Download Intelligent Design and Human Evolution

Creationism vs Evolution
Who is correct?
Is there an answer?
Where is the evidence?
CREATIONISM
the process by which
everything was made
by a higher power
EVOLUTION
the process by which
modern organisms
have descended from
a common ancestor.
THE GENESIS STORY IMPLIES…
 The
creation events took place over six 24-hour
days, after which all creating ceased
 Life
was created 6,000-8,000 years ago (not
enough time for evolution to occur).
How realistic is this?
Is the scientific story more plausible?
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The Genesis Story (King James Version)
In the beginning God created heaven and earth.
 Day 1: And God said, Let there be light: and there was
light.
 Day 2: And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be
gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land
appear: and it was so.
 Day 3: And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass and
the fruit tree yield fruit.
 Day 4: And God created great whales, and every living
creature.
 Day 5: And God said, Go forth and multiply each living
creature after his kind: and it was so.
 Day 6: And God said, Let us make man in our image and
let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over
the fowl of the air…
 Day 7: God said, “Give us a break!!” Adam and Eve.

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WORLD-VIEW IMPLICATIONS…


Creationism:
man is special, different from animals; put here
for a purpose; God is in control
Evolution:
man is nothing special, just an advanced animal;
man may be an “accident” of nature; ….man is in
control (?)
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INTELLIGENT DESIGN
Object to Darwinian mechanism.
 Certain features of the universe and of living
things are best explained by an intelligent cause,
not an undirected process such as natural
selection.
 Central idea is design. Order must arise from
mind and purpose.

REVIEW:
EVIDENCE FOR EVOLUTION
THE
FOSSIL
RECORD
FOSSIL RECORD
represents the preserved
collective history of the
earth’s organisms.
The fossil record shows
that changes in
organisms followed
changes on earth.
Example:
Shark teeth in Arizona
EVIDENCE
FOR
EVOLUTION
FROM LIVING
ORGANISMS
Present-Day Evidence
for Evolution
•DNA Similarity
•Biogeography
•Homologous Structures
•Vestigial Structures
• Embryos
DNA
Similarity
Evidence for Evolution
DNA Comparisons between
Humans and other Species
Species
Human
Chimpanzee
Percent DNA Binding
100
98
Gibbon
Rhesus monkey
Tarsier
94
88
65
Lemur
Mouse
47
21
Chicken
10
Biogeography
Evidence for Evolution
BIOGEOGRAPHY
The study of patterns of
geographical distribution of
plants and animals across
Earth, and the changes in
those distributions over time
Should species on these
islands look the same?
Placental Animals and their
Marsupial Counterparts
Placental
Wolf
Flying Squirrel
Marsupial
Tasmanian Wolf
Flying Phalanger
Mouse
Mole
Anteater
Bob Cat
Marsupial Mouse
Marsupial Mole
Numbat
Tasmanian Tiger Cat
Lemur
Spotted Cuscus
Biogeography
suggests that
species evolved
to fit their
environments
Homologous Structures
Evidence for Evolution
HOMOLOGOUS
STRUCTURES
parts in different organisms
that develop from the same
anscestoral body part
(check examples on p. 284)
HOMOLOGOUS STRUCTURES
Vestigial Structures
Evidence for Evolution
VESTIGIAL
STRUCTURES
structures that have little or
no purpose in the present,
but did in the past
Examples of
Vestigial Structures
• Human appendix
• Wisdom teeth
• Small vertebrae in humans
• Leg bones in snakes
EMBRYOS
Evidence for Evolution
EMBRYO
organisms in the
early stages of
development.
EMBRYOS
• Similar body structures /
parts / organs
• Similar embryonic
development
Embryo Similarity
HUMAN
EVOLUTION
“Time Marches
On”
Primates
PRIMATES
animals with five
flexible fingers with an
opposable thumb
(include monkeys, apes, and humans)
Facts on Primates
• Have binocular and color
vision
• Evolved about 35 million
years ago
Taxonomic Chart of Human Evolution
THE GREAT APES
Chimpanzee
Bonobo
Gorilla
Orangutan
Man’s Closest Living Relatives
Human DNA
and chimp DNA
is 98.4%
similar!!!
Evolutionary
Origins of
Humans
HOMINIDS
humans and their
closest fossil relatives
Skulls are evidence
for human evolution
A bonabo with
bipedal locomotion.
“Lucy”
• The oldest hominid (3 myo)
• Discovered by Johanson in
1974 in Ethiopia
• About 3.5 ft tall / 62 lbs
• Walked upright
• Evidence that hominids
walked upright before
they evolved larger brains
The First
Humans
The genus Homo evolved in Africa
about 2 million years ago
Why is Evolutionary Biology
Important?

Understanding Ourselves –
Humans are inherently curious.
Society throughout time has sought
answers to numerous questions.
Evolution provides a scientific
framework for asking questions
about ourselves and life around us.