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Evolution and natural selection

Clock analogy for


some key events
in evolutionary
history

Pre-Darwinian theories

Ancient philosophers: Nature randomly produces a


huge variety of creatures
only creatures that manage to provide for
themselves, reproduce successfully survive

Up to the early 19th century, prevailing view was that


differences between individuals of a species were
insignificant departures from their Platonic ideal of
created kinds

Catastrophism
Geologically only catastrophic events had changed
the geological structure of the earth
changes seen within fossilized bones were a result
of a previous catastrophic change where an entire
former and less perfect species was wiped out in
order to give rise to a new species.
Accounted for the discoveries of many "funny
looking bones" found throughout Europe and other
parts of the world

Lamarck: Theory of Use and Disuse


Proposed inheritance of acquired traits
When a trait was used many times, the organs
which the trait was dependent on were
strengthened, and the trait became commonplace
If a trait fell into disuse the organ was weakened,
and the trait was not carried on to its offspring

Lamarcks theory
Of use and disuse

Charles Darwin
Sailed as the naturalist of the
ship H.M.S. Beagle (1831-1836)
to survey the south seas (mainly
South America and the
Galapagos Islands)

Charles Darwin
1809-1882

Observed huge diversity in species


in Galapagos island
..\..\youtube
downloads\Evolution_ Who Was
Charles Darwin_.mp4

Voyage of the HMS Beagle, 1831 1836

Charles Darwin
Wrote On the Origin of Species by Means of
Natural Selection in 1859
Two main points:
1. Species were not created in their present
form, but evolved from ancestral species.

2. Proposed a mechanism for evolution:


NATURAL SELECTION

Darwin observed beak


variation in the finches of
the Galpagos Islands
13 closely related species that
differ most markedly in the
shape of their beaks

The beak of each species is


suited to its preferred food,
suggesting that beak shapes
evolved by natural
selection.

Mechanism of Evolution_
Natural Selection [3D
Animation].mp4

Darwinian natural selection


3 conditions necessary for evolution by natural
selection to occur:
1. Natural variability for a trait in a population
2. Trait must be heritable
3. Trait must lead to differential reproduction

A heritable trait that enables organisms to survive AND


reproduce is called an adaptation

Adaptations that specialize organisms for


particular ecological niches may eventually result in
the emergence of new species.

Natural selection
1. There is variation in traits.
For example, some beetles are green
and some are brown.

2. There is differential reproduction.


Since the environment can't support
unlimited population growth, not all
individuals reproduce maximally
green beetles tend to get eaten by
birds and have less chances to
reproduce than brown beetles

Natural selection
3. There is heredity.
The surviving brown beetles have
brown baby beetles because this trait
has a genetic basis.

4. End result:
The more advantageous trait, brown
coloration, becomes more common
in the population.
If this process continues, eventually,
all individuals in the population will
be brown.

What are selection pressures in an


organisms environment?
Examples of biotic
factors:

Examples of abiotic
factors:

predators
competitors
mutualists

resource availability
physical conditions
chemical conditions

Fitness
Ability of a particular species to leave offspring in the
next generation compared to other species/variants
e.g., if brown beetles consistently leave more offspring
than green beetles because of their color, the brown
beetles has a higher fitness.

Fitness
A species' fitness depends on the environment in
which the organism lives
e.g., the fittest variant of a species during an ice age
probably not the fittest variant after ice age

The fittest individual is not necessarily the strongest,


fastest, or biggest.
A species' fitness includes its ability to survive, find
a mate, produce offspring and ultimately leave
its genes in the next generation

Sexual selection
When natural selection acts on mate-finding and reproductive
behavior
acts on an organism's ability to obtain or successfully
copulate with a mate
often powerful enough to produce features that are harmful
to the individual's survival

Sexual selection
Selected traits
1. indicate the potential mate is in good
health/fertile
2. indicate the potential mate has good genes
3. exploit a sensory bias in the chooser
individuals with those attractive traits will have a
high reproductive success, spreading their genes
(and the trait) through the population

Sexual selection
2 components:
1. Male competition
The most dramatic and obvious way in which males
compete for mates is by fighting and ritualized
contests
males often have evolved weapons for fighting

May also compete for the amount of time spent


mating with females, and even whose sperm gets
to fertilize her eggs
e.g., male damselflies scrub rival sperm out of the female
reproductive tract when mating.
Moniliformes dubius males, a parasitic worm found in rat
intestines, cements up the females genital opening after
copulation to prevent other males from fertilizing her

For males, more mates meant


more offspring!

