This edition published in 2014 by:

The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc.

29 East 21st Street
New York, NY 10010

Additional end matter copyright © 2014 by The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission in
writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Wanjie, Anne.
The basics of evolution/Anne Wanjie.—1st ed.—New York:
Rosen, © 2014
p. cm.—(Core concepts)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-4777-0557-5 (library binding)
1. Evolution (biology)—Juvenile literature. I. Title.
QH367.1 .W36 2014
576.8

Manufactured in the United States of America

CPSIA Compliance Information: Batch #S13YA: For further information, contact Rosen Publishing,
New York, New York, at 1-800-237-9932.

© 2004 Brown Bear Books Ltd.

CONTENTS
CHAPTER 1: EVOLUTION DEFINED

CHAPTER 2: SUPPORT FOR EVOLUTION

CHAPTER 3: WHAT IS NATURAL SELECTION?

CHAPTER 4: UNDERSTANDING GENETICS AND EVOLUTION

CHAPTER 5: UNDERSTANDING POPULATION GENETICS

CHAPTER 6: EVOLUTIONARY PATTERNS

CHAPTER 7: THE BEGINNINGS OF LIFE ON EARTH

CHAPTER 8: THE EVOLUTION OF HUMANS

CHAPTER 9: BIOGRAPHY: CHARLES DARWIN

GLOSSARY

FOR MORE INFORMATION

FOR FURTHER READING

INDEX
 CHAPTER ONE
EVOLUTION DEFINED
Evolution is the process of change in groups of creatures over time.

Species (types) of living things change over long periods of time to adapt
to their environment. Biologists call this process evolution. Although it is
a pillar of biological thinking today, the theory of evolution was shocking
when it was first proposed since it challenged religious views of how life on
Earth began.
The publication in 1859 of English naturalist Charles Darwin’s (1809–
1882) book On the Origin of Species changed biological thinking
completely and had a profound influence in many other fields as well.
Darwin suggested that the variety of life can be explained by a process
called natural selection. In nature more individuals are born than survive to
adulthood. Certain individuals survive because they have some advantage
over the others. These individuals are more successful in breeding and
passing on the advantage to their young. This process is the driving force
behind evolution.
Two Darwin’s rheas. These flightless South American birds resemble African ostriches and
Australian emus, but each of these large bird species has evolved in isolation for millions of
years.

Evidence that Darwin was right is abundant. There are fossils that show
the course of evolution over time in certain groups of organisms, such as
horses. Evolution is also supported by studies of DNA that shed light on the
common ancestry of different organisms.

GENERATING SPONTANEOUSLY

Many people attempted to explain diversity in the natural world before

Darwin. A widespread belief was the theory of spontaneous generation—
that species arose from matter such as decaying organic material. The
appearance of maggots and mice in conditions that seemed lifeless
suggested that organisms could originate from nothing.

JEAN BAPTISTE LAMARCK

Fifty years before The Origin of Species French naturalist Jean Baptiste
Lamarck (1744–1829) developed a theory that suggested that different
species arose by changing from already existing ones. He thought that
favorable features gained during a parent’s lifetime would be passed on to
offspring—an idea known as Lamarckism.

Barnacle geese breed in the Arctic in the summer and over winter in northern Europe. They
are so named because people once believed that the birds—which arrived in the fall seemingly
from nowhere and disappeared just as mysteriously in spring—hatched from barnacles along
the coast.

SHEEP SELECTION

To get an idea of how selection works, imagine a farmer has some

sheep, half of which are white and the rest black. Needing white
rather than black wool, the farmer selects the white sheep for
mating. Because the colors are inherited, he soon has a flock of
mostly white sheep.
Years earlier some of the flock escaped into a local forest. Their
only predators, wolves, hunted at night and often caught the
conspicuous white sheep. Soon the sheep of the forest became mostly
black—because of natural selection rather than selection by the
farmer.
 Lamarck suggested that changes in an organism’s needs due to
environmental changes could make body structures increase or decrease in
size based on how much they were used. Lamarck’s ideas were attacked
during his lifetime and later proven to be false. Today, Lamarck is
remembered only for his discredited theory, and Lamarckism remains a
byword for poor biology. However, modern biologists who criticize
Lamarck have the benefit of hindsight. Lamarck was actually a very
talented naturalist who made a number of important zoological discoveries.

EVOLUTION AND CREATIONISM

Darwin’s theories were at odds with the teachings of the Bible, which
asserted that Earth and all the organisms on it were created by God. The
argument continues to this day. People who believe that all life on Earth is
the work of an all-powerful being are called creationists. They do not accept
evolutionary theory as fact.
A fossil herring. From such fossil evidence scientists can figure out how living organisms have
evolved over millions of years.

HOW IS EVOLUTION STUDIED?

Today, biologists study the process of evolution in a number of different

ways. Population geneticists look at the different factors that affect
inheritance. Paleontologists focus on fossils and other evidence to study
how organisms evolved long ago in the past. Ecologists examine how
relationships between organisms and the environment they live in can affect
the process of evolution. Studies like these provide crucial information for
biologists. They interpret the evidence to figure out evolutionary
relationships that link different species.

DARWIN’S BULLDOG

Although Charles Darwin developed the theory of natural selection,

it only became accepted after vigorous defense by other scientists
against the religious establishment. Thomas Huxley (1825–1895),
often called “Darwin’s bulldog,” was the most formidable of them.
Huxley is best known for an 1860 debate on evolution with Bishop
Samuel Wilberforce (1806–1873). Wilberforce made a gentle joke
about Huxley’s ancestry. The furious Huxley replied that he would
rather be descended from an ape than a bishop!
 CHAPTER TWO
SUPPORT FOR EVOLUTION
Every feature of every organism on Earth provides evidence that
evolution has taken place.

Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection is relatively

simple, yet scientific evidence for it (especially in the light of recent
genetic advances) is so powerful that it is accepted almost universally by
biologists. The world is full of evidence that supports evolutionary theory.
This evidence ranges from the fossils of creatures that lived many millions
of years ago to the rapid changes that are now taking place in bacteria that
cause diseases.

A skull of the crested duck-billed dinosaur Lambeosaurus, which once lived in western North
America. These plant-eating dinosaurs lived between 80 and 65 million years ago. They
measured from 30 to 50 feet (9 to 15m) long and were 7 feet (2.1m) tall at the hip. Fossils such
as this show that many more species have lived on Earth than are alive today.
 FOSSIL EVIDENCE

Fossils are the remains or traces of long-dead organisms preserved in rock.

They have been collected and puzzled over for hundreds of years.
Before the 19th century fossils were explained as leftovers from the
biblical flood or as parts of creatures such as unicorns or giants. By the
early 1800s biologists had begun to realize that many fossilized creatures no
longer existed on Earth. They also noticed that some fossils were similar to,
but not the same as, living creatures. This evidence suggested that they
were distant ancestors of living animals. Geologists (people who study
rocks) realized that the rocks in which fossils were found were sometimes
millions of years old. These lines of evidence were in complete opposition
to the teachings of the Bible, which held sway over much scientific thinking
at this time.

EVIDENCE IN THE ROCKS

Sedimentary rocks such as limestone are formed by layers of sediment called strata.
Geologists showed that younger strata always lay above older strata, except when they
have been buckled and folded later. This discovery allowed biologists to follow changes
in fossil groups over time. Gryphaea were a group of mollusks that lived on shallow
seafloors between 190 and 75 million years ago. Early Gryphaea shells (1) were flat, but
with an increase of silt in the water Gryphaea evolved to lift themselves off the bottom.
Via several intermediate stages (2, 3) the flat Gryphaea evolved curled shells that are
often called “Devil’s toenails.”
 Paleontologists (scientists who study fossils) can follow how one form
of organism evolved into another over millions of years. For example,
around 55 million years ago Hyracotherium, the earliest known horse, lived
in forests in North America. It was a small, dog-sized animal with five toes
on each foot. Over many millions of years animals like Hyracotherium
evolved to become larger and lost four of the five toes. That helped them
run faster. Horse evolution did not move in a straight line but more by way
of a “sprawling bush.” Modern horses and their relatives form the last
“branch” of this bush.
Signs in the rocks also tell scientists what the environment was like—
for example, whether it was hot or cold, wet or dry. So, they can see from
the fossils how living organisms have changed over time in response to
major changes in the environment.

HOW FOSSILS FORM

Fossils are the preserved remains or traces, such as footprints, of living organisms that
died millions of years ago. Fossilization (fossil formation) occurs in a number of steps.
Bones and other hard parts of a dead organism are gradually replaced by minerals.
1.

1. A dinosaur dies on the shore of a large river.

2.

2. The dinosaur is quickly covered by particles of mud and sand.

3.

3. The sediment is slowly compressed (squeezed), forming rock. Minerals seep through
the rocks and replace the dinosaur’s bones and teeth.
4.
 4. Millions of years later paleontologists carefully pick away the rock to reveal the
fossilized dinosaur.

SIMILARITIES ACROSS THE GLOBE

In different parts of the world there are animals that are similar to each
other but are not identical. For example, jaguars live in South America,
lions in Africa, and tigers in Asia. All are big cats, but each has a different
coat and forms a separate species. Evolving from a common ancestor, each
big cat adapted to its environment over millions of years.
A similar pattern is found in many other creatures. For example, there
are similar large, flightless birds in different parts of the world, such as the
rhea in South America, the ostrich in Africa, and the emu in Australia.
However, some creatures that look similar do not share a common ancestor
and have evolved from completely different organisms. This is called
convergent evolution. For example, both whales and fish have streamlined
bodies and powerful tails to drive them through water. Despite these
similarities, whales are only very distantly related to fish. Each group has
adapted in similar ways to the challenge of movement in water.

THE SPEED OF EVOLUTION

Scientists argue about the speed at which evolution takes place.

Some scientists have looked at fossils and decided there is a regular
rate of change, or evolution. Others believe a theory called
“punctuated equilibria” is correct. It suggests that there are long
 periods with no change, followed by shorter periods with very rapid
change. The truth may lie somewhere between these two viewpoints.

Modern-day horses have evolved over millions of years from small forest dwellers into large,
fast-running animals adapted for life on grasslands.

RELIGIOUS BELIEFS

Before Darwin’s work biology in Christian countries was

underpinned by a literal belief in the Bible. People thought that the
Earth was created in seven days in 4004 bc, and God also created
animals and plants. Evolution did not take place because God had
created perfect organisms. Fossils were explained away as creatures
that failed to make it onto Noah’s Ark and died in the flood. Many
Christians today, as well as people of other faiths, think Darwin was
wrong and evolution does not exist, but instead, all creatures were
created by God. This idea is called creationism, and it has some
powerful advocates. Some schools, for example, are not allowed to
teach evolutionary theory. However, creationism has been
completely disproved by more than a century of experimental
evidence.
 FIND YOUR TAIL!

You do not have a tail, but you do have the remnants of one—the
one that your distant ancestors used to help them swing between tree
branches. Mostly you do not notice this stump of a tail. However, if
you fall and land right on the bottom of your backbone, you will
bang it—and it will hurt. This bone is called the coccyx. It is a type
of vestigial structure.

Monkeys, such as this spider monkey, use their tails to grasp objects like branches.

GEOGRAPHICAL SPREAD

Scientists know that all the continents were once joined together but have
moved apart over millions of years. That explains how groups of organisms
have become isolated from each other, allowing them to evolve in different
ways depending on their environment.
Evolution in isolation explains, for example, the geographical
distribution of marsupial mammals. They include mammals such as koalas,
kangaroos, and wombats that carry their young in pouches. Marsupials once
lived all over the world, but after the appearance of placental mammals
(mammals whose young develop inside the mother) marsupials were
replaced in the northern hemisphere. However, by this time the southern
continents had already broken away from the rest. Marsupials were able to
continue to evolve unchecked in South America, Australia, and Antarctica.
Antarctic marsupials disappeared when the continent froze as it moved
closer to the South Pole. A few placental mammals, such as primates, did
make it across to South America, but marsupials continued to prosper.
However, most disappeared around 2 million years ago. South America and
North America joined again, and placental mammals flooded south.

