EVOLUTION

1. The earth’s crust shows rocks or sediments from different geological period
2. By studying the fossils in the different sedimentary layers of the crust we
can determine the geological period in which it existed.
3. Certain organisms are restricted to certain age, and new ones arose during
evolution.
4. All this is paleontological evidence
5. Sedimentary rocks are the richest in fossils
6. Early era – Proterozoic era – has very less fossils, that too of simple marine
invertebrates, because life originated in water as a simple form
Later: Palaeozoic era- contains abundant fossils of invertebrates,
amphibians, and fishes.
Mesozoic era- great reptiles i.e., dinosaurs and primitive birds and
mammals
Coenozoic era – the fossils of
Brontosaurs- herbivore – 45 metric tonnes
mammals were abundant
4.5 meters high
25 meters long

Tyrannosaurs – largest flesh-eating dinosaur

20 feet in height

13 meters long
5.4 meters tall
7. The extinct fossils which show character of two different groups are called
as missing links (transitional form):
 Archaeopteryx
 Found in rocks of cretaceous period (Mesozoic era)
 Discovered – 1861, Germany by Andrea’s Wagner
 Shows characters of both birds and reptiles

Era->period -> epochs

 Recent to oldest
 Cenozoic -> Mesozoic -> paleozoic -> Proterozoic ERA
 Quaternary -> recent Holocene, Pleistocene
 Tertiary-> Pliocene, miocene, Oligocene, Eocene, Palaeocene
 Cretaceous, Jurassic, Triassic era
 COSDCP, Cambrian-> Ordovician-> Silurian->Devonian-
>carboniferous->Permian
8. In the Proterozoic era – the oldest fossil of prokaryotes
Then of eukaryotes
Then animals originated

9. Vestigial organs: rudiments of reptilian jaw apparatus,

rudiment of hind limbs of python and Greenland whales

 in humans many vestigial organs indicate a relationship to other

mammals including primates
scalp and external ear muscles are rudimentary in humans but in many
mammals, they are functioning.
  In python and porpoise, we see a rudimentary pelvic girdle. they
have originated from a 4 footed ancestor

10.Those organisms which show characters of two different groups:
 Neopilin: link between annelids and mollusc
Like molluscs it has a mantle, a large muscular foot, and a shell
Like annelids it has segmented gills, nephridia, muscles and a
trochophore like larval stage
 Peripetias: Link between annelids and Arthropoda
Like annelids they have segmented nephridia, muscular body
Like arthropods they have trachea, tubular heart with ostia, and a
haemocoel.

11.Gill clefts and notochord appear in the embryonic stage common to all
vertebrates, from fishes to mammals. Notochord is replaced by vertebral
column in adult vertebrates, and gills are replaced by lungs in mammals and
amphibians. Occasional features like tail and gill slits persist in adults.
12.In plants, we see that mosses and ferns are more developed than algae,
protonema of mosses resembles the green algae suggesting it as its
ancestor. The same can be seen with pteridophytes/bryophytes and
gymnosperms. P-B need ciliated sperms and water for fertilization, G does
not, still in primitive gym no like Cycas and gingko we observe ciliated
sperms suggesting they originated from ancestral pteridophytes.

13.The occurrence of ancestral traits in embryo is known as palatogenesis.

14.The study of patterns of distribution of different plants and animals across

the earth is known as biogeography.

15.Australia separated from the main land of Asia during the Mesozoic era,
before placental mammals evolved. Placental mammals were more evolved
so they eliminated the egg laying and pouched mammals. In Aus, they had
no threat so they survived.
16.America – cacti, Africa – euphorbias
17.Darwin and Wallace discussed about natural selection
18.Industrialisation- 1850’s
19.1920’s- after industrialisation, the dark winged moths increased in number
then the white wings moth. The trees lost their thick growth of WHITE
lichens, because of SO2 in air, which exposed the brown trunk of the tree.