Sexual selection
2. Female choice
Females often select males on the basis of

material resources that they can offer; example:


female hanging flies, Hylobittacus apicalis, will mate
with a male only if he provides a large insect for her to
eat during copulation
The larger the insect, the longer the male is allowed
to copulate and the more eggs he fertilizes.
genetic benefits for their offspring

May choose which males to mate with, how long


to mate, and even whose sperm will fertilize her
eggs.
e.g., some females can eject sperm from an
undesirable mate.

Factors affecting sexual selection


Symmetry = beauty
Both men and women rate
symmetrical members of
the opposite sex as more
attractive
Good symmetry =
indicator of good health,
fertility, stronger immune
system
Genetic mutations and
environmental pressures
skew symmetry
standards of
attractiveness are similar
across cultures

Masculinity/femininity
in faces
Preferences for
masculinity in male
faces vary across
studies, but
feminine female
faces are
consistently found
more attractive than
masculine female
faces

Anthony C. Little et al. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B


2011;366:1638-1659

(a) Male and female composite images made


more masculine and (b) more feminine

Preferred female features

a pronounced back-tobuttock curve


men strongly preferred
women with a back-tobuttock curve of 45.5
described as the
theoretically optimal
angle of lumbar
curvature; meant that
women were more likely
to carry out successful
pregnancies
less likely to suffer
spinal injuries

waist-to-hip ratio (WHR)


Women with a WHR of
0.7indicating a waist
significantly narrower
than the hipsare most
desirable to men
Waist-hip ratio a product
of fat deposition
a sufficiently high
waist-hip ratio means
they are not
malnourished
If WHR too high, likely
to be overweight
Women in this range also
have less difficulty
conceiving

Adaptive significance of female physical attractiveness: Role of waist-to-hip


ratio.
By Singh, Devendra
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Vol 65(2), Aug 1993, 293-307.
Abstract
Evidence is presented showing that body fat distribution as measured by waist-tohip ratio (WHR) is correlated with youthfulness, reproductive endocrinologic status,
and long-term health risk in women. Three studies show that men judge women
with low WHR as attractive. Study 1 documents that minor changes in WHRs of
Miss America winners and Playboy playmates have occurred over the past 3060
yrs. Study 2 shows that college-age men find female figures with low WHR more
attractive, healthier, and of greater reproductive value than figures with a higher
WHR. In Study 3, 25- to 85-yr-old men were found to prefer female figures
with lower WHR and assign them higher ratings of attractiveness and
reproductive potential. It is suggested that WHR represents an important
bodily feature associated with physical attractiveness as well as with health
and reproductive potential. A hypothesis is proposed to explain how WHR
influences female attractiveness and its role in mate selection. (PsycINFO
Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)

Male features
Male height
Women look for men who are taller than they are (but only
by ~9%)
Relative, not absolute, size: height not inherently attractive,
but being taller than they were was

broad shoulders, strong jaw line considered


attractive by women
signals for virility and good health
directly related to testosterone

male chest hair


seems to have no functional purpose, but strongly
correlated with being perceived as attractive
Maturity in men associated with wealth, making older men
more attractive. Chest hair makes men look older.

How attractive women find two body types with and without
chest hair

4. Smell
A. Male scent

In an expt, researchers offered women borrowed sweaty


undershirts from a variety of men, asking for their
impressions of the scents.
women found the scent of a symmetrical man to be more
attractive and desirable, especially if the woman was
menstruating
B. Female scent
In a different expt, female body odor was collected
during three phases: menstrual (at the beginning);
follicular (between the first day of menstruation and the
onset of ovulation); and luteal (the fertile stage).
fresh pads were subsequently rated for their
attractiveness and intensity by a group of 42 men
The most attractive smells, men said, were from the time
between the first day of menstruation and ovulation.