Marsupial mammals, such as these koalas, are today found mainly in Australia and New
Guinea, though marsupials once occurred around the world.

Just a few marsupials, such as the opposums, survived in the Americas.

In Australia and New Guinea, though, marsupials flourished, free of
competition from placental mammals until people arrived on the continent.

ANATOMICAL EVIDENCE

Anatomy is the study of the structure of organisms. Anatomists look at how

an animal’s bones, muscles, and organs are shaped and fit together.
Biologists compare anatomies of different species to figure out how closely
related they are. The more similar a pair of organisms are, the more likely it
is that they shared a recent common ancestor from which both have since
evolved.

FIGHTING BACTERIA

Bacteria are microscopic organisms. They cause many diseases, such

as tuberculosis and cholera. In the middle of the 20th century
scientists began to develop a range of drugs that killed dangerous
bacteria without killing the patient. These drugs are called
antibiotics. Bacteria breed very quickly, producing many
generations in a day. Natural selection swiftly reinforces any
adaptation that helps bacteria cope with a new drug. Such a
mutation spreads quickly through the bacteria population. Drug-
resistant strains of tuberculosis are now a serious threat in some
cities. This is an example of evolution in action.

SPOTTING CONVERGENCE

For a long time people assumed that vultures from the Old and New
Worlds were separate branches of the same group, since they looked
very much alike. Genetic research has shown this to be false. The
vultures live very similar lifestyles, so similar features evolved in
each group. Both soar high to spot food and use their powerful
beaks to tear at carrion, while their heads and necks are bald to
avoid feathers matted with blood. However, New World vultures
such as condors are actually close relatives of storks. This is an
example of convergent evolution.
 Although they look alike, a griffon vulture from Africa (left) and a California condor
(right) are not close relatives. Both vultures search for and feast on carrion from large
animals.

False similarities, however, may occur as a result of convergent

evolution. For example, all vertebrates (animals with backbones) share a
common ancestor. The huge variety of vertebrates, including fish,
amphibians, reptiles, mammals, and birds, suggests that the common
ancestor must have lived a very long time ago, hundreds of millions of
years in the past. By contrast, similarities between apes (chimpanzees,
orangutans, gorillas, and people) include an upright posture, large brain, and
a flat face. They suggest a much more recent common ancestor. Biologists
think that the common ancestor of apes lived around 15 million years ago.

VESTIGIAL STRUCTURES

Many animals have features that are of little use. These are called vestigial
structures, and they are the remnants of features that were useful to the
animal’s ancestors long ago.
 For example, whales have no hind legs, but they still have the remnants
of pelvic bones. In land vertebrates the hind legs fit into these bones, which
are at the bottom of the spine. The presence of tiny pelvic bones in whales
proves that these creatures evolved from a mammal with four legs that lived
and walked on land.
Snakes like boas have a pair of tiny claws on their bodies. They are the
remnants of hind legs. Unlike most vestigial structures, boa legs are still
used, in mating. These claws show that snakes descended from four-legged
ancestors. For a period in their evolutionary history snakes burrowed
underground. During this time they lost their legs. Later snakes returned to
a hunting lifestyle above ground.

GENETIC EVIDENCE

Anatomical evidence for evolution is backed up by the science of genetics.

By looking at DNA—the molecule that carries every individual’s genetic
blueprint—scientists can figure out how closely two different species are
related and how long ago their common ancestor lived.
Humans and the tiny fungus called yeast (top) are very different organisms. Even so, studies of
their DNA have shown that they share more than 30 percent of their genes—the segments of
DNA that code for inherited characteristics.

The DNA of humans and chimpanzees, for example, is about 99.4

percent identical. Biologists suggest that their common ancestor lived
around 5.5 million years ago.
 CHAPTER THREE
WHAT IS NATURAL SELECTION?
Evolution is driven by natural selection. This process allows
favorable adaptations that aid survival to spread through a
population.

With the publication of On The Origin of Species in 1859 Charles Darwin revolutionized
biological thinking and research.

Within any population (regional group of the same species) of organisms

some individuals are better suited to survive and breed than others. In
turn, more young of the better-adapted organisms survive. This is called
natural selection. It is one of the driving forces behind evolution, which is
the process of change within groups of organisms over long periods of time.
Although a number of earlier thinkers had suggested that species may
change over time, English naturalist Charles Darwin (1809–1882) was the
first biologist to figure out how evolution works. He looked at different
groups such as barnacles and pigeons to show how natural selection takes
place.

LAMARCK AND LONG NECKS

French naturalist Jean-Baptiste de Monet de Lamarck (1744–1829)

was among the earliest evolutionary thinkers. He thought that use or
disuse of a feature by an organism decided whether the feature was
passed to young. Useful features would be handed on and others lost.
A giraffe’s long neck, for example, would develop from a lifetime of
stretching for higher branches. However, Lamarck’s ideas were
disproved by later biologists.

VISITING THE GALÁPAGOS ISLANDS

In 1831 Darwin set out on the British survey ship HMS Beagle. During his
voyage Darwin made observations of animals and plants that made him
doubt the accepted view of the natural world—that species did not change
over time. While visiting the Galápagos Islands, 600 miles (1,000 km) off
the coast of South America, Darwin looked closely at the kinds of giant
tortoises that lived there. He found that each Galápagos island had its own
subspecies with distinctive features. Darwin realized that the tortoises
shared a recent common ancestor but had evolved in isolation on the
different islands. He knew that the young of organisms that produce their
young sexually (through fusion of sperm and egg), like tortoises and people,
were not identical to their parents. Yet could these small variations lead to
new species? Was the Earth old enough to allow time for such changes to
take place?

DARWIN’S FINCHES
 While on the Galápagos Islands, Darwin collected many finches. He
found that similar but different species of finches had very different
beaks. Darwin wrote that “one might really fancy that…one species
had been taken and modified for different ends.” The finches helped
Darwin develop his theory of natural selection. He realized that the
finches had evolved to eat different foods, forming new species on
the way.

Around the same time that Darwin was asking himself these questions,
English geologist Charles Lyell (1797– 1875) suggested that Earth was a lot
older than people had previously thought—old enough for complex
organisms to appear through evolution. Armed with this crucial
information, Darwin started to develop his theory of natural selection.

A Galápagos giant tortoise. Sadly, three of the original 14 subspecies (local forms) of these
tortoises have disappeared since Darwin visited the islands, and of another subspecies only one
individual remains.

AMAZING TAILS

A male peacock’s tail does not help the bird survive. It is more of a
hindrance that increases its chances of being caught by a predator.
However, peacock tails evolved because the females favor males with
the biggest, brightest tails. This is called sexual selection. Males with
the best tails will produce the most young. Sexual selection drives the
 evolution of sexual dimorphism (differences between males and
females).

ON THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES

Darwin spent around 20 years gathering evidence to support his ideas. He

was eventually forced to publish his results because another English
naturalist, Alfred Russel Wallace (1823–1913), had independently arrived at
the same conclusions. In 1859 Darwin’s On the Origin of Species was
finally published. Darwin suggested that since more individual organisms
are produced than survive, there must be a constant struggle for existence.
Creatures that are better adapted to their environment are more likely to
survive, so those that possess characters giving them any advantage over
others are more successful. These adaptations will increase in the
population as parents produce offspring similar to themselves.

A SELECTIVE DISASTER
Over thousands of generations male Irish elk evolved to have antlers
of enormous size. This may have been due to sexual selection by
female Irish elk. Females chose the males with the largest antlers to
breed with, driving the evolution of ever-larger antlers. However,
this may also have led to the Irish elk’s downfall. With a change in
plant species over the elks’ range at the end of the last Ice Age it
became more and more difficult to find the nutrients needed to grow
such massive antlers. By around 10,000 years ago the Irish elk was
extinct.

A NATURAL DIVISION

White-bark pines found in such places as the Sierra Nevada

Mountains occur in two forms. At high levels, where conditions are
harsh, they form low bushes. On the lower slopes, which are mild
and sheltered, they grow into trees. At present the two types can
interbreed, but the hybrids (young produced by the breeding of tree
with shrub) are less able to survive than either trees or bushes. What
do you think might happen in the future?
 Darwin had a problem, however. He was unable to explain how features
were inherited through the generations. He suggested they “blended,” like
mixtures of paint. Critics pointed out that if this were the case, good
adaptations would be quickly diluted out. Darwin was eventually proven
wrong on this point. The work of Gregor Mendel showed how inheritance
took place. This showed how natural selection could occur, although
Mendel’s work was ignored by biologists until long after Darwin’s death.

THE MONK AND THE PEA PLANTS

Although biologists knew nothing of his work until after his death,
Austrian monk Gregor Mendel (1822–1884) is today remembered as
one of the most important 19th-century biologists. Experimenting
with pea plants, Mendel studied simple traits such as flower color.
He found that parent peas pass hereditary factors (now called genes)
to their young, with half provided by each parent. Mendel realized
that he could predict the proportions of the traits in the young peas.
 FOLLOWING DARWIN

It took many years of heated debate before biologists accepted that

populations evolve over time through natural selection, and that species
originate by splitting from other species. Evolutionary theory was based on
fossils, on biogeography (where different creatures live in the world), and
the development and structure of organisms. Over recent years these
branches of evidence have been enhanced by molecular biology and genetic
research.

SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST

This simple project shows the principles of natural selection at work.

Make around 20 peasized balls of dough. Color half red and half
green with confectionary dyes. Put all your dough balls on a green
piece of paper, and put it onto a bird feeder. Investigating birds will
find and eat the red balls first. That is because the green balls are
similar in color to the paper, while the red ones are more visible. In
effect, the green balls are better adapted to survive and are less
likely to be eaten Blending into the background like this is called
camouflage.
 Although he himself did not coin the phrase, “survival of the fittest”
provides a neat summary of Darwin’s ideas. Fitness refers to an organism’s
ability to survive. However, if the organism fails to produce offspring that
also survive and breed, advantageous adaptations are not passed on. As a
result, fitness is now measured in terms of the number of offspring that
survive to adulthood produced by an individual organism.

INHERITED VARIATIONS

Inherited variations are now accepted as the raw material on which natural
selection acts. More importantly, biologists now understand how these
variations occur and are inherited by offspring. Mutations are tiny mistakes
that occur when genetic information is being copied before offspring are
produced. Mutations are the source of new variation. Mutations occur at
random and are unrelated to the environment in which an organism lives,
but they can be of major significance in evolutionary terms. An
accumulation of mutations over long periods of time can lead to the
formation of a new species.

LEOPARDS AND PANTHERS

Although they look different, panthers actually belong to the same species
as leopards. To understand why, biologists need to study how genes are
inherited. Cubs are only born black if they inherit a copy of the black coat
gene from each parent. This is a rare event; but imagine if conditions
changed, and having a black coat became an advantage. The number of
panthers would increase through natural selection. Over time leopards with
normal coats would become the rarer of the two forms.

SELECTION SHORTCUTS

Farmers have known for thousands of years how to shortcut natural

selection. By using the cattle that provided the most meat for
breeding, for example, they could produce a herd of cows that gave a
bumper meat yield. This is called artificial selection, and it led to the
 creation of the many breeds of animals and plants seen today.
Features that would hinder survival in the wild could also be
selected for. A bulldog, for example, is a relatively slow runner with
short legs.

NICHES AND ADAPTATION

No organism can live everywhere on Earth. Each is adapted to its own

niche, a specific place or role in an ecosystem, in different ways. An
adaptation is a feature that helps an organism survive in its environment.
Most adaptations have a genetic basis and can be inherited by future
generations. However, many animals have behavioral adaptations, such as
macaque monkeys that wash dirty rice before they eat it. These behaviors
are learned and passed down through the generations, and are examples of
nongenetic adaptations.

UPDATING DARWINISM

During the 20th century biologists subtly revised Darwin’s theory of

natural selection. They refined it in light of advances in other
biological fields. This update of Darwin’s theory is called neo-
 Darwinism. Neo-Darwinism accepts that evolution has occurred and
is directed by natural selection, but it incorporates evidence from
genetic research, such as the importance of mutations. Neo-
Darwinism also acknowledges the influence that factors other than
natural selection can have on evolution, such as genetic drift.

