BIOL 105 Brad Fessenden

Evolution: The origin of Biodiversity [email protected]

What is Biodiversity?
Biodiversity refers to the variety of species and ecosystems on
Earth and the ecological processes of which they are a part. This
includes the differences in genes, species and ecosystems

Evolution by natural selection produces the immense biological

diversity we see on Earth.
The Idea of Fixed Species
• The Greek philosopher Aristotle generally held the view that species are fixed,
permanent forms and do not change over time.
• Judeo-Christian culture reinforced this idea with a literal interpretation of the biblical
book of Genesis, which tells the story of each form of life being individually created in
its present-day form.
The Idea of Fixed Species
• In the 1600s, religious scholars estimated the age of Earth at 6,000 years.
• The idea that all living species came into being relatively recently and are unchanging
in form dominated the intellectual climate of the Western world for centuries.
• At the same time, naturalists were grappling with the interpretation of fossils—
imprints or remains of organisms that lived in the past.
Fossils that Perplexed Naturalists in the 1800s

(a) "Snakestone" (b) Icthyosaur skull and paddle-like

forelimb
Evolution
The Voyage of the Beagle
Two Varieties of Galápagos Tortoise

(a) domed shell (b) Saddleback shells

Artificial Selection
Evolution by Natural Selection
Fossil Evidence
Homologous Structures: Anatomical Signs of Descent with Modification
Common ancestry
Evolutionary Signs from Comparative Embryology
 Common ancestry
• Homology is also seen
in early development

• Similar embryological
structures exist

• Vertebrates shared a
common ancestor
We hear with the bones that reptiles eat with
 Common ancestry
• Vestigial structure

• Inherited from an ancestor

and no longer serves a clear
function in the organism that
possesses it

• For example, a snake embryo

has limb buds
Vestigial Structures
 Common ancestry
• Related organisms share DNA
sequences

• Closely related species have

fewer DNA sequence
differences than species
more distantly related
Chromosome 2
Unintelligent Design
Unintelligent Design Laryngeal Nerve (Giraffe)
Origin of Four Legged Animals
 Genetic Variation
1. Random Mutations
(changes in the DNA)
2. Sexual Reproduction
Color Variation Within a Population of Asian Lady Beetles
Evolution of Pesticide Resistance in Insect Populations
 Populations as the Units of Evolution
• The evolutionary impact of natural selection is apparent only in the changes in a
population of organisms over time.
• A population is a group of individuals of the same species that live in the same
area and interbreed.
• Different populations of the same species may be geographically isolated from
each other to such an extent that an exchange of genetic material never, or only
rarely, occurs.
• Such isolation is common in populations confined to different lakes.
 Populations as the Units of Evolution
• At the population level, biologists focus on the gene pool, which consists of all copies
of every type of allele, at every locus, in all members of the population.
• For many loci, there are two or more alleles in the gene pool.
Mechanisms of Evolution—Natural Selection
What mechanisms can change a gene pool?
The three main causes of evolutionary change are

1. natural selection,
2. genetic drift, and
3. gene flow.

Natural selection is the most important, because it is the only

process that promotes adaptation.
Genetic Drift and the Bottleneck Effect
• Genetic drift is a change in the gene pool of a small population due to chance.
• The bottleneck effect is an example of genetic drift. It results from a drastic
reduction in population size which
• decreases the overall genetic variability in a population, because at least some
alleles are lost from the gene pool, and
• results in a loss of individual variation and hence adaptability.
Genetic Drift
The Bottleneck Effect
Implications of the Bottleneck Effect in Conservation Biology
The Bottleneck Effect
• The founder effect
• is likely when a few individuals colonize an isolated habitat,
• represents genetic drift in a new colony, and
• explains the relatively high frequency of certain inherited disorders in some small
human populations.
Gene Flow
• Gene flow
• is another source of evolutionary change,
• is genetic exchange with another population,
• may result in the gain or loss of alleles, and
• tends to reduce genetic differences between populations.
What Is a Species?
Members of a group that have the potential to
interbreed and produce viable, fertile offspring.
Reproductive Barriers Between Species
• A reproductive barrier is anything that prevents individuals of
closely related species from interbreeding.
• Prezygotic barriers prevent mating or fertilization between
species.
• Postzygotic barriers operate if
▪ interspecies mating occurs and
▪ hybrid zygotes form.
Reproductive Barriers Between Closely Related Species
Prezygotic Barriers

Temporal Isolation Habitat Isolation

Behavioral Isolation Mechanical Isolation

Evolution: Mechanisms of Speciation
• A key event in the origin of a species occurs when a population
is somehow cut off from other populations of the parent
species.
• Species can form by
• allopatric speciation, in which the initial block to gene flow
is a geographic barrier that physically isolates the splinter
population, or
• sympatric speciation, without geographic isolation.
Allopatric Speciation
• A variety of geologic processes can isolate populations.
• Speciation occurs with the evolution of reproductive barriers
between the isolated population and its parent population.
• Even if the two populations should come back into contact at
some later time, the reproductive barriers will keep them as
separate species.
Possible Outcomes After Geographic Isolation of Populations
Allopatric Speciation
Allopatric Speciation of Antelope Squirrels on Opposite
Rims of the Grand Canyon
Island Showcases of Speciation
• Volcanic islands, such as the Galápagos and Hawaiian island
chains, are initially devoid of life.
• Over time, colonists arrive via ocean currents or winds.
• In their new environment, these populations may diverge
significantly from their distant parent populations.
• In addition, islands that have physically diverse habitats
and that are far enough apart to permit populations to
evolve in isolation but close enough to allow occasional
dispersals to occur are often the sites of multiple
speciation events.
Island Showcases of Speciation
• The Galápagos Islands are one of the world’s great showcases
of speciation.
• For example, the islands have 14 species of closely related
finches.
• These birds share many finch-like traits, but they differ in
their feeding habits, their habitats, and their beaks, which
are specialized for what they eat.
• The distinctive beaks adapted for the specific diets of the
different species of finches are an example of the
correlation between structure and function.
Galápagos Finches with Beaks Adapted for Specific Diets

cactus-seed-eater (cactus finch)

