BIOL 1408 Summer I

1. Evolution
BIOL 1408 Online Lab
Summer I 2018

2. Evolution Part I: Videos

3. Evolution: “Just a Theory”
• Inference
• Prediction
• Hypotheses
• Experiments
• Data
• Results
THEORY

4. Evolution: “Just a Theory”
• A theory in science is not just a “hunch”
Hypothesis
Design and complete experiments
Analyze data, draw conclusions based on data
Peer Review – allow experts to critique
and question the results
THEORY – formed from mountains of evidence

5. Evolution: “Just a Theory”
• Other Theories:
• Cell Theory – life is composed of cells
• Atomic Theory – matter is composed of atoms
• Germs – some diseases are caused by microorganisms
• Gravity
• All of these theories help us make sense
of our world.

6. Evolution: “Just a Theory”
• Darwin inferred that all of life was related.
• Some of Darwin’s ideas were wrong and have been
rejected
• Evidence that has been gathered to support this
inference comes from a variety of disciplines including
• Fossils
• Genes
• Also anatomy, development and many other aspects of
biology

7. Natural Selection
• Darwin was not the first to consider evolution
but the first to suggest how it works.
• “Two undeniable facts and an inescapable
conclusion” (Gould):
1. Organisms vary due to genes
2. Organisms produce more offspring than will survive
Favorable traits will survive and increase

8. 8
Natural Selection
Can variation affect which individuals
survive?

9. Natural Selection
Different genes make variations
 Mutations cause changes over long periods of time
 We observe mutations in nature and DNA
More offspring are produced than will
survive
 Predators, disease, disasters
Favorable variations will survive and increase
 Example: Dark organisms are more common
in dark environments

12. Human Selection
• Most people see and understand how this process
functions in nature.
• Some are uncomfortable with its implications for
humans
• There are many examples that are well supported by
evidence

13. 13
Sickle Cell Disease: Heterozygote
Advantage
Die of Malaria Die of Sickle-Cell

15. Heterozygote Advantage
• Once the sickle cell anemia-malaria connection was
made biologists looked for other similar links.
• Cystic fibrosis
• Most common genetic disease in people of European
descent
• Data supports that it helps in fighting off cholera and
tuberculosis

16. Evolution: “Evolution and Faith”
• Science is a way of understanding our world.
• It is based on evidence that is testable, repeatable, and
peer-reviewed.
• Is it possible to accept scientific knowledge and have
a religious faith?

17. Evolution: “Evolution and Faith”
• Extreme views make for good headlines.
• You’ve probably heard many of the debates
• Many religions have accepted that evolution explains
• physical process of change
• functions both today and in the past
• Includes Roman Catholics, and many other protestant
denominations.

18. Evolution: “Evolution and Faith”
• The Clergy Letter Project
• Clergy from different denominations/religions have signed to
show their support
• Agree that religion and science can be compatible.
• Over 13,000 American members of the clergy have signed:
• Christian: 13,014
• Rabbi: 514
• Unitarian Universalists: 287
• Buddhist: 25
“We…believe that the timeless truths of the Bible and the
discoveries of modern science may comfortably
coexist…We ask that science remain science and that
religion remain religion, two very different, but
complementary, forms of truth.”

19. Evolution Part I:
Scavenger Hunt

20. Mammal Skulls

21. Living Hominid Species
Being a relative does not
mean the same as being
an ancestor.

22. Extinct Hominids
Being a relative does not
mean the same as being
an ancestor.

23. Homology

24. Homology
Homologous: Similar in
position, structure, and
evolutionary origin – but
not necessarily in function.