Understanding how adaptations work can be important when trying to

figure out the ways that ancient life forms looked and acted. For example,
by looking at their bones, biologists have discovered how saber-toothed
cats, a group that became extinct around 11,000 years ago, caught their
prey. One group of saber-tooths, called scimitar cats, had long legs and
short canine teeth. These cats were adapted for pursuit of small prey, such
as antelope. The other group, called dirk-toothed cats, had much shorter,
more powerful legs and extremely long canine teeth.

Leopards are usually yellow-brown with a distinctive pattern of swirls and spots, like this one.
Only rarely will a panther cub be born.

MORE THAN ENOUGH OFFSPRING

 A female mouse can breed twice each year and produces around six
offspring each time. Imagine if all the offspring of this mouse and all
subsequent generations survived and had young at a similar rate.
Within just 10 years the descendants of the first mouse would
number more than 60 billion! The world would soon be carpeted
with mice. Why do you think that does not happen?

Mice produce lots of young in their lives. Why is the world not filled with mice?

Dirk-toothed cats were adapted for ambush; they used their teeth to
cause a massive injury either at the throat or in the belly. The victim quickly
bled to death. In this way dirk-toothed cats could kill very large animals.

FORM AND FUNCTION

Sometimes organisms possess adaptations with an obvious function.

For example, the limbs of whales and seals have evolved into
flippers, which are much more efficient for moving through water
than the landadapted limbs of their ancestors. Can you think of any
other adaptations these mammals have for living in water?

PHYSIOLOGICAL ADAPTATIONS

Some adaptations, such as hibernation, involve internal metabolic

(energy-supply) processes. Animals like bats hibernate to survive the
winter, when temperatures drop and food is scarce. They build up
reserves of fat in fall and then enter a state of torpor (inactivity) in
winter. During hibernation a bat’s body temperature drops, its heart
rate slows, and the need for energy falls dramatically. The bat wakes
in spring, when it feeds as quickly as it can to replenish its fat
reserves before breeding. Can you think of any other animals that
hibernate?

CAT ADAPTATIONS

Look for adaptations for a predatory (hunting) lifestyle in your pet

cat. You will see it has sharp teeth because it is a meat eater that
must hunt and kill prey. It can retract its claws, allowing it to move
quietly when stalking, but it can extend them to grab prey.
Both your domestic cat and a lion have sharp canine teeth for killing prey.

HOW DIVERSITY ARISES

If a small population of creatures moves to a new area, adaptations to the
new environment will arise through natural selection. In time the group may
differ sufficiently from the parent population to be classed as a new species.
In this way natural selection is responsible for the tremendous diversity of
life on Earth.

RECONSTRUCTING THE MOA

In 1839 English anatomist Richard Owen (1804–1892) published an

accurate reconstruction of the moa, an extinct animal from New
Zealand. Owen only had a fragment of limb bone to work with. How
did he do it?
Owen looked closely at adaptations. Bird bone has a unique
internal structure to give lightness in flight, so he knew the creature
was a bird. The thickness of the bone suggested it belonged to a
long-legged running bird like an ostrich. Using such observations,
Owen was able to reconstruct the moa.
Owen with the bone fragment and a complete moa skeleton discovered after he showed that
these animals were birds.

PREADAPTATION

Sometimes organisms carry genetic adaptations that allow them to

move into a new niche without requiring further evolution. Such
organisms are said to be preadapted. For example, weeds quickly
colonize cleared ground because they are preadapted to that
environment. They do not need to evolve further to occupy the new
habitat. Next time you pass a vacant lot or neglected space, look out
for these opportunistic plants.
 CHAPTER FOUR
UNDERSTANDING GENETICS AND
EVOLUTION
Since Darwin’s time biologists have looked at how genes influence
variation and evolution in the natural world.

Although biologists have shown that evolution can occur through natural
selection, it is not the only cause of change in groups of organisms over
time. Evolution can also result from random changes in the genetic
composition of a population, a process called genetic drift, while new genes
may enter a population through migration from other areas. For evolution to
take place, there must be a genetic basis to variations so changes that occur
in one generation can be inherited by the next.

These early 20th-century immigrants brought genetic variety to North America.

TYPES OF VARIATIONS

Genes make us what we are. They control the way cells develop and
function. Each of the genes inside the cells in your body is composed
of a pair of alleles, with one allele provided by each parent. There
are two main types of alleles. Dominant alleles are always expressed
regardless of what the other allele in a gene is. For example, the
allele for brown eyes is dominant. People with blue eyes have a pair
of alleles of a different type, called recessive alleles. Blue eyes occur
only in the absence of any dominant brown-eye alleles. Some
features, such as height, are known as polygenic traits. They are
controlled by more than just one gene. Height, for example, is partly
determined by specific height genes from parents; but other genes,
such as those that control growth hormones, are also important.
Height is also influenced by nongenetic factors, such as diet during
childhood, and whether or not the mother smoked while she was
pregnant.

Height is influenced by many different genes, but environmental factors such as childhood
diet are also important.
 In Charles Darwin’s time the way in which features were inherited was
not understood. Even Gregor Mendel, who showed how characteristics
were inherited, could refer only to “particles of inheritance.” These
“particles” were later understood to be genes. Genes form a code that drives
the way cells develop.
Genes are composed of deoxyribonucleic acid, or DNA. Genes are
passed from parents to young, and so are inherited through the generations.

SEEING GENES

In 1910 U.S. scientist Thomas Morgan (1866–1945) used the fruit fly
Drosophila melanogaster to study the structure of chromosomes.
Drosophila are easy to breed in the laboratory. Their salivary glands
contain just a few giant chromosomes. They can be observed easily
because of their large size. Morgan discovered that banding
patterns, which can be seen clearly on the chromosomes, correspond
to individual clusters of genes. Why do you think this is important?

A tiny Drosophila melanogaster fruit fly.

Long, coiled-up chains of DNA called chromosomes contain sequences

of genes. In animals and plants chromosomes are found in the cell nucleus.
 By the end of the 19th century people had observed meiosis, the process
by which sex cells (eggs and sperm) that contain half the number of
chromosomes of other cells are formed. However, it was not until the early
20th century that biologists realized that variation is controlled by genes.

THE GENE POOL

The variety of genes in a population (group of organisms) can differ greatly,

although larger populations are usually more diverse. The total variation of
genes is called the gene pool. A gene pool can shrink dramatically should a
population become very small. It may lose further diversity through genetic
drift. Diversity can recover through migration, but new variation can only
be created by mutations.

WHAT IS A MUTATION?

A mutation is a sudden, permanent change in the genetic material of a cell.

Many mutations are negative. They increase the chances of the individual
dying before it can have young, and these negative mutations do not spread
through the gene pool. Some mutations are positive. They help the
individual survive and breed, and quickly spread through the gene pool.
Most mutations are termed neutral— they do not harm or help the
individual in any way. However, imagine if conditions change, and the
environment becomes much colder or hotter, or wetter or drier. These
changes might make a neutral mutation become either advantageous or
disadvantageous. Those individuals that share this once-neutral mutation
will prosper or suffer accordingly.

MENDEL AND DARWIN

There is no evidence that Darwin ever saw Mendel’s work. Darwin’s

idea of inheritance was based on a blending of characteristics, not
“particles,” as Mendel thought. This was a major flaw in Darwin’s
theory of natural selection, because blending would suggest that all
variation disappears over time. Darwin could not explain this part of
 his theory because at that time nothing was known about DNA, or
the genes that determine the way characteristics are passed on to
future generations.

MUTATIONS AND DNA

To understand how mutations arise, scientists had to unravel the mystery of

DNA, the molecule that forms the genetic code. Success came in 1953
when English scientists James Watson and Francis Crick discovered that
DNA has a double helix structure. It is a little like a spiral staircase, with
each “step” made of one of four chemical compounds called bases. Each
base always pairs with just one of the other three bases. When DNA
replicates (copies itself) during cell division, mistakes can occur. They are
mutations. Mutations occur at a faster rate when DNA is bombarded with
ultraviolet radiation or comes into contact with certain types of chemicals.
Mutations help drive the process of evolution. They provide genetic
variation on which natural selection, the process of survival and
reproduction of organisms best suited to their environment, can act to
produce change.

DNA PIONEERS

English scientists Francis Crick (born 1916) and James Watson

(born 1928) won a Nobel Prize for their research into the structure
of DNA, but they were not alone in working on the problem. Fellow
English researcher Rosalind Franklin (1920–1958) used X-rays to
figure out the shape of molecules. Her work with DNA provided
Crick and Watson with vital information about the molecule’s
structure.
Franklin died without receiving the recognition she deserved,
since her contribution to this major scientific discovery was, until
recently, ignored.
 Franklin peers through a microscope in a laboratory.

WHAT IS DNA FINGERPRINTING?

Scientists study DNA to examine the relationships between different types

of organisms using a technique called DNA fingerprinting. DNA is
extracted from samples taken from the organisms and compared.
Similarities between the DNA suggest a close evolutionary relationship
between the organisms, while differences suggest a more distant
relationship.
The degree of difference between the DNA samples also provides a
good estimate of the time that has passed since the common ancestor of two
different creatures was alive. When a species splits to form two new
species, each new species builds up genetic differences through mutation.
Scientists have a good idea of how often these changes occur. That allows
them to figure out roughly how long has passed since the two species
diverged.
Imagine a large population of butterflies (1). One of the butterflies has a neutral mutation (2)
that is passed on, although it will not spread through the gene pool unless it becomes
advantageous. Another has a negative mutation (3), which reduces its chances of survival. A
third butterfly has a positive mutation (4) that increases its survival chances. This mutation
spreads through the population (5).

INHERITED MEDICAL DISORDERS

Scientists’ current knowledge of medical disorders enables them to

pinpoint conditions that are inherited by children from their
parents, such as certain heart problems. Couples from families in
which such conditions have occurred previously can be tested. By
looking at their genetic makeup, scientists can figure out the
likelihood of such disorders being passed on to their children.

Researchers are now using DNA fingerprinting to investigate the origins

of life itself. They compare segments of DNA from very different
organisms, such as humans and single-celled creatures like bacteria and
protists.

CATCHING CRIMINALS

Police now use DNA fingerprinting in court as evidence against

criminals. DNA can be collected from body fluids such as blood,
urine, or saliva. DNA may be traceable as bloodstains on clothing,
for example, for a considerable time after a crime has been
committed.
 CHAPTER FIVE
UNDERSTANDING POPULATION
GENETICS
Population genetics looks at the effects of genes on the features of
groups of organisms, and how and why their genetic makeup
changes over time.

Although there can often be amazing similarities between members of a

family group, only rarely are any two exactly the same. Offspring share
certain characteristics with their parents, sisters, and brothers because they
are all part of the same gene pool. That is, a proportion of their genes are
the same.
Children can look strikingly similar to their parents, sisters, and brothers, and sometimes even
their grandparents. That is because they all share common genes.

Young may even resemble grandparents or more distant relatives.

However, each offspring is unique owing to differences in its genetic
makeup. The cells of any one individual have many thousands of different
genes. Sometimes a particular gene controls a specific trait, such as eye
color. But the situation is often much more complicated because many
genes can work together on one trait.
Each gene can exist in a variety of different forms called alleles. Some
alleles are dominant. They appear frequently in a group of organisms, and
the properties they code for are always expressed. Other alleles are
recessive. They are rare and are expressed only when there are no dominant
alleles present.
Members of the same family group have the same sets of genes.
However, they are likely to carry different combinations of alleles. These
combinations make us differ from one another.

SEXUAL REPRODUCTION

When a new generation of offspring is produced, sexual reproduction

results in a mixing of the different alleles. This allows entirely new
combinations to be produced. This process, recombination, is caused in part
by the effects of meiosis, a type of cell division in which sex cells (sperm
and eggs) form. Fertilization, the fusion of a male and female sex cell, is
also important. Each sex cell carries inside it half of the alleles of the future
offspring.

UNDERSTANDING ALLELES
Two alleles control wing case color in these beetles. One is dominant (R) and gives a
red color; the other is recessive (r) and gives a black color. Only when an individual has
two copies of the r allele does it have black wing cases.