20.Microbes – develop resistance against antibodies and drugs, this happens in

time frame of months and years and not centuries.
21.Herbicide resistance is seen in wild varieties, weeds, and pests
22.Natural selection supports evolution.
23.EVOLUTION DUE TO INVOLVEMENT OF MAN: is called anthropogenic action.
24.Evolution is a stochastic/random process, which is based on many
probabilities. It is based on chance events in nature and chance mutations
in organisms
25."In nature, many probabilities govern outcomes. Evolution, driven by
chance variations and changing environments, cannot be viewed through
the rigid lens of determinism. It is a non-directed, adaptive process shaped
by survival pressures—not by any pre-set design.
26.Adaptive radiation is when one species quickly gives rise to many new
species, each adapted to a different environment or lifestyle.
27.On the Galápagos Islands (west coast of south America), a single species of
bird (a finch, a seed eating ancestral bird) came from the mainland (south
America).
28. On different islands, there were different types of food — seeds, insects,
flowers, etc.
29.Over time, the finches evolved different beaks to eat different foods.
30. This led to many new species, they mainly differed in shapes of beaks and
feeding habits, each suited to its environment.
31.A new environment open’s (e.g., after a volcano forms an island).
32.There are many empty niches (ways to survive and make a living).
33.The species spreads out and adapts to fill each niche.
34.This causes rapid evolution into many different forms.
35.Marsupials and placental mammals underwent adaptive radiation
36.Convergent evolution between marsupials and placental mammals shows
how natural selection can shape very different animals in similar ways,
when they face similar pressures.
37.These animals faced similar ecological niches.
38.Lamark’s theory
39.Darwin’s theory – based on natural selection, his work is inspired by an
English economist Thomas Malthus, who studied about populations. One of
the factors he studied was natural resources.
Meaning of Means of Subsistence
Refers to food supply and other basic resources needed for human survival.
Growth Pattern of Food Supply (Arithmetic Progression)
According to Malthus, food production increases slowly and steadily over time.
It grows in an arithmetic progression (A.P.), meaning a fixed amount is added
in equal time intervals.
Example of Arithmetic Progression
Suppose the food supply increases by 2 units every 25 years:
Initial supply: 2
After 25 years: 4
After 50 years: 6
After 75 years: 8
After 100 years: 10
This is arithmetic growth, where each term increases by a constant difference
(e.g., +2).
Problem of Imbalance
Population, according to Malthus, grows faster (exponentially or
geometrically), while food grows slower (arithmetically).
This creates a gap between population and food supply, leading to:
Scarcity
Famine
Diseases
Deaths
Assumption of Limited Land
Malthus assumed that land is finite, so food production cannot keep up with
population growth forever.
Lack of Technological Consideration
The theory did not consider future technological advancements (like modern
farming, fertilizers, GMOs) that can significantly increase food production.
40.Fitness and natural selection were reflected in his theories

Divergent Evolution Adaptive Radiation

Feature

Type Broad concept Specific type of divergent evolution

Common
Yes Yes
Ancestor

Different species with Many species adapted to different

Result
different traits niches

Speed Slow or gradual Rapid

Example Vertebrate limbs Darwin’s finches

Environmental Different environments Sudden availability of many new

Factor or pressures environments/niches

 Divergent Evolution:
When two or more species evolve from a common ancestor and
gradually become different due to adaptation to different environments.
 Adaptive Radiation:
A type of divergent evolution where a single ancestral species rapidly
evolves into many different species, each adapted to a different niche.

🧬 2. Common Ancestry
 Both involve a common ancestor.
 In both processes, the original species gives rise to new forms.
🌍 3. Environmental Adaptation
 Divergent Evolution:
Happens when species face different environmental pressures and
evolve different traits.
 Adaptive Radiation:
Happens when species spread out to different environments or
habitats, each adapting to a unique niche.

🐦 4. Classic Example
 Divergent Evolution:
Forelimbs of vertebrates (human arm, bat wing, whale flipper) –
structurally similar but functionally different.
 Adaptive Radiation:
Darwin’s finches on the Galápagos Islands – different beak shapes
evolved from a common ancestor to suit different food sources.

🔁 5. Rate of Evolution
 Divergent Evolution:
Can be slow or gradual over long periods.
 Adaptive Radiation:
Usually rapid, especially when organisms enter new or isolated
environments with many available niches.

🔄 6. Relationship Between the Two

 Adaptive radiation is a specific case of divergent evolution.
 All adaptive radiation is divergent evolution, but not all divergent
evolution is adaptive radiation.
41.Darwin- natural selection
42.Evolution is the change in the genetic composition of the population that is
brought about by natural selection which acts upon the variability in
population
43.Darwin was not able to explain the discontinuous variations and the process
of inheritance
44.1868 – Theory of pangenesis – every organ of the body produces minute
hereditary particles called pangenes or gemmules that travel to gametes
through blood
45.This theory was rejected by Weismann’s germplasm theory – which stated
that germ cells are set apart from somatic cells in early embryonic
development and only changes in these germ cells are carried onto next
generation.
46.✔️Yes, mutations are heritable and can establish new traits and species —
but they work slowly, often with other forces like natural selection and
isolation.
47.Modern synthetic theory – Neo Darwinism
48.Unit of modern synthetic theory is POPULATION
49.Invertebrates appeared 500mya
50.Jawless fishes 350mya (agnatha)
51.Jaw bearing fishes – strong and stout fins – went to land and came to water
– 350mya- called lobefins {Latimeria /Coelacanth} – thought to be extinct –
found in SA in 1938.
52.Chlorophyta ancestors are aquatic green algae, they gave rise to green land
plants i.e. bryophytes and tracheophytes
53. Zosterophyllum was dominant in both Silurian and Devonian
54.Crocodiles, tortoise, and turtles are living decedents of reptiles.
55.Reptiles were the first true land inhabiting animals
56.200MYA some reptiles went back to water and became fishlike reptiles, e.g.
– ichthyosaurus
57.200 mya giant ferns fell to for coal
58.65 mya dinosaurs disappeared.
59.Small sized reptiles of that era still exist today
60.Mammals came from reptiles; first mammals were shrew like (now extinct)
61.Single large landmass – pangea
62.Early reptiles which are now extinct, were present in carboniferous
(350mya), they gave rise to synapsid at 300 mya and a little later to
sauropsids (in Permian)

63.Sauropsid directly gave rise to turtles, lizards, snakes, and tuataras.

64.They also gave rise to thecodonts(extinct) at 250 mya (Permian).

Thecodonts gave rise to crocodiles, dinosaurs (Tertiary) and birds.

65.Synapsids gave rise to pelorus (Permian)

66.Polydorus gave therapsids (in Jurassic) who further have mammals