Do

Cellsevolve?
Organisms?
Population?
Terrestrial animals?
Two types of Evolution
Microevolution -
population

Macroevolution
originof new organs
Body plans
New higher taxa
 Big steps in
Big steps in Evolution
Evolution
JOEPET V. BROSAS
Joepet V. Brosas
BS BIOLOGY IV
BS Biology IV
Outline
Acellular to cellular
Unicellular to multicellular
Aquatic to terrestrial
Evolution of land plants
Evolution of land animals
Fish to tetrapods
Dinosaur to bird
Reptiles to mammals
Acellular to Cellular
Acellular
Abiogenesis,
Replicating molecules

enzymes

Cellular
Prokaryotic cell
3.5 billion years ago
Stromatolites
Unicellular vs Multicellular

Unicellular Multicellular
Reduced size Increased sized
All works in a single cell Division of labor
Shorter life span Longer life span
3.5 billion-year-old
Identical cells possible fossils describes
differentiate multicelled filaments
(Schopf s, 1993)
Multicellular life

fossils of multicellular animals

670-550 MYA
Ediacaran deposits in Australia
Multicellular life
Differentiation

Development
Fitness of evolutionary
individual
Survival

reproduction
Fitness
cell level trade-offs

transition proceeds to multicellularity

the group level trade-offs depart from the cell level

ones
because certain fitness advantages of cell
specialization may be realized only by the
group.
To illustrate the idea, uni to
multi
volvocine green algae
unicellular
multicellular members.
Fig. 1. Subset of volvocine species which shows an
increase in complexity,
Volvocine algae

the colonial volvocine algae (Rausch et al., 1989)

diverged from a unicellular ancestor 35 million
years ago
providing a unique window into this major
transition.
Unicellular vs Multicellular

In unicellular individuals
the same cell must contribute to both fitness
components, these contributions typically being
separated in time.
In multicellular groups
Group of cells may specialize during
development
Differentiation

specialization
Aquatic to Terrestrial
land was first colonized by microbes
1,000 million years ago

Evolution of land plants

Evolution of land animals
Evolution of land plants
fossil spores
from 475 MYA
closely related to a group of green algae
Charophyceans

evolution of a resistant spore stage

evolution of vascular tissue
Roots
leaves
Evolution of Land Animals

Fishto tetrapods
Dinosaur to bird
Reptiles to mammals
 The Transition from Water to Land
Dilemma
Kidney Barrier
Fish release harmful byproducts in their
bodies directly into the water.
Terrestrial animals, however, need
kidneys.
Thus, animal that makes the transition
from water to land requires kidneys
before making the change.
However, kidneys have a highly complex
structure
Dilemma
Weight bearing
Those living on land, expend 40% of their energy just in moving around.
Any water dweller about to pass onto dry land needs
develop new muscles
new skeletal structure

Use of water
Water is an essential requirement for living things, and on land, its availability
is limited
For that reason water, and even moisture, must be used economically.
skin must prevent water loss and evaporation
land dwellers must be able to feel thirst when they need water
Dilemma
Respiratory system
Fish breathe the oxygen dissolved in water through
their gills
Out of the water, they are unable to survive for more
than a few minutes.
In order to live on dry land
need to acquire a pulmonary system.
Fish to Tetrapods
earliest vertebrate fossils
Fish appear on Cambrian
Devonian is often referred to as the age of fishes
Terrestrialplants prepared the way of
Colonization of Terrestrial Animals
Fishwould have evolved to exploit the resources
there (land).
The amphibians were the first of the tetrapod
groups to evolve.
 The "transition from
water to land" scenario
portrayed in many
imaginative illustrations
like the one above, is
based on Lamarckist
logic and conflicts even
with the theory of
evolution's own
hypotheses.
Fish to Tetrapods
The theory of evolution
hypothesizes that tetrapods (four-
footed life forms) evolved from fish.
Fish to Tetrapods
Tiktaalik - transitional form
fishapod.

sarcopterygians (lobe-fin bony fish)

characterized by a single proximal bone in the
fin/limb recognized as the humerus (forelimb)
or femur (hindlimb).
tetrapod limb originally
evolvedas a paddle, for swimming. Its
subsequent use for walking on land is an
instance of preadaptation
DinosaurBird Transition
Archaeopteryx
Oldest
definitive fossil bird (Late Jurassic,
~150 Ma)
mix of avian and reptilian features
Why did feathers
first evolve, if not for flight?
Several hypotheses have been proposed
(Xu, 2006)
most of which center on display (feathers as
sexual signaling devicesor)
thermoregulation (feathers for insulation or to
aid in brooding eggs)
Reptiles to mammals
Reptiles Mammals
Cold blooded Warm-blooded

locomotion locomotion, or gait

Reduced brain large brains

Method of reproduction, method of reproduction,

oviparous including lactation
Mammals
Megazostrodon
earliest mammalian fossils 200 million years ago
had warm-blooded physiology
jaw

Triassic

mammal-like reptiles
Pennsylvanian to the end of the Triassic
100 million-year period
 Three main phases in mammal-
like reptilian evolution
1st Phase - Pelycosaurs
Pelycosaur fossils are
preserved from the
Pennsylvanian and Permian,
particularly
Archaeothyris lived there about
300 million years ago, and is an
early pelycosaur
Dimetrodon, with its enigmatic
2nd Phase

Therapsids
SouthAfrica having the best
deposits
secondary palate enables an
animal to eat and breathe
atthe same time and is a
sign of a more active,
perhaps warm-blooded
 3 Phase
rd

Cynodonts
jaws of cynodonts
resemble modern
mammal jaws