MULTIPLE BIRTHS

In most cases of twins the offspring develop separately, may be of

either sex, and are no more similar at birth than ordinary sisters and
 brothers. However, there are rare occasions when, owing to the
division of a single zygote (fertilized egg), each of the halves grows
into a separate baby. These babies are genetically identical. They are
of the same sex and similar in appearance and behavior. What do
people call this type of twins?

Humans usually produce only one baby at a time, but sometimes twins are born.

Any population is made up of a number of breeding individuals. If the

process of sexual reproduction shuffles the alleles each time, then the
combinations of alleles across the whole population are also likely to
change. This change in the genetic makeup at population level—from one
generation to another—is the basis of evolution. Evolution is the process of
change that takes place as organisms adapt to their environment.
Since the characteristics of organisms are determined largely by the
genes they carry, evolution can bring about changes in the characteristics of
populations through the generations. There are several different ways in
which these evolutionary changes can take place. They include mutation,
natural and sexual selection, genetic drift, and migration.
 SELECTING SPARROWS

In 1889 a fierce storm in the United States killed a number of house

sparrows. The dead sparrows were found to be longand short-
winged individuals. Intermediate-winged sparrows survived. In this
case selection favored average individuals. Which type of selection is
operating here? Why has natural selection acted against the extreme
forms of sparrows in this situation?

NEW GENES

A mistake made when genes are replicated that leads to the appearance of
entirely new genes is called a mutation. If the error in copying occurs when
the sex cells are being formed, the mistake is inherited by the offspring. The
variety of alleles is the result of genetic mutations. Natural selection,
genetic drift, and migration change the combinations of genes in a
population, but they cannot create new ones. Mutations can be positive (and
increase through the population), negative (and die out), or neutral (have no
effect unless conditions change).

NATURAL SELECTION

Natural selection is a process by which those individuals in a population

best adapted to an environment reproduce successfully, while those that are
less able fail to do so. As a result, the population changes over time—it
evolves. There are three forms of natural selection: directional, stabilizing,
and disruptive. Directional selection favors more extreme forms of a
feature. Individuals with extreme characteristics are more likely to survive
than those with more average features. Selection can sometimes be
stabilizing, favoring intermediate forms at the expense of extreme types.
Selection is described as disruptive when both extremes of a trait, such
as the largest and smallest, survive at the expense of intermediates. This
may occur during the formation of a new species. However, selection can
occur only if variation between individuals has a genetic basis and can be
inherited by young.

PROBLEMS WITH SMALLER GENE POOLS

The Old Order Amish people of Pennsylvania are descended from a

small immigrant population that arrived in the United States during
the late 1700s. Descendants exhibit a much higher than average
occurrence of several medical conditions, including polydactyly—
having extra fingers and sometimes extra toes. This inherited
condition is concentrated in the Amish population because they
marry within their own community. Their gene pool is small
compared to that of the U.S. population as a whole, so the chances of
a baby inheriting recessive alleles that cause genetic disorders are
much higher.
 GENETIC DRIFT EXPLAINED

There is another source of genetic variation that can occur during the
production of sex cells. This process, genetic drift, is a change in how often
alleles appear in a population through random chance. Genetic drift is not
affected by natural selection, but it can still lead to evolutionary change. In
large, stable populations the effects of genetic drift tend to be canceled out
by the size of the gene pool—allele frequencies may vary a little but will
tend to remain the same. However, the effects of chance are more apparent
in smaller populations. In a small population new generations are likely to
have less genetic diversity than their parents. Genetic drift may result in
alleles being lost. This leads to a characteristic becoming fixed. That is,
both alleles that together form a gene are the same, so there is no variation.
Once lost, the allele can only be reestablished through migration from
elsewhere by individuals carrying the lost allele.
This diagram illustrates how genetic diversity in a population can alter through two processes
—gene flow and genetic drift.

ISLAND INVADERS

Remote islands, such as Hawaii and the Galápagos Islands, present

ideal habitats for colonization. New arrivals are unlikely to
encounter predators or competitors for resources. Their populations
have little genetic diversity due to the founder effect, but despite this
they stand a good chance of survival. The advantage of arriving first
gives them time to adapt to their new environment over many
generations, and eventually they will form new species. Which
 organisms do you think are more likely to reach islands before any
others?

ISLAND EVOLUTION

Animals that evolve on islands often share some common features.

Island birds such as kiwis are often flightless, though they had flying
ancestors. With few or no predators to deal with, the birds evolved
to walk and run instead. Small animals, such as tortoises, tend to
become much larger on islands, while larger animals, such as deer
and tigers, decrease in size to help cope with a limited food supply.

THE FOUNDER EFFECT PHENOMENON

Genetic drift also plays an important role in a phenomenon called the

founder effect. It occurs when a small group of individuals becomes
separated from the main population. This small founder group has only a
fraction of the genetic variation present in the original gene pool because
alleles are not spread evenly among individuals. Again, the genetic makeup
of the group depends on chance. The frequency of rare alleles may be much
higher in the founder group, so in future generations the rare allele may
appear more frequently.
Without further mutations natural selection is also limited to variation
present in the founder group. Evolution is likely to follow a different course
than that of the main population. Over time this may lead to speciation—the
formation of a new species.

GENE FLOW IN CONSERVATION

Reducing a habitat into small patches separated from each other can
have devastating effects for the species that live there. Without gene
flow genetic diversity drops. Inbreeding can cause an increase in
lethal genes. Without patches of suitable habitat, or corridors, to
link habitat fragments much of an area’s biodiversity may be lost.
Roads and highways are a major barrier to gene flow for some
species. However, artificial corridors linking fragments can
sometimes be set up. In some parts of Europe dormice are able to
cross roads by using a network of ropes that act as corridors.

THE EFFECT OF MIGRATION

When an individual leaves one population (group of organisms of one

species) and joins another, it is said to migrate. Genes carried by a
migrating individual are lost from one population through emigration and
gained by the population it joins through immigration. Movement of genes
between populations is called gene flow.
 Gene flow continues as long as the populations do not become
completely separated from one another, and migrating individuals can
continue to interbreed and share their genes.

GENETIC BOTTLENECKS EXPLAINED

Some species, such as the cheetah, have very little genetic variation. That is
because population numbers decreased dramatically in the past. Among
cheetahs this decline took place around 10,000 years ago. Cheetah numbers
then recovered from a founder group, although there were no other cheetahs
around. A dramatic decline in numbers with a corresponding crash in
genetic diversity is called a genetic bottleneck.

SELECTION OR DRIFT?

Since it is difficult to assess genetic drift outside the laboratory,

scientists have been unable to present conclusive evidence of how
much variation genetic drift causes in natural populations. To find
out whether a characteristic results from natural selection or drift,
they must first be able to figure out whether it is adaptive (gives an
advantage) or not, and for many traits this is not usually possible.

THE EFFECTS OF INBREEDING

Founder effect can cause an increase in the frequency of recessive genes

that can cause serious harm to an organism. That can also happen when
closely related individuals mate. The decline in fitness (ability to survive
and reproduce) that results from this is called inbreeding depression. It is
particularly important for organisms that can potentially breed with
themselves, such as plants. Not all plants avoid inbreeding. It is a way to
ensure that at least some seeds will form. However, it also leads to low
genetic diversity. For most types of plants, breeding with other individuals
is essential.
Turnip flowers have male parts that release pollen (dustlike particles
that contain sperm) and female parts that contain eggs. Insects carry pollen
between flowers. On the outside of each turnip pollen grain are molecules
called ligands. Their structure is genetically controlled. In part of the female
flower called the stigma these same genes control the shape of molecules
called kinases. If a pollen grain from one plant lands on a stigma of another,
it grows a tube through the stigma to the eggs inside. Sperm moves through
the tube to the eggs to form seeds. But if a pollen grain lands on a stigma of
the same plant, the ligands on the pollen bind with the kinases. The pollen
grain does not grow the tube to the eggs, and inbreeding is avoided.

Around 10,000 years ago cheetahs underwent a dramatic population crash—perhaps just a
single female and her cubs survived. This genetic bottleneck meant that cheetahs now have
very little genetic diversity.

THE HUMAN GENETIC BOTTLENECK

Cheetahs are not the only animals to have very little genetic
diversity. You might be surprised to know that humans are also
among the least genetically diverse of all creatures. Scientists think
that is because humans almost became extinct around 70,000 years
ago, perhaps due to famine or disease. The global population around
this time may have fallen as low as 2,000. This collapse in numbers
led to a major decrease in genetic diversity, or a bottleneck. From
 this low point the human population slowly began to increase. Every
person alive today is a descendent of this tiny band of ancient
survivors.

MINIMUM VIABLE POPULATIONS

In conserving an endangered species, scientists need to figure out the

minimum viable population, or MVP. This figure is the smallest
possible population that could survive, with a degree of certainty, for
a set period (usually 500 years) without harmful levels of inbreeding
or genetic drift. The golden lion tamarin was once one of the world’s
most endangered primates. Thirty years ago there were only about
100 individuals left in the wild. They live only in the Atlantic
rainforests of Brazil, where their habitat has been almost totally
destroyed by human activities. The MVP of this species is around
2,000. Conservationists have worked hard to establish zoo
populations, and some captive-bred animals have been released into
the wild.

EVOLUTION: GRADUAL OR RAPID?

Biologists know that evolution takes place, but at what speed? There are
several main theories, but biologists are unsure which is correct. At first, it
was thought that evolution was a process of gradual change. Biologists
argued that small changes in an organism’s structure led to a gradual
divergence and the formation of new species over millions of years.

PROBLEMS WITH INBREEDING

In very small populations, breeding between closely related

individuals may take place regularly. Their offspring have a good
chance of inheriting harmful recessive genes. This can have a serious
impact on the conservation of endangered species. Despite many
years of protection from hunting, the North Atlantic right whale
remains critically endangered. Individuals are less well equipped for
survival due to inbreeding depression over many generations.

Later, scientists suggested that the rate of evolution varied, and changes
in the structures of fossils could be explained by rapid evolution and
extreme directional natural selection. Periods with fossils of similar
structures suggested times of evolutionary stability.

THE THEORY OF PUNCTUATED EQUILIBRIA

U.S. biologists Niles Eldredge (born 1943) and Stephen Jay Gould (1941–
2002) proposed another model of evolution, which they called “punctuated
equilibria,” in 1972. They suggested that new species formed rapidly, and
this speciation took place in small areas. Intermediate forms do not show up
often in the fossil record as a result. These new species then move from the
point of species formation and spread to new areas.
The theory of punctuated equilibria is only accepted in part by
biologists today. The rate of evolution remains an issue of considerable
debate.

MOLECULAR STUDIES

Scientists first estimated evolutionary rates by looking at the age of fossils

and their structures. In the 1960s Japanese biologist Motoo Kimura (1924–
1994) proposed the neutral theory of molecular evolution. It provided a new
dating system and changed the way biologists studied evolutionary history.
Kimura suggested that most mutations are neutral—neither beneficial or
harmful. Neutral mutations build up in the genome (an organism’s entire
genetic material) at a constant rate and spread through the population by
gene flow.
Despite the genetic basis of evolution being relatively well understood
for many years, scientists have only recently measured evolutionary rates
using molecular studies. Before Kimura’s research biologists relied on the
fossil record, which is incomplete.

THE MOLECULAR CLOCK

The greater the molecular differences between two organisms, the

more distantly they are related. This fact has proven an important
tool in evolutionary research. However, its use for absolute dating of
divergences remains controversial. It relies on the assumption that
genes have mutated at the same rate over evolutionary time. There is
some evidence to suggest that this may not be the case.
 CHAPTER SIX
EVOLUTIONARY PATTERNS
Understanding what species are and the different ways they can
form allows biologists to chart patterns in evolution over time

Populations of animals and plants alter over long periods of time through
natural selection, mutation, and genetic drift. This change, or evolution,
leads to a fine-tuning of an organism’s adaptation to its environment. Splits
in a population lead to speciation. This is the formation of a new species.
The species is the basic unit of biological classification, the system used by
biologists to organize their understanding of the natural world. But what
exactly is a species?

WHAT IS A SPECIES?

