The geo grap hic dist ribu tion of

orga nism s on Eart h follo ws

patt erns
BIOGEOGRAPHY tha t are bes t exp lain ed by
evo luti on in
com bin atio n wit h the

SOURCES
The evolution of unique
es
species mo vem ent of tec ton ic plat
ove r geo log ical tim e.
Similarities between on islands is another
biological molecules can example of how evolution

OF
reflect shared evolutionary and geography intersect.
ancestry.

MOLECULAR BIOLOGY FOSSIL RECORD

MACRO
(PALEONTOLOGY)
Shared features suggest that all
living things are descended from Fossils document the existence
e pr es er ve d
a common ancestor, and that this Fo ss ils ar e th io us ly liv in g

EVOLUTION
of pr ev of now-extinct species,
ancestor had DNA as its genetic re m ai ns th ei r tr ac es , showing that different
material, used the genetic code, or ga ni sm s or di st an t pa st .
th e organisms have lived on Earth
and expressed its genes by da ti ng fr om
during different periods of the
transcription and translation. The fossils that human s have
collect
planet's history.
ed offer unique insight s
into evoluti on over long
timesc ales.
M os t em br
yo
th ei r ea rl y s lo ok si m ila r in
de ve lo p, th st ag es , bu t as th ey
be tw ee n spe di ff er en ce s
ob vi ou s. ec ie s be co
m e m or e Analogo us
- Not all physical features
that look alike are marks
DEVELOPMENTAL of common ancestry .
PATTERNS - They evolv ed indep ende ntly
in diffe rent orga nism s
ANALOGY AND
Embryos of organisms beca use the orga nism s lived
that have a closer genetic in simil ar envir onme nts or HOMOLOGY
expe rienc ed simil ar selec tive
relationship to one another pres sure s. Similar traits can be either
tend to look similar for
homologous or analogous.
a longer period of time since
they share a more recent
Homolog ous
common ancestor.
- Two species have the
"same" gene because they
COMPARATIVE ANATOMY inherited it from a common
Macroevolution encompasses the ancestor .
Study of the similarities and - In gene ral, the more DNA
grandest trends and transformations diffe renc es in homo logou s gene
The structures are differences in the structures s
in evolution, such as the origin of similar because they of different species. Similar
(or amin o acid diffe renc es in the
prot eins they enco de) betw een
mammals and the radiation of evolved to do the body parts may be two spec ies, the more dista ntly
same job, not the spec ies are relat ed.
flowering plants. because they were homologies or analogies.
inherited from a
common ancestor.
Macroevolutionary patterns are
generally what we see when we look
at the large-scale history of life.