: The basic unit of a living
organism; cells are structured to
perform highly specialized
functions
Horome: A chemical
produced in living cells
that is carried by the
blood to organs and
tissues in distant parts
of the body, where it
regulated cellular
activity