The answer to this question may seem simple, but it is far from
straightforward. The term species can be defined in several ways, but none
encompasses all forms of life past and present. The most commonly used
definition is “a group of organisms that can interbreed only with each
other.” This is known as the biological species concept.
There are, however, major problems with this definition. It only applies
to organisms that reproduce sexually through the fusion of sperm and egg.
Asexual creatures that reproduce by splitting in two, such as most bacteria,
are excluded. Fossil organisms, too, do not fall within this definition of a
species.
A clematis flower is dazzling in ultraviolet light. This evolved to attract insects, which can see
this light.

COMING TO GRIPS WITH SCIENTIFIC NAMES

In 1758 Swedish naturalist Carolus Linnaeus (1707–1778)

introduced a system of classification that is still used today. Linnaeus
gave each species a pair of scientific names in Latin. The first, which
always has a capital letter, is the name of the genus, a group of
closely related organisms. Humans belong to the genus Homo. The
second part of the name refers only to the species. In humans it is
sapiens, so the full name is Homo sapiens. This system of
classification allows biologists to understand the evolutionary
history of a species, since closely related species share the same
genus name.

Also, breedings between different species do sometimes occur in nature.

The young of such breedings are called hybrids. They are often sterile and
unable to successfully reproduce; but for some groups, such as certain
plants, hybridization can be a vital step in the formation of a new species.
 Today, biologists often use a different definition for the word species.
Called the evolutionary species concept, it states that a species consists of
individuals that share the same evolutionary history. This includes asexual
organisms, but can be difficult to extend to fossil groups.

VIGOROUS HYBRIDS

The existence of hybrids creates big problems for the biological

species concept. Most hybrids are poorly adapted to survive, and
they are often unable to breed. But sometimes hybrids of closely
related species may be better equipped to survive than either of their
parents. This is called hybrid vigor, and it especially applies to
plants. Many crops, such as corn, are crosses cultivated to exploit
hybrid vigor.

Renowned for their strength and stubbornness, mules are sterile horse—donkey hybrids.

CRYPTIC SPECIES

Some species look, to human eyes, identical to others. They can only
be distinguished by detailed behavioral or genetic studies. Biologists
call them cryptic species. They seem to be surprisingly common, and
may be the cause of a major underestimate of Earth’s biodiversity.
 One of the best-known discoveries of a cryptic species concerned the
pipistrelle bat, which lives in Europe. Bats find their way around in
the dark by emitting high-pitched squeaks and listening to the
echoes from their surroundings. In the 1990s a group of English
biologists noticed that some pipistrelles squeaked at a higher
frequency than others, although there were no anatomical
differences. Following up this hunch, the biologists looked at the
genes of the bats. They found that the bats actually formed two
separate species. Today, the one with the higher-frequency calls is
known as the soprano pipistrelle. Biologists do not, at present,
precisely understand how cryptic species evolve. However, their
speciation is probably sympatric.

THE FORMATION OF NEW SPECIES

Species arise when an existing species diverges. This can happen in

different ways. One process, called allopatric speciation, takes place when a
population is split by a geographical barrier. The barrier may be a river or a
mountain chain. Allopatric speciation also occurs when organisms reach an
offshore island and are separated from the rest of the population.
During allopatric speciation the two populations evolve until individuals
from one are unable to breed with individuals from the other. A different
type of speciation, sympatric speciation, does not require geographical
barriers. It occurs when a species diverges (splits) to avoid competition or
make use of a new food source.
Sympatric speciation can also take place through hybridization. For
many organisms a difference in the number of chromosomes (packages of
genes) means breeding cannot take place between different species. This
does not affect some plants, though. Instead, these species simply double up
the number of chromosomes they have during reproduction. This is called
polyploidy, and it results in very fast speciation that happens in a single
generation. Many important crop plants, such as the potato, are polyploids.

SUBDIVIDING SPECIES

Populations within a species can differ from one another while

remaining able to interbreed. These populations are called
subspecies. Subspecies often occupy a particular geographic range,
and they may have subtle differences of color or behavior. For
example, Rothschild’s giraffe lives in East Africa and can be
distinguished from other giraffes by its coat color and the lack of
patterning on its lower legs.
Subspecies are important when trying to understand how
speciation works. They represent an intermediate stage between an
ancestral population and a completely new species.
 NEW CROP VARIETIES

Polyploid plants usually have fleshier leaves and larger seeds than
plants with normal chromosome numbers. This is important in the
production of new crop strains. Triticum aestivum, for example, is a
type of wheat that has six times as many chromosomes as its wild
ancestors.

REPRODUCTIVE ISOLATION EXPLAINED

Regardless of the mechanism, speciation depends on the individuals of one

population being unable to breed with individuals from the other. Biologists
call this reproductive isolation. It stops gene flow, which may act to cancel
out each population’s adaptations.
The barriers to reproduction may be geographical if two species become
adapted to different habitats. These barriers may also be time-related.
Different species may be active at different times of day, or they may breed
at different times of the year. This is the case for many species of plants.
SPECIATION IN ACTION

Speciation occurs when populations of organisms are isolated from

one another in some way over long periods of time. Around 500
species of cichlid fish live in Lake Victoria in East Africa. Around
12,500 years ago just one or two cichlid species lived there. Their
descendants diverged many times, leading to the diversity seen
today. So many years may seem a long time, but this is actually an
astonishingly swift speciation event.
The cichlids owe their amazing diversity to sympatric speciation.
Biologists think that ancient female cichlids preferred to mate with
males of certain colors. In this case the color preferences of the
female cichlids provided the reproductive isolation needed for
speciation to take place.

AMAZING ADAPTIVE RADIATION

Honeycreepers diverged into many new species on the Hawaiian

Islands over millions of years in much the same way as the finches
on the Galápagos Islands.
Through adaptive radiation the honeycreepers evolved into new
niches and exploited different food sources. Their beaks changed
 shape dramatically to suit their foods. Take a look at the birds below
and see if you can guess how each one feeds.
Most species of honeycreepers are critically endangered, and
many, including the Oahu akepa, are thought to be extinct.

The way a bird feeds is closely related to the shape of its beak. The akiapola’au (top
center), for example, gleans insects from tree trunks and leaves, and uses its long curved
beak to probe crevices in the bark. A Maui parrotbill (third clockwise from top), on the
other hand, splits dry branches with its beak to get at insects inside.

After speciation has taken place, mechanisms remain to help avoid

breeding between members of the two species. That is because any young
produced would be hybrids, which are usually less well adapted to the
environment than either parent species.
RADIATION AND REPLACEMENT

On rare occasions during Earth’s history a group has evolved a

dramatic evolutionary advantage that allowed it to sweep away the
competition. One of these episodes was the evolution of the amniote
egg in an ancient amphibian group around 300 million years ago.
Amniote eggs had waterproof shells. They allowed the animals to lay
eggs far from water. Allied with a waterproof skin, the amniote egg
allowed this new animal group, the reptiles, to move into niches that
were unavailable to amphibians. This triggered rapid speciation
through adaptive radiation. With their better adaptations for life
away from water reptiles soon replaced amphibians as the dominant
land vertebrates. Later reptiles diverged into two other major
amniote groups, mammals and birds.

The structure of an amniote egg, as found today in reptiles, birds, and a few mammals. The
amnion and chorion are membranes that control the movement of water and oxygen.
People and most other mammals have a modified form of this egg inside the uterus.
 ADAPTIVE RADIATION EXPLAINED

Within any environment are many niches. They are the different lifestyles
and habitats of organisms. The akiapola’au, for example, fills the niche of
insect catcher on Hawaiian trees. A species in an area with vacant niches
will diverge to fill them. Each generation will become better adapted to a
particular niche, and new species form. Biologists call this process adaptive
radiation.

EATING ANTS AND TERMITES

There are many mammals that feed on ants and termites. Some have
developed long noses and tongues to smell out and gather up the
insects, and have powerful front limbs to tear open the insects’ nests.
The aardvark from South Africa is one such animal. Can you think
of another animal from another part of the world that has developed
the same sort of adaptations to its lifestyle?

An aardvark roams in Kenya.

 The Galápagos Islands in the Pacific Ocean are well known for their 14
species of finches. These finches share a common ancestor that flew to the
islands from South America. In the absence of competitors the finches
radiated, and new species swiftly formed. Each finch species evolved a
different beak shape. These shapes were related to the niches and food
sources to which each new species was adapted.

SPECIES THAT COEVOLVE

Sometimes the evolution of two or more species is closely tied together.

This is called coevolution. Some organisms have evolved such a close
relationship with one another that they cannot exist in isolation. Ruminants
include animals such as cattle, sheep, goats, and deer. They are unable to
digest cellulose, a tough chemical found in plant material, but ruminants
need the energy it contains.
Ruminants are dependent on millions of microorganisms that live in
their guts. The microorganisms break down the cellulose. In return, the
ruminants provide a safe, warm environment with unlimited food for their
tiny internal partners. Neither the ruminants nor the microorganisms could
survive without the other. A close relationship like this, in which both
partners benefit, is called a mutualism. It results from millions of years of
coevolution.

PARASITES AND SEX

Animals coevolve with their parasites. Biologists think that sexual

reproduction, when sperm fuses with an egg, evolved as part of an
“arms race” with parasites. Sexual reproduction allows a faster
evolutionary response than asexual forms of reproduction, such as
budding, since genes recombine to produce new genetic
combinations.

However, coevolution does not always result in mutual benefit. For

example, predators and their prey are involved in a biological “arms race”
As predators evolve and become increasingly successful at hunting, their
prey also evolve better ways of escaping capture.
 CONVERGENT EVOLUTION AMONG ORGANISMS

Organisms that are not closely related can evolve similar anatomies in
response to similar environments. This is called convergent evolution.
Many Australian marsupials are convergent with mammals from other
parts of the world. For example, there is a burrowing marsupial that looks
just like a mole. There is a gliding marsupial that is very similar to a flying
squirrel, and even a marsupial “cat,” the quoll, that looks and acts like a
domestic cat.

JOIN THE ARMS RACE

In order to survive, prey animals have developed a wide range of

adaptations that help them locate and escape from predatory
animals. Ungulates, for example, are hoofed mammals, many of
which are plant eaters that live on grasslands.
Most ungulates live in herds. That is because many eyes are
better at spotting potential predators than just a single pair. Can you
think of any other antipredator adaptations that these animals
share?

Sheep are ungulates that live in herds.

ITERATIVE EVOLUTION
Convergent evolution does not have to take place at the same time. Study of
the fossil record shows that certain body patterns, or ecomorphs, have
evolved again and again in different animals groups. Biologists call this
iterative evolution. A good example is the wide range of sabertoothed
mammals.
Saber-toothed mammals used their long canine teeth to help them kill
large prey quickly. The earliest saber-tooths belonged to a group of
mammals called the creodonts, which lived around 50 million years ago.
Later, saber teeth evolved twice among the carnivores, first in the extinct,
catlike nimravids, then in the true cats themselves. The last of these
sabertoothed cats, Smilodon, lived in North America and died out only
around 11,000 years ago.

THE SABER-TOOTH EXAMPLE

Saber teeth also evolved among marsupial mammals. Thylacosmilus was a

leopardlike animal that lived in South America until around 2 million years
ago. Thylacosmilus had truly enormous canine teeth. These teeth rested
within a pair of flanges that extended down from the lower jaw. The canines
of this fearsome beast continued to grow throughout its life. The flanges
helped wear the teeth down and kept them sharp.
There are no saber-toothed mammals today, but the clouded leopard
from Central Asia has, relatively, the largest canines of any cat. Maybe over
the next million years or so, descendants of this forest leopard will evolve
true saber teeth.

WHY DO SOME SPECIES BECOME EXTINCT?

More than 99 percent of all the species that have ever existed are now
extinct. The average “lifespan” of a species (time between species
formation and extinction) is 2 to 3 million years, although some, such as
horseshoe crabs, have changed very little over much longer periods of time.
Extinction can be caused by climate or habitat changes, the effects of
competing organisms, and volcanoes or meteor impacts. At times in Earth’s
history large numbers of species have died out in a short space of time.
Biologists call them mass extinctions. For example, a mass extinction saw
the end of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago.