Dataclysm: Who We Are


(When We Think No One's Looking)
by Christian Rudder; published Sept. 9, 2014

39-year-old Harvard math grad; president of


OkCupid, an online-dating site
Used data mining to assess users dating preferences
Users look at photos and profiles of potential dates and
rate their attractiveness on a scale of one to five

Findings:
People of both genders preferred potential dates of their
own race or ethnicity
Age matters, but differently, for males and females

OkCupid study
Men of all ages prefer women
in their early 20s, claims least
shocking study ever

In contrast, straight women


find men who are about their
same age most attractive

Why sexual selection?


no offspring means no genes in the next generation
all those genes for living to a ripe old age don't get passed on
to anyone!
That individual's fitness is zero

Adaptation

feature that provides some improved


function in an organism
can take many forms; e.g.,
1. behavior that allows better evasion of predators
2. a protein that functions better at body
temperature
3. an anatomical feature that allows the organism
to access a valuable new resource

Orchids fool wasps into "mating" with them

Katydids have camouflage to look like leaves

Non-poisonous king snakes mimic poisonous


coral snakes

The creosote bush is a desert-dwelling


plant that produces toxins that prevent
other plants from growing nearby, thus
reducing competition for nutrients and
water

Echolocation in bats is an
adaptation for catching insects

3 types of natural selection


1. Directional
Only one side of the distribution reproduce
Population looks different over time

2. Stabilizing
Favors individuals with an average genetic
makeup
Only the middle reproduce; population looks more
similar over time

3. Disruptive (Diversifying)
Environmental conditions favor individuals at both ends of
the genetic spectrum
Population split into two groups

3 types of natural selection

The case of the


peppered moths
Industrial revolution
Pollution darkened
tree trunks
Camouflage of moths
increases survival from
predators
Directional selection
caused a shift away from
light-gray towards darkgray moths

Antibiotic resistance: modern example of


natural selection

Widespread use and misuse of antibiotics


has resulted in increased microbial
resistance to antibiotics
Can be considered an evolutionary arms
race:
1. bacteria continue to develop strains that are less
susceptible to antibiotics
2. medical researchers continue to develop new
antibiotics that can kill them

How antibiotic resistance is


enhanced by natural selection.
A. population of bacteria before
exposure to an antibiotic
B. population directly after
exposure, the phase in which
selection took place
C. the distribution of resistance in a
new generation of bacteria.

Resistance to backup TB drugs increases


NATURE | NEWS Aug 30, 2012
Efforts to control tuberculosis
hampered by the emergence of
multidrug-resistant (MDR) TB,
which resist treatment w`ith two
front-line antibiotics, rifampicin
and isoniazid
In some parts of the world, ~50%
of tuberculosis cases are resistant
to these drugs

Alternative treatment options


toxic and expensive
2nd line drugs not as effective and
must be given in lengthy courses

In countries such as South Africa,


drugs commonly used to treat
tuberculosis are becoming less
effective as strains of the diseases
develop resistance.

Misconceptions about natural


selection
a process, rather than a
guiding hand.
mindless and
mechanistic
has no goals
not striving to produce
"progress" or a balanced
ecosystem
Evolution does not work this way!

Natural selection just selects among whatever


variations exist in the population.
The result is evolution.
However, process is not random:
Genetic variants that aid survival and reproduction
are much more likely to become common than variants
that don't.

SPECIES - a population or group of populations whose


members have the potential to interbreed with one another
and produce viable offspring, but who cannot produce
viable offspring with other species.

These happy face spiders look different, but since they can
interbreed, they are considered the same species: Theridion
grallator.

Members of a species may exhibit pronounced differences

Speciation

Reintroduction
will no longer
result in
interbreeding

Causes of speciation
1. Geographic isolation
rivers change course, mountains rise, continents drift,
organisms migrate, and what was once a continuous
population is divided into two or more smaller
populations.

