Descent with Modification A Darwinian View of Life

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Slide 37

Earth’s continents were formerly united in a single large continent called Pangaea, but have since separated by continental drift.

An understanding of continent movement and modern distribution of species allows us to predict when and where different groups evolved.

Slide 38

Darwin : Natural Selection

Observations

Over time, favorable traits

accumulate in the population.

Inferences

and

Individuals in a population

vary in their heritable

characteristics.

Organisms produce more

offspring than the

environment can support.

Individuals that are well suited

to their environment tend to leave

more offspring than other individuals

Slide 39

Mutation = Resistance to DDT. Natural Selection Favors this Resistance --> Number of Resistant Individuals Increases Over Time.

Slide 40

You should now be able to:

Describe the contributions to evolutionary theory made by Linnaeus, Cuvier, Lyell, Lamarck, Malthus, and Wallace.

Describe Lamarck’s theories, and explain why they have been rejected.

Explain what Darwin meant by “descent with modification.”

Explain Darwin’s observations and inferences.

Explain why an individual organism cannot evolve.

Describe evidence for evolution by natural selection.