DEAD AS THE DODO

The dodo was a flightless relative of the pigeon. It was endemic

(unique to) the island of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean. Following
the discovery of the island by Dutch sailors in 1598, dodo numbers
began to fall. The birds were not hunted a great deal (it was noted
that dodo flesh was particularly foul tasting). However, dodos laid
eggs on the ground, and their nests were vulnerable to attack by
pigs, rats, and monkeys introduced by settlers. Dodos had evolved in
the absence of predators and had no way of dealing with these new
enemies. The birds could not breed fast enough to replace the losses,
and by around 1681 the dodo was extinct. Hundreds of other island
birds around the world have disappeared due to human interference
over the past 500 years or so.
 CHAPTER SEVEN
THE BEGINNINGS OF LIFE ON
EARTH
Scientists believe the first simple life forms evolved in the oceans
around 3.8 billion years ago. More than 3 billion years later plants
and animals first moved from the waters onto Earth’s dry land.

Around 4.5 billion years ago the newly formed Earth was a lifeless ball of
molten rock. Volcanoes erupted, releasing gases and water vapor, which
formed an atmosphere. It was different from the atmosphere of today, since
it did not contain oxygen and was rich with poisonous gases. The water
vapor gradually cooled to form the oceans, where life began around 3.8
billion years ago.

THE CRADLE OF LIFE

Biologists are divided over the type of environment in which life first
appeared on Earth. Some believe life began within an ice-covered
ocean. Others think it happened in the boiling cauldron of a
hydrothermal vent on the seabed. Yet other experts believe that life
began in shallow tidal pools fed by minerals from geysers and
volcanoes. Meteors and comets that crashed onto the young Earth’s
surface may also have helped supply the raw materials needed
before life could begin.
 Tubeworms on a hydrothermal vent. Could vents like this have been the place where life on
Earth began?

The earliest known life forms were tiny, single-celled organisms called
prokaryotes, such as bacteria. Some, called cyanobacteria, used energy from
sunlight to make food, releasing oxygen in the process. The oxygen formed
a layer of ozone gas high in the sky that cut out many of the sun’s harmful
ultraviolet rays. The buildup of oxygen killed off many ancient prokaryote
groups, but the survivors were able to use oxygen to produce energy from
food efficiently.

EUKARYOTES
Around 1.8 billion years ago more advanced organisms called eukaryotes
evolved. Unlike prokaryotes, these single-celled organisms had a nucleus
containing genetic material. The first eukaryotes formed through the union
of two different prokaryotes that lived together for mutual benefit. One of
these once-free organisms now forms the mitochondria, miniorgans in cells
that provide energy.

GEOLOGICAL TIME

Biologists divide Earth’s history into huge eras, which are separated
into periods. The order of periods was determined by looking at the
fossils contained in the rocks. By analyzing how radioactive minerals
decay in rocks from each period, scientists can estimate the time
(shown here in millions of years) since each period occurred.
 MULTI-CELLED ORGANISMS

Millions of years later metazoans, organisms consisting of many cells,

appeared. Cells were organized into tissues specialized for feeding, moving,
and reproducing. One of the oldest metazoan fossils known is the trail left
by a wormlike animal as it burrowed through the mud more than 1 billion
years ago.
 FOSSIL IMPRINTS

Ediacaran organisms are known only from the imprints that their
bodies made in soft mud or trace fossils such as burrows and tracks.
Experts use these clues to try to figure out what the creatures looked
like. They test their theories by making models that create similar
prints. You can carry out similar experiments by making imprints of
natural objects such such as leaves or pine cones in wet clay. Then
get your friends to try to guess what made the prints.

The imprints of many ediacaran animals look like modern jellyfish.

These ancient soft-bodied metazoans included worms and jellyfish. They

are called ediacarans, after the Ediacara Hills in Australia, which contain a
famous deposit of fossils from this time. Most of the phyla, or large groups,
of animals with shells and other hard body parts appeared during a period
called the Cambrian explosion, about 535 million years ago. Important
groups such as the mollusks, echinoderms (starfish and relatives), and
arthropods (which today include spiders and insects) appeared around this
time.

EARLY VERTEBRATES
Around 450 million years ago the first vertebrates (backboned creatures)
developed. They were jawless fish similar to modern lampreys. Later, in
Devonian times some types of lobe-finned fish evolved lunglike pouches to
breathe air and sturdy fins to heave themselves along the bottom. Fish like
these began to crawl onto the shore, perhaps to escape competition with
other fish or to feed. They joined plants and animals, such as insects and
spiders, that had already colonized the land.
These ancient fish evolved into amphibians. Although they could move
and breathe on land, they quickly lost water through their skins and had to
return to water to breed. With the evolution of the amniote, or shelled, egg,
around 330 million years ago a new group of vertebrates with waterproof
skins, the reptiles, displaced the amphibians as the main land vertebrates.

THE BURGESS SHALE

In 1909 a rich source of Cambrian fossils was found in the Burgess

Shale, high in the Rocky Mountains in Canada. These rocks date
back 530 million years and contain superb fossils of a wealth of
organisms, including worms, trilobites, sponges, and sea cucumbers,
plus creatures that belong to completely different, long-extinct
groups.

HOW MANY DIGITS?

Take a close look at your fingers. In your very distant ancestors

these bones formed the rays of a fin. After these lobe-finned fish
invaded the land, the rays became digits. Scientists were surprised to
find that early land vertebrates had up to 8 digits rather than the 5
found today. The extra digits were lost soon after the invasion of the
land. Also, check out how the bones in your arm and hand have
evolved over millions of years.
 EARLY REPTILES

Since they could live and lay eggs far from water, reptiles were able to
colonize many new habitats. Early reptiles looked like small lizards; but
after the Permian mass extinction reptiles came to dominate the land, sea,
and sky.
This salamander is an amphibian, the most ancient group of land vertebrates.

MASS EXTINCTIONS

Throughout Earth’s history organisms have evolved, flourished, and

died out. Sometimes vast numbers of species die out around the
same time. This is called a mass extinction. The causes of mass
extinctions are hard to pinpoint. Some may have been caused by
asteroid impacts or volcanic eruptions that blocked out the sun.
The greatest mass extinction occurred at the end of the Permian
period, 245 million years ago, when up to 95 percent of all life on
Earth became extinct. Scientists think mass extinctions occur in
cycles. They happen, on average, once every 26 million years.

Marine reptiles such as the longnecked plesiosaurs, the mosasaurs, and

the dolphinlike ichthyosaurs swam in the oceans along with fish,
crustaceans such as crabs and lobsters, and mollusks such as ammonites and
squids. Flying reptiles called pterosaurs skimmed through the air on skin-
covered wings. The largest and most spectacular reptile group, the
dinosaurs, lived on land along with insects, amphibians, early mammals,
and birds. With the evolution of flowering plants around 100 million years
ago insects flourished, and new groups such as bees appeared.
 THE AGE OF DINOSAURS

More than 1,000 different dinosaur species have been identified from
fossils. Some were small, chicken-sized animals, but others, such as long-
necked sauropod dinosaurs like Diplodocus, were as big as jet liners.
Biologists can tell a lot about how dinosaurs lived by looking at their bones.
The structure of dinosaur teeth reveals that many dinosaurs, including the
sauropods, stegosaurs, ankylosaurs, and ceratopsians such as Triceratops,
ate plant material. Others were predatory meat eaters. One of the biggest
and best-known, Tyrannosaurus rex, was a solitary hunter; but smaller,
nimbler predators such as coelurosaurs are thought to have hunted in packs.

WHY DID DINOSAURS GROW SO BIG?

Huge, plant-eating sauropod dinosaurs such as Diplodocus and

Brachiosaurus were far bigger than the largest land animal of today,
the African elephant. These giants evolved long necks that helped
them browse among the treetops and spot danger from afar. When
predatory dinosaurs also grew large, only the biggest individual
sauropods survived to pass on their genes. This biological arms race
drove the evolution of ever-larger sauropods, culminating in
Argentinosaurus, which may have weighed more than 100 tons (90
metric tons)!

HOW DINOSAURS STAYED WARM

After many years of debate scientists are now sure that unlike living
reptiles, dinosaurs were warm-blooded and did not rely on their
surroundings for temperature control. Sauropods were large enough to
retain their heat permanently. Smaller species produced their own heat to
stay warm. Stunning fossil finds were made in China in the 1990s of
dinosaurs with plumages of fine, downy feathers that kept them warm.
Some pterosaurs also had hairs on their bodies to retain heat. The presence
of feathers on dinosaurs resolved another long-running debate. It proved
that birds, like the sparrows on your bird feeder, descend from dinosaurs.
 WHY DID THE DINOSAURS DISAPPEAR?

Scientists disagree about why dinosaurs and other animal groups

died out 65 million years ago, at the end of the Cretaceous period.
Some experts believe that a giant meteor crashed into Earth off the
Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico. It would have raised a cloud of dust
that blotted out the sun, causing most plants to die. Others think
that massive volcanic eruptions filled the air with ash and poisonous
gas to similar effect. Others believe that the giant reptiles were dying
out anyway because of long-term climate change. Why do you think
the dinosaurs died out?

THE EVOLUTION OF BIRDS

Birds evolved from small dinosaurs around 170 million years ago. The
feathers that dinosaurs used to keep warm were modified for flight. The
discovery in 2003 of a gliding dinosaur with four wings, one on each leg,
strongly suggests that birds developed from dinosaurs adapted for climbing
that glided from tree to tree. Ancient birds retained several reptilian
characteristics not present in modern birds. Archaeopteryx, for example,
had a long, bony tail, teeth, and claws on its wings.

DOLPHIN MIMICS

Ichthyosaurs were marine reptiles with powerful, streamlined bodies

ending in a forked tail. They had two front flippers for steering and
long, narrow jaws lined with sharp teeth. Unlike other reptile groups
that laid eggs on land, ichthyosaurs gave birth to live young in the
water. In all these ways these speedy swimmers closely resembled
modern dolphins, which are marine mammals; but the two groups
are only distantly related. This is an example of convergent
evolution, in which different groups evolve along similar lines to suit
a certain environment.
Butterflies, such as this swallowtail, evolved from moths that flew in the day to escape
predation by the newly evolved bats 50 million years ago.

EARLY MAMMALS

Another major vertebrate group, mammals, had evolved from reptiles

slightly earlier, around 210 million years ago. Mammals developed from a
group of mammal-like reptiles called cynodonts. While dinosaurs
dominated the land, these warm-blooded, furry creatures remained small
and ratlike.
Around 65 million years ago a mysterious disaster led to the extinction
of the dinosaurs, along with the pterosaurs, most of the marine reptiles, and
several other groups such as the ammonites. Smaller reptiles, such as
lizards, turtles, and crocodiles, survived, along with amphibians, mammals,
and birds, and invertebrate groups such as spiders and insects. The
extinction of the dinosaurs allowed mammals to grow larger, and soon they
became the dominant vertebrates on land and in the sea.

THE DIVERSIFICATION OF MAMMALS

On land the mammals quickly diversified. In the northern hemisphere the

first horses, camels, elephants, monkeys, and rodents appeared, along with
the forerunners of carnivores such as wolves, bears and cats. They were all
placental mammals. Their young developed inside their mothers and were
born well developed. In South America, Australia, and Antarctica a
different group, the marsupials, flourished. Their young were born tiny and
helpless, and developed inside a pouch on the mother’s body. Just a few
mammals, such as the spiny anteaters, revealed their reptile origins by
continuing to lay eggs.
By around 50 million years ago bats flew in the night sky. Bats had a
dramatic effect on moths and other nighttime insects. So severe was their
predation that one group of moths gave up nocturnal life altogether and
switched to the daytime. These insects became modern butterflies.
By the Miocene hoofed mammals such as deer and pigs thrived, while
rodents diversified to become the largest of mammal groups. Being warm-
blooded helped mammals survive climatic changes during the Pliocene,
when long, cold periods called ice ages were interspersed with warmer
spells.