Speciation.mp4

2. Reduction of gene flow

Imagine a situation in which a population extends over a broad


geographic range. Individuals in the far west would have zero
chance of mating with individuals in the far eastern end of the range
reduced gene flow, but not total isolation
may or may not be sufficient to cause speciation

Pre zygotic barriers to gene flow that


contribute to speciation

Evolution of different mating location, mating time,


or mating rituals

Reproductive isolation

Lack of "fit" between sexual organs

These damselfly penises illustrate just how complex insect genitalia may be.

Temporal isolation
2 species breed at different times of the day or during
different seasons.

Post zygotic barriers that


contribute to speciation
Reduced hybrid viability
Aborted development of hybrid at some embryonic stage

Reduced hybrid fertility


Meiosis doesnt produce fertile gametes in vigorous
hybrids.
e.g., donkey + horse = mule (sterile hybrid)

Hybrid breakdown
1st - generation hybrids are fertile, but they cannot
produce fertile offspring in the next generation
e.g., different species of cotton

sterile

Rare Italian-born baby zonkey


in good health

Good Morning America - Rare Italian-born Baby Zonkey in Good Health (ABC News)

The father is a zebra that was adopted by the animal reserve after he
was rescued from a failing zoo. The mother is a Donkey of Amiata, an
endangered animal species.

Reproductive barriers
Gametic
isolation

Reduce
hybrid
viability
Fertilization

GAMETIC ISOLATION

REDUCED HYBRID
VIABILITY

Reduce
hybrid
fertility

Hybrid
breakdown
Viable
fertile
offspring

REDUCED HYBRID FERTILITY HYBRID BREAKDOWN

Issues in speciation
1. Opportunity knocks:
environmental
factors
Change in environment
may have offered
opportunities for
specialization
e.g, loss of
competitors
A fragmented
environment might
make reproductive
isolation likely

Being in the right place at the right time


is a reason that one clade might be
more diverse than another.

2. Adaptive Radiation

an event in which a lineage rapidly diversifies, with the


newly formed lineages evolving different adaptations

Adaptive radiation
One species gives rise to many others in a geologically short
period of time

e.g., Darwins finches

Islands are good


places to find
adaptive
radiations
Speciation.mp4

3.

Historical changes in diversity:


a. Explosion
e.g., about 530 million years ago, a huge variety of marine
animals suddenly burst onto the evolutionary scene
- New animals had a variety of new body forms that evolution
has been using to produce "spin-offs" ever since

Cambrian
Explosion

appearance in
the fossil record
of most major
animal body
plans about 543
million years
ago
The new fossils
appear in an
interval of 20
million years or
less

b. Extinction
~225 million years ago, >90% of the species alive at the time
went extinct in fewer than 10 million years
Some groups that were dominant before the extinction never
recovered
Set stage for massive diversification of taxa that filled the empty
niches.

Extinct species
Golden
toad, 1989,
Costa Rica

Zanzibar leopard, 1996, Tanzania

Madeiran large white, 2007


Europe, Asia and Africa

Dodos extinction
thought to be due to:
Inability to fly
Inability to adapt to
predators
Inability to adapt to
changing climates

The Dodo an extinct bird

Factors affecting extinction rates


Natural Extinctions
Climate change
Cataclysmic event (volcano, earthquake)
Human Activities
Habitat Loss/Fragmentation
Introduction of exotic/invasive species
Pollution
Commercial harvesting
Accidental killing (tuna nets)
Harassing
Pet Trade
Urbanization
Damming/Flooding
Agricultural conversion

Human activities and extinction


Earth took millions of years to recover from previous
mass extinctions
Humans major force in the premature extinction of
species
Extinction rate increased by 100-1000x the natural
background rate
As population grows, we are expected to take over more of
the earths surface
may cause the premature extinction of up to a 1/4 of the
earths current species and constitute a 6th mass
extinction

Speciation Extinction = Biodiversity!

The animals
usually rest on
sea ice but will
head to beaches
if that platform
is not available

Huge numbers of
Pacific walrus
have been
coming ashore in
northwest Alaska

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