What scientific evidence exists to support Darwin's theory that present-day organisms have evolved from organisms in the past AND how does it support the theory?

Theory of evolution

Fossil Records

Anatomy

Biogeography

all living things have Common ancestors

Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace

Molecular Biology

Direct Observations

Able to reconstruct animals or plants

Soft part decay, hard fossilise

older organisms (simple)

Younger organisms (complex)

Shows common structures within the body

Further back in time

hard to distinguish Whale to Land mammal

nostrils moved further back on the skull

Jean-Baptist Lamarck

Traits with offsprings

Could not prove theory

Change in bone size and structure to better suited environments

Any change in heritable traits within a population across generations

mid 1800s

Natural selection

The process by which only the more favourable traits survive in specific environments

Macroevolution

Microevolution

major evolutionary change over a long period of time

small changes within a species over a short period of time

Variability

heritability

over-reproduction

Competition

No breeder necessary

Produce order and complexity

Observable changes that happen within a short period of time

e.g.

DDT resistant insects

Modifications to help the survive

Weeds turning into different vegetables by farmers

Galapagos Islands

e.g.

Finch population

Change in beak size and thickness

Isolation causes variations within the populations

looks at the distribution of plants and animals

Different landscapes force animals to adapt

can line with different continents

Similar to species close by

Similar to species that lived together before split

Animals are not suited to live outside their environment

Similarities and differences in macromolecules

similarities and differences in the structure of different organisms

Cetaceans

evolved from land mammals

Like features

Unique bone structure and body plan

Common ancestral traits

Embryology

development stages of different species

e.g.

nostril grooves on dolphins faces during early stages

Shows common ancestral traits

shows common development

total number of fossils found providing information about past life on earth

Homologous

reduced size in vestigial structures

underdevelopment of body parts

Mutations

spontaneous change in the DNA sequence of an offspring

Gene pools

varieties within a population

Genotypes

Favoured genes survive and reproduce

Unfavored genes die out

caused by random errors in replication or repair of DNA

each islands has its own genotype

DNA

Contain chemical codes

Holds ancestral information

Anamoy "Biology In Focus: Year 11"

Embryo "Biology In Focus: Year 11"

DNA squencing "Biology In Focus: Year 11"

Yr 10 "Science Essentials For NSW: stage 5"

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Whales have hair, no gills, arms, legs and similar bone structure to mammals

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