FOSSIL HUNTING

The next time you head for the coast, try searching for fossils of your
own. You do not need much equipment, just keen eyes and a bag to
hold your finds. The best places to look are on shores near cliffs that
contain sedimentary rocks, such as chalk, shales, sandstone, or
limestone. A local guidebook will tell you where to find rocks like
these. Study loose rocks rather than chipping away at rocks with a
hammer, and keep away from dangerous cliffs. Later, you can
identify your fossils with a field guide.
A woman holds up a fossilized fish.
 CHAPTER EIGHT
THE EVOLUTION OF HUMANS
Humans started to evolve from apelike ancestors more than five
million years ago. Gradually, humans became skillful tool users,
invented language, and spread across the world.

Charles Darwin was the first person to hint that humans had evolved over
millions of years from apelike creatures. Darwin’s views caused outrage
and provoked ridicule. However, most people today accept the idea of
human evolution. The theory is backed up by finds of fossil bones, ancient
tools, and trackways, and through analysis of human and ape DNA.
A skull of the humanlike creature Australopithicus sediba, a species that lived in southern
Africa nearly 2 million years ago.

The group from which humans descend split from the ancestors of
modern apes around 5.5 million years ago, although fossils found in Chad
in 2002 may push this figure back to 7 million years ago. Either way, the
two groups evolved along separate lines. Humans’ ape ancestors lived in
forest trees, probably in East Africa. Around 5 million years ago the
forerunners of humans moved from the trees to the ground, perhaps after a
decline in forests due to climate change. They began to walk upright,
freeing their hands for other tasks.

DNA EVIDENCE

In recent years scientists have carried out DNA tests on humans and
primates that show that people are closely related to apes such as
 chimpanzees and gorillas. Our closest living relatives are bonobo
chimpanzees, which live in declining numbers in West Africa. This
DNA evidence is supported by other scientific studies comparing the
blood, brains, and other physical structures of humans, monkeys,
and apes.

These prehumans, which together with their human descendants are

known as hominids, began to evolve bigger brains. The earliest
recognizably humanlike creatures lived 4 million years ago. They belong to
a genus (group) called Australopithecus, which means “southern ape,” since
their fossils were first found in southern Africa.

AUSTRALOPITHECINES

Australopithecines lived in eastern and southern Africa between four and

two million years ago. They looked like apes, but they walked upright as
they wandered the plains in search of fruit, nuts, and roots. They were
smaller than modern humans, with brains about one-third the size of ours.
Several different types of australopithecines have been identified so far.
They include the slender, slightly built species Australopithecus afarensis,
which was discovered in Ethiopia in 1974. The first specimen found was a
female nicknamed “Lucy.”

APELIKE ANCESTORS

The first chapters of the Bible state that God created humans in His
image and set them above all other animals. In the mid-19th century
Christians took these words literally, so Darwin’s suggestion that
humans had evolved from more primitive creatures caused an
uproar. Most people thought Darwin was saying that humans were
descended from monkeys, but that was a misunderstanding.
Darwin realized that humans and apes shared a common
ancestor in the distant past, but that apes have also continued to
evolve. However, many people at the time thought that Darwin’s
ideas were ridiculous.
Stone hand axes possibly used by human ancestors were found at this archaeological dig site
near West Turkana in Kenya.

A FABULOUS FORGERY

Once Darwin’s views became widely accepted, scientists searched

hard for a “missing link.” This halfway stage between apes and
humans would prove that humans had evolved from apes. In 1915
an apelike human skull was found in a quarry in Piltdown, England.
Piltdown Man was soon hailed as the missing link. For 40 years the
authenticity of Piltdown Man was unquestioned, but tests in 1953
showed it was a hoax, made by combining human and ape remains.
No one knows who carried out this famous forgery.
 The famous Piltdown skull.

Lucy was small, less than 4 feet (120cm) tall. She had a chimp-sized
brain and long, apelike arms, but she stood and walked upright. Many
paleontologists think that humans are descended from a closely related
species called Australopithecus garhi. This species was also discovered in
Ethiopia in 1999.

HOMO HABILIS

By two million years ago early human-like hominids had evolved from one
of the australopithecines. The first recognizably human species, which
belonged to the genus Homo just as modern humans do, was Homo habilis
(meaning “handy human”). Remains of this human ancestor have been
found in Kenya and Tanzania in East Africa. Studies of the fossils show that
Homo habilis was taller than any australopithecine, with a less jutting jaw
and a brain around half the size of a modern human’s. “Handy humans” are
so-called because they were the first to fashion rough stone tools for cutting
and scraping. Animal bones found in their camps bear scratches made by
the stone tools of our ancestors. No one can be sure whether these early
humans actively hunted animals or simply scavenged meat from the kills of
other predators.

AFRICAN FINDS

Fossils of human ancestors such as the australopithecines and Homo

habilis come from eastern and southern Africa, where many
hominid species, including our own, evolved. The rocks of the Great
Rift Valley contain many vital clues about human evolution. In 1964
British paleontologists Louis (1903–1972) and Mary (1913–1996)
Leakey found remains of Homo habilis at Olduvai Gorge in
Tanzania. Many other remains were found in the gorge. Ethiopia is
also rich with unique fossils. In 1974 U.S. paleontologist Don
Johanson (born 1943) found a skeleton of Australopithecus afarensis
at Hadar in Ethiopia. He named the soon-to-be-famous skeleton
“Lucy.”
FOOTPRINTS IN STONE

In 1976 English paleontologist Mary Leakey made an amazing

discovery at Laetoli, Tanzania. She found the fossilized tracks of two
ancient hominids. They had wandered across a layer of freshly fallen
volcanic ash, leaving footprints that later became fossils.
Paleontologists think that the 3.6-million-year-old footprints were
made by a pair of australopithecines. One set of prints is much
 smaller than the other, suggesting that the tracks were made either
by a male and a female or by an adult and a child.

STANDING UPRIGHT

By about 1.8 million years ago Homo habilis had evolved into several
different species. Once they were lumped into a single species called Homo
erectus, or “upright human”; but today they are split into several species,
including Homo heidelbergensis and Homo ergaster. These hominids again
originated in Africa but later migrated to settle in distant regions such as
Europe, China, and, by around 1 million years ago, Indonesia. Erectus-like
hominids were taller and faster than earlier species. Their brains increased
in size over many thousands of generations until they were only a little
smaller than that of modern humans. Scientists believe these early humans
were the first to make fire and to fashion clothing from animal skins to help
cope with harsh winter weather.

MALES AND FEMALES

There is a marked difference in size between males and females in

ancient hominids such as Homo habilis. Males of this species reached
about 5 feet (1.5m) tall, while females were only 3 to 4 feet (90 to
120cm) tall. This difference, called sexual dimorphism, is also seen in
apes such as gorillas as well as many other animal species. It became
less marked in hominids by about one million years ago and is only
slight in modern humans.
Although there is some sexual dimorphism in modern humans, it is less marked than in our
hominid ancestors.

MAKING CASTS OF TRACKS

Scientists make casts of fossilized tracks, like the prints found at

Laetoli, using plaster of Paris. Try making a cast of an animal track
or even your own footprint in wet mud or sand using the same
technique. Make a ring of heavy paper, and put it around the print.
Then mix the plaster of Paris with the water in a bowl. Pour the
thick plaster of Paris mixture onto the print, wait 20 minutes, and
then lift it free. When the cast is quite hard about a day later, you
can clean and decorate it if you like.
 THE RISE OF HOMO SAPIENS

By around 250,000 years ago one of these hominids (probably Homo

heidelbergensis) had evolved into Homo sapiens—our own species—
meaning “wise human.” By 130,000 years ago modern humans, which
belong to the subspecies Homo sapiens sapiens, had evolved in East Africa.
All the people alive in the world today descend from these ancient folk.
There were other human subspecies around at this time, though. Homo
sapiens neanderthalensis, or Neanderthal people, had short, burly bodies
and lacked a chin. Neanderthals lived in Europe and the Middle East from
around 130,000 years ago. They were skilled toolmakers and expert hunters
—and the first people to bury their dead. Neanderthals died out around
30,000 years ago, at about the same time that Homo sapiens sapiens began
to make rapid technological and cultural strides.

OUT OF AFRICA—THE PROOF

Homo sapiens evolved from other hominids around 250,000 years

ago. A great deal of controversy has surrounded the question of
where this took place. Some biologists thought that modern humans
migrated from Africa recently, swiftly supplanting other humanlike
hominids around the world. This is called the “Out of Africa”
scenario. A separate school of thought—called multiregionalism—
held that modern humans evolved many times in different places in
Asia, Europe, and Africa from hominids that left Africa much
earlier.
Dramatic fossil finds in 2003, however, have conclusively proven
that the “Out of Africa” scenario is correct. The fossils, from Herto,
Ethiopia, date from around 250,000 years ago and include the skulls
of three individuals. They exhibit a blend of modern features and
those found in ancestral species such as Homo heidelbergensis. The
fossils support genetic evidence suggesting the time and place of the
appearance of modern humans. Modern humans evolved in Africa
and spread from there across the world.
ARE ANY MODERN PEOPLE RELATED TO
NEANDERTHALS?

Neanderthals lived in Europe and Mediterranean lands until around

30,000 years ago. Short, powerful, and stocky, they were adapted for
survival in cold climates. Fossils from Israel show how Neanderthals
and modern humans moved in and out of the area as the climate
changed over thousands of years. Although evidence from Herto
shows that Neanderthals were probably not the ancestors of modern
people from these areas, a remarkable fossil of a child found in 1998
in Portugal had a blend of Neanderthal and human characteristics.
This possible hybrid fossil suggests that on occasions humans and
Neanderthals did interbreed.
 THE MOTHER OF HUMANITY

Most human cells contain tiny miniorgans called mitochondria that

provide energy for the cell. These miniorgans have their own DNA
(separate from the DNA in the nucleus, which is inherited solely
through the female line. In other words, all your mitochondrial DNA
is inherited from your mother. By looking closely at this DNA,
biologists have shown that everyone alive can trace their ancestry to
a single female who lived around 130,000 years ago. Known as
“mitochondrial Eve,” this woman lived in Africa.

SPREADING AROUND THE WORLD

Around 100,000 years ago modern humans began to spread from Africa to
other parts of the world. People had reached distant Australia by 60,000
years ago. By 30,000 years ago people had colonized northern Asia. Their
descendants, around 14,000 years ago, crossed into North America via a
land bridge through the Bering Strait. These people then quickly spread
south through Central and South America.
Reconstruction of paintings of bulls found in the Lascaux Cave in France. The people who
created the original such paintings were modern humans. They also carved sculptures from
horn, bones, and stone.

THE BEGINNINGS OF CIVILIZATION

Between 40,000 and 10,000 years ago a group of modern humans called
Cro-Magnons lived in Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa. Around
30,000 years ago they began to advance rapidly, developing better tools for
carving, cutting, and drilling. They also made needles to sew clothing and
spears and harpoons to hunt animals and fish. Language helped them
coordinate their hunts.
Around this time humans began to create art. Stone carvings by native
Australians are among the most ancient. Later prehistoric art includes
paintings of animals such as deer, horses, and bison on the walls of caves in
Europe, as well as sculptures in bone, stone, and clay.
Around 11,000 years ago people in the Middle East begin to raise crops
and keep domestic animals. Abandoning hunting, these people became
farmers, and the first towns developed. More advances swiftly followed,
including the development of writing. Civilization as we know it had begun.

Following the Herto finds, scientists are now sure that all modern humans descend from people
who lived in Africa around 100,000 years ago. Their descendants included migrants who, by
12,000 years ago, had colonized all the major nonpolar landmasses in the world.

ARE HUMANS STILL EVOLVING?