Insect-eater (vampire finch)

Tool-using insect-eater (woodpecker finch)

Types of selection
Divergent Evolution
Convergent Evolution
From Simple to Complex Structures in Gradual Stages
• Most complex structures have evolved in small steps from
simpler versions having the same basic function, a process of
refinement rather than the sudden appearance of complexity.
• The evolution of complex eyes can be traced from a simple
ancestral patch of photoreceptor cells through a series of
incremental modifications that benefited their owners at each
stage.
A Range of Eye Complexity Among Molluscs
Evolutionary Fitness
• The commonly used phrase “survival of the fittest” is misleading
if we take it to mean head-to-head competition between
individuals.
• Reproductive success, the key to evolutionary success, is
generally more subtle and passive.
• Relative fitness is the contribution an individual makes to the
gene pool of the next generation relative to the contributions of
other individuals.
Sexual Selection
• Sexual selection is a form of natural selection in which individuals with certain traits
are more likely than other individuals to obtain mates.
• Sexual dimorphism is a distinction in appearance between males and females not
directly associated with reproduction or survival.
• In a more common type of sexual selection, individuals of one sex (usually females)
are choosy in selecting their mates.
Sexual Dimorphism

(a) Sexual dimorphism a finch species (b) Competing for mates

 Key Points About Natural Selection
• Natural selection affects individual organisms. But individuals do not evolve.
• A population, the group of organisms, evolves over time as adaptive traits become
more common in the group and other traits change or disappear.
• Thus, evolution refers to generation-to-generation changes in populations.
 Key Points About Natural Selection
• Natural selection can amplify or diminish only heritable traits.
• Although an organism may, during its lifetime, acquire characteristics that help it
survive, acquired characteristics cannot be passed on to offspring.
• Natural selection is not goal-directed; it does not lead to perfectly adapted
organisms. A trait that is favorable in one situation may be useless—or even
detrimental—in different circumstances.
The
Geologic
Time Scale
Plate Tectonics and Biogeography
• According to the theory of plate tectonics, the continents and seafloors form a thin
outer layer of solid rock, called the crust, divided into giant, irregularly shaped plates
that float atop the mantle, a mass of hot, viscous material.
• In a process called continental drift, movements in the mantle cause the plates to
move.
• The boundaries of some plates are hotspots of geologic activity.
• Earthquakes signal that two plates are scraping past or colliding with each other.
Earth’s Tectonic Plates
Plate Tectonics and Biogeography
• Continental drift has had a tremendous impact on the evolution of life’s diversity by
• reshaping the physical features of the planet and
• altering the environments in which organisms live.
• About 250 million years ago, plate movements formed the supercontinent Pangaea,
• reducing the total amount of shoreline,
• deepening ocean basins, and
• lowering sea levels.
The History of Plate Tectonics
Plate Tectonics and Biogeography
• The second dramatic chapter in the history of continental drift began during the mid-
Mesozoic era.
• Pangaea started to break up, causing geographic isolation of colossal proportions.
• As the landmasses drifted apart, each continent became a separate evolutionary
arena as its climates changed and its organisms diverged.
Plate Tectonics and Biogeography
• The history of continental mergers and separations explains
patterns of biogeography, the study of the past and present
distribution of organisms.
• Continental drift also separated Australia from other
landmasses.
• Australia and its neighboring islands are home to more
than 200 species of marsupials, most of which are found
nowhere else in the world.
Australian
Marsupials
Mass Extinctions and Explosive Diversifications of Life
• The fossil record reveals five mass extinctions over the last 540
million years. In each of these events, 50% or more of Earth’s
species died out.
• The Permian mass extinction, at about the time Pangaea
formed, claimed about 96% of marine species and impacted
terrestrial life as well.
• The Cretaceous extinction occurred about 66 million years ago
and included the extinction of all the dinosaurs except birds,
permitting an explosive increase in diversity of mammals.
• Extinctions seem to have provided the surviving organisms
with new environmental opportunities.
The Diversification of Mammals After the Extinction of Dinosaurs
Changes in biodiversity across space
and time
Climate changes, tectonics, or meteor impacts

Normal rate of extinction (”background” rate) =

~0.2 - 0.5 extinctions / 1 million species / 1 million years

or
1 Extinction / 200 years
5 Mass Extinctions
Ordovician-Silurian (445-443 mybp) – 86% species loss

Late Devonian (375-360 mybp) – 75% species loss

Permian-Triassic (252 mybp) – 96% species loss

Triassic-Jurassic (200 mybp) – 80% species loss

Cretaceous – Tertiary (65 mybp) – 76% species loss

6th Mass Extinction
Normal rate of extinction
(”background” rate) = 1
extinction/200 years

Current rate of extinction is 100-

1000 times greater than
“background” rate of extinction. 1
documented extinction of birds
and mammals per year in the 20th
century
80 of the 5570 species of mammals
have gone extinct in last 500 years
Why is biodiversity important?
Ecosystem Services– the • Water purification
benefit humans obtain from • Clean air
functioning ecosystems • Rich soil for agriculture
• Climate moderation
• Oxygen production
• Food and fiber production
• Pharmaceuticals
• Biophilia (love of diverse life)
If large portions of species on Earth go extinct can humans
survive? If humans go extinct can the other species survive?
Canada’s Biodiversity
• Total number of known species in Canada ~80,000

• Estimate ~150,000 species total