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26/09/2016 Dr Dave Hone BIO 113 Evolution Dr David Hone • Room 6.14 Fogg Building • [email protected] • Research – the ecology and behaviour of the carnivorous dinosaurs and the palaeobiology of the pterosaurs. • davehone.co.uk Dr Beth Clare • Room 5.03 Fogg • [email protected] • Research – foodwebs, DNA barcoding, especially tropical bats. • http://webspace.qm ul.ac.uk/eclare/index. html • Week 1: DH – History of Evolutionary Thought, Darwin’s ideas • Week 2: DH – Geological Aspects, Drivers of Evolution, Levels of Evolution • Week 3: DH – Learning from fossils, learning from DNA • Week 4: DH – Systematics, Speciation • Week 5: DH – Evolution of Sex, Sexual Selection • Week 6: EC - Genetic Basis of Evolution (x2) • Week 6: NHM workshop (TBC) • Week 7: Mid semester break, no lectures. • Week 8: EC – Selection, Gene Flow, and Mutation • Week 9: EC – Founder Effects, Inbreeding, and Hybrid Zones • Week 10: EC – Evolution in Action (x2) • Week 10: Computer workshop (TBC) • Week 11: DH - Convergence, Evolution of Parasites • Week 12: DH – Human Evolution, Revision Session BIO 113 • 22 Lectures (Mondays 10 & 1) • 2 Workshops (Weeks 6 & 10 - TBC) • Official course text….none, but: • You are expected to do extra reading. • Use good sources. Assessments • • • • Workshop 1 ‘fill in the blanks’ questions (10%). Workshop 2 A short MCQ test (10%). Exam section 1, MCQs (34%). Exam section 2, short answer questions (choice of 2 – 33%). • Exam section 3, EMQs (33%) • ‘The criteria used in marking on the module have been made clear in advance’ Definitely agree (5) Definitely disagree (1) 1 26/09/2016 In this module: Any Questions? • • • • • • History of evolutionary theory Basis of modern evolutionary theory Speciation and diversity Major patterns in evolution Genetic basis of evolution Evolution of man In this lecture: History of Evolutionary Thought • • • • • History of evolutionary ideas Changing species? Major concepts Major contributors Evolution as a theory Who is this? “Nothing in Biology Makes Sense Except in the Light of Evolution” Theodosius Dobzhansky, 1973 2 26/09/2016 And what did he discover? And what did he discover? And how would you define it? • Natural selection (not the same as evolution). • It was already known (or at least suggested), did however provide evidence, context and support and popularised the concept. • But first, winding back…. Fixed or changing? • 350 B.C., Aristotle: individuals in a “species” are identical and unchanging • 1749, Buffon Histoire Naturelle encyclopedia: The earth is very old. Species change. • 1785, Hutton Uniformitarianism: Changes in nature are gradual. • 1798, Cuvier: Fossils show extinct species (due to catastrophe), but species don’t change. Carolus Linnaeus (1707-1778) • 180 books classified nature: “revealing the order of life created by God.” • “God created, Linnaeus arranged” • Thought species were immutable Three major concepts • Each species was created separately. Three major concepts • Lamarck: characteristics are acquired by an individual and are passed on to offspring. 3 26/09/2016 J-B. de Lamarck (1744-1829) • Lamarck: acquired characteristics are passed to offspring. • E.g. stretching giraffes lengthened their necks to reach tree-top vegetation. • Worked most of his life at the Muséum d’Histoire Naturelle. • Promoted the idea that species change. Beatrice the Biologist Three major concepts Thomas Malthus (1766-1834) • Published on “principle of population”: • Human populations increase faster (geometrically = exponentially) than food production increases (arithmetically = linearly). • Darwin (and others): species change over time and produce new species. Charles Lyell (1797-1875) • Geologist, strong proponent of uniformitarianism (slow gradual change). • Wrote the ‘Principles of Geology’ (3 vols, 1830-33). Uniformitarianism • Four major ideas: • Accepted by scientists now: 1. Natural laws are constant across space and time 2. Principle of parsimony: try to explain the past by causes now in operation without inventing extra, fancy, or unknown causes, however plausible in logic, if available processes suffice. • Debatable: 3. Change is slow, steady, and gradual. 4. Change is evenly distributed throughout space and time. 4 26/09/2016 And so…. Darwin and the Beagle • Enter a young failed medical student. • 1831-1836 Charles Darwin (1809-1882) Galápagos finches • Darwin became famous as a result of his published books about the trip. • He settled down and began to think seriously about his ideas and work out what might explain the diversity and patterns he had seen. Suggestion • Finches derived from one ancestral species arriving from the mainland to populate and diversify across the islands (adaptive radiation). • Animals changed in response to differing conditions / opportunities. 5 26/09/2016 The Origin • The Origin of Species was published in 1859. • Darwin had sat on the extended manuscript for years but was prompted by letters from Alfred Russel Wallace. Presented to the Linnean Society Alfred Russel Wallace (1823-1913) • Made a living from collecting specimens for collections. • Was working in Indonesia at the time which made communication difficult. Evolution by natural selection • Under optimal conditions, populations indefinitely increase in size. • But this does not happen as: not all animals reach maturity some animals breed less • Individuals within a population differ (natural variation) • Some differences (traits) affect survival/reproduction • Some of these traits are heritable: passed on from parents to offspring • Advantageous traits lead to increased relative survival of certain lineages Descent with modification • Contrasts with the other ideas. • Now brilliantly supported and universally accepted. Not so at the time! • (Not the only form of evolution). The Origin • Lots of people had argued for changing species and even why. Darwin however, provided evidence! • (Coming next) 6 26/09/2016 Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection Modern Understanding • OED: Theory A scheme or system of ideas or statements held as an explanation or account of a group of facts or phenomena; a hypothesis that has been confirmed or established by observation and experiment, and is propounded or accepted as accounting for the known facts. • There is inherited variation within species. • There is competition for survival within species. • Natural selection is the process whereby genetically inherited characteristics become more or less common in a population as a function of the differential reproductive success of the bearers of these characteristics. • This process occurring independently on two populations of a single species leads to the accumulation of differences between the populations - and ultimately to speciation. Conclusions Further Reading • Ideas on how the diversity of life was/is produced date back to the ancient Greeks • These ideas developed considerably in the 1800s, with much initial disagreement, culminating in the Theory of Evolution by Natural Selection. • http://evolution.berkeley.edu/evolibrary/articl e/history_12 • http://www.aboutdarwin.com/voyage/voyage 01.html • http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Scientific_theory • Remember these are starting points. 7