People often think of human evolution as a finished process ending

with us. But like other species, humans are still evolving. As people
lead less active lives, humans may lose some of their muscles. On the
other hand, improved diet may make future generations taller. In
recent years harmful ultraviolet radiation from the sun has reached
Earth owing to ozone loss in the atmosphere. This radiation causes
skin damage, particularly in fair-skinned people. Natural selection
may favor darker-skinned people, who are less at risk.
 CHAPTER NINE
BIOGRAPHY: CHARLES DARWIN

Charles Darwin was born in Shrewsbury, in the west of England, on

February 12, 1809, to a talented family. Notable members include
Charles’s grandfather, Erasmus Darwin, a scientist, poet, and a leading
physician.
In 1818, Charles started at Shrewsbury School, where his interest in
science soon became evident. In 1825 he went to the University of
Edinburgh to study medicine, which, despite being the son and grandson of
doctors, he hated. Darwin left Edinburgh in 1828 without taking a degree,
and enrolled at Christ’s College, Cambridge, to study theology. Once again,
he found he was not greatly interested in the main subject of his studies, but
took the opportunity to develop his interest in scientific pursuits by joining
a number of natural history societies. He got to know several eminent
scientists at Cambridge, including John Stevens Henslow, professor of
botany, and Adam Sedgwick, professor of geology. In the summer of 1831
Darwin accompanied Sedgwick on a three-week field excursion to Wales
during which he received his only formal scientific training.
This portrait of Charles Darwin was painted by artist John Collier.

KEY DATES
IBM Barn on February 12 in Shrewsbury, England
1825–
Sludies medicine at Edinburgh University
28
182S Enters Christ’s College, Cambridge, England, ta study theology
1831 Appointed naturalist on HMS Beaqk
1832– Travels in and around South America on Beagle
36
Marri« his cousin Emma Wedgwood in January; publishes Journal of Researches into ihe
1839
Geology and tfatttrat History of the Vmwuï Countries Visitée by HMS Beagle…
1842 Writes first, 35 page, draft of his evolutionary theory
On June 1B receives an essay from naturalist Alfred Rüssel Wallace outlining Wallaces theory
1338 af natural selection; Darwin and Wallace present joint paper to the Lime an Society in London
on July 1
1859 On the Origin of Species by Means oí Natural Selection published on November 26
1871 Publication of Ihe Descent of Man, one Selection in Relation to Sex
18B2 Dies from heart attack on Apr! 19; buried in Westminster Abbey

A PROMISING OPPORTUNITY

In London, Robert Fitzroy, captain of HMS Beagle, was preparing an

expedition to survey the coasts of South America for the Royal Navy. He
asked the naval authorities to advertise for “some well-educated and
scientific person” to be part of the voyage.
Henslow advised Darwin to apply, and on September 5, 1831, Darwin
traveled to meet Fitzroy. They got on very well, and on December 27 the
Beagle sailed from Portsmouth with Charles on board.

HOW GEOLOGY SHAPED THE WORLD

Until the 18th century, people believed that the Earth had been created
literally as described in the Bible, that it was a few thousand rather than
millions of years old, and that it had been shaped by violent events
controlled by God. However, some scientists, including Scottish scientist
James Hutton, began to speculate that the Earth’s history was much longer
than had previously been supposed. Hutton suggested that the Earth had
changed very slowly over millions of years, and that it was still changing.
Apart from directly challenging the literal biblical version of events, this
theory led to the creation of a new science, geology, which was the study of
the origin, history, structure, and makeup of the Earth.
By the early 19th century Scottish geologist Charles Lyell had reached
the same conclusion as Hutton. Lyell and his supporters became known as
the “uniformitarians,” because of their theory that geological features
changed regularly or “uniformly.” This explained why rivers eroded valleys
and the sea wore away cliffs. Hutton and Lyell’s theories met with strong
resistance for many years.
Darwin read Lyell’s book and was greatly impressed by it. What Darwin
saw over the months and years of the Beagle’s trip soon persuaded him that
Lyell’s theories were correct.

THE INHERITANCE OF ACQUIRED CHARACTERISTICS

In the same way that Christians believed the biblical account of the age of
the Earth, they also believed that God had created animals and plants and
that species did not change. By the end of the 18th century, however, some
people were questioning these views.
Distinguished French naturalist the Chevalier de Lamarck (Jean
Baptiste Pierre Antoine de Monet) suggested that, over many generations,
the frequent use of an organ by a species would gradually enlarge and
strengthen it; lack of use would diminish and weaken it until it disappeared,
and that these changes, through use or disuse, would be passed on to
offspring. For example, he thought that the neck of a giraffe would lengthen
as it stretched for leaves on high trees, and that the next generation would
inherit this “long-neckedness.” His theory is now called “Lamarckism” or
“the inheritance of acquired characteristics.” No instance of it has ever been
found. Although Darwin’s own theory was superficially similar to
Lamarck’s, it contains some very significant differences, and was developed
from the actual observations Darwin made during his voyage.

SETTING OUT

In December 1831 the Beagle left port. When the Beagle made its first
landfall at Saint Jago in the Cape Verde Islands, off the coast of West
Africa, Darwin was thrilled at his first sight of a volcanic island. The
island’s rock strata provided him with evidence to support the idea of slow
change described in Lyell’s book. He found a layer of limestone rock nearly
45 feet (14m) above sea level that contained seashells; similar material was
forming by the seashore. Clearly, either the sea was once much higher, or
the land was once lower.
 From here the Beagle crossed the Atlantic to Brazil, eventually landing
at Rio de Janeiro on April 4, 1832. Darwin was transfixed by everything he
saw. He collected hundreds of specimens, which he sent home to Henslow.
Next the Beagle set sail for the remote lands of Patagonia and Tierra del
Fuego. At Punta Alta, on the shores of Patagonia, Darwin found a cliff
made up of shingle, gravel, and a layer of red clay. In this he discovered
some enormous bones, which he realized must have belonged to creatures
far bigger than any now in existence. These were the remains of giant sloths
(Megatherium and Megalonyx), giant armadillos (Myelodon and Glyptodon
), and Macrauchenia, an animal that resembled a camel, but with claws. He
saw that they resembled similar modern, much smaller species, and
wondered why the giant species had become extinct.

DESTRUCTION AND DISCOVERY

By early 1834 the Beagle was heading back to the Pacific through terrible
storms. On July 22, 1834 it reached Valparaíso, in Chile. Darwin set off to
explore the Andes. When he found fossil seashells at 12,000 feet (3658m),
it confirmed the picture that had been forming in his mind: this part of
South America must once have lain beneath the sea, and later been pushed
back up above sea level. The mountains would first have appeared as
islands in the sea, and eventually been raised further to form mountain
chains.
This lithograph of two ground finches from the Galápagos Islands by Elizabeth Gould was
based on a drawing by her husband, English ornithologist, John Gould.

On February 20, 1835, a severe earthquake in Chile destroyed the city

of Concepción. Darwin, who had been working at Valdivia, south of
Concepción, noticed that the level of the land had risen after the earthquake,
and that a new island had emerged in the ocean close to the island group of
Juan Fernández. To Darwin this was proof of his theory that land could rise
up from the sea and eventually form mountain ranges.
In September 1835 the Beagle arrived in the Galápagos Islands, home to
several varieties of finches. Darwin collected as many specimens as he
could, studying them more closely only after his return to England.

A GROWING REPUTATION

On October 2, 1836, a year after its visit to the Galápagos Islands, the
Beagle arrived back in Portsmouth, southern England. Some of Darwin’s
geological reports had been published in journals while he was away, and
he returned to find himself already recognized as a leading scientific figure.
Charles Lyell was greatly impressed by Darwin’s work, and he became a
personal friend.
Darwin went first to Cambridge, where he and Henslow began sorting
out the many specimens that Darwin had brought back. They also started to
prepare Darwin’s record of the voyage, which was published in 1839.

DEVELOPING A THEORY OF EVOLUTION

In 1837 Darwin moved to London, the same year he began work on the first
of the many notebooks in which he gathered information about species.
In June 1842, Darwin wrote a first draft of what would become his
theory of evolution by natural selection. Evolution is the gradual change in
the characteristics of plants and animals over successive generations. Two
years later Darwin wrote a much longer second draft. His attention then
turned to revising the Journal for its second edition, and when that was
done he wrote another book. Darwin then spent several years studying
barnacles. All the time, though, he continued to collect information about
species and discuss his developing ideas with others. In 1856 he started to
write what he considered the most complete statement of his ideas.
However, Darwin only made a few friends aware of the work he was doing,
and he was not yet ready to publish it.

TWO MEN, ONE THEORY

Darwin had written about half of the book by the middle of 1858, when on
June 18 he received an essay written by the Welsh naturalist Alfred Russel
Wallace. The two men had corresponded before, and Darwin realized that
Wallace had reached exactly the same conclusion as he had about the way
species evolve. Both men had found that, within each species, some
individuals have a characteristic (variation) that makes their survival more
likely. They pass this feature on to their offspring, and gradually each
generation that follows becomes more and more adapted to its particular
environment. This was the theory of natural selection that Darwin worked
out from his study of the Galápagos finches.
Although Darwin had formed his theory years earlier, a “joint paper”
was presented to the Linnean Society in London on July 1, 1858. Neither
Darwin nor Wallace was present, however, and the paper aroused very little
interest.
Darwin’s idea had been to publish his theory as a series of papers
submitted to the society, but there proved to be too much material to make
this practical. Instead, he prepared a popular, shortened account of his
theory and published it in the form of a book called On the Origin of
Species by Means of Natural Selection, or The Preservation of Favoured
Races in the Struggle for Life. The first edition of 1,250 copies, published
on November 26, 1859, sold out on the first day.
Darwin readily admitted that his theory presented difficulties. In
particular, he had no idea how variation could emerge within a species or
how characters could be inherited. He suggested the environment might
stimulate variation, rather in the way proposed by Lamarck.

THE DARWIN-WALLACE THEORY

When scientists speak of “the theory of evolution,” the theory they have in
mind is the one that was put forward by Darwin and Wallace, in which
natural selection is the mechanism that drives forward the evolution of
species. Evolution itself is not a theory, it is a fact, and one that has been
observed happening many times. It is the descent of organisms from
generation to generation with slight modification until they are so different
from their ancestors that they make up a new species.
The Darwinian (or Darwin-Wallace) theory proceeds in seven steps. 1.
Individuals resemble their parents. 2. The individuals belonging to a species
are slightly different from one another.

3. Members of each generation usually produce more offspring than are

needed to replace their parents. 4. Despite this, populations tend to remain
stable and it is clearly impossible for a population to increase in size
indefinitely. 5. Since populations remain stable, not all offspring can
survive; therefore there must be competition to survive among the
offspring. 6. The survivors will be those individuals who differ from their
fellows in ways that allow them to use the resources available to them more
efficiently. 7. Environmental conditions change over long periods of time,
as Lyell had shown. These changes naturally select the variations within a
species that are best suited to them; the changes also encourage new
variations to emerge. Eventually the variations are so marked that a
completely new species is formed, so it is natural selection, through
changing environmental conditions, that causes new species to emerge.

RELIGION AND SCIENCE

The publication of Darwin’s On the Origin of Species struck at the

heart of religious belief in a fundamental manner. It challenged
religious thinking in two ways: by questioning the literal truth of the
biblical description of the Creation, and by undermining the idea
that humans were unique, and different from animals.
Christians believed that mankind had been created by God “in
His image.” In Descent of Man, Darwin wrote that mankind “is
descended from some lowly organized form,” and that “there is no
fundamental difference between man and higher animals in their
mental faculties.” To many people, therefore, Darwin’s ideas
amounted to a direct attack on the word of God.
In June 1860 a debate took place between an opponent of
Darwin’s theory, the bishop of Winchester, Samuel Wilberforce, and
one of Darwin’s supporters, the English biologist Thomas Henry
Huxley. The bishop began by mocking Darwin’s theory of evolution,
saying that it went against the word of the Bible. He then asked
Huxley sarcastically whether he was descended from an ape on his
grandfather’s or his grandmother’s side. Huxley was furious. As the
audience listened in amazement, Huxley robustly stated that he
would rather have an ape for a grandfather than a man such as the
bishop.
 A contemporary sketch shows Bishop Samuel Wilberforce, who attacked Darwin’s theories
for going against religious beliefs.

LATER LIFE

Charles Darwin was a gentle, modest man, who held liberal views on social
matters. He married his first cousin Emma Wedgwood in 1839 and the
couple had 10 children. Although misinterpretation of his ideas, deliberate
or otherwise, made Darwin the subject of ridicule and anger, he continued
to develop his theory, discussing human origins in The Descent of Man, and
Selection in Relation to Sex (1871). For most of his life, he suffered from
intermittent symptoms of sickness that made him a semi-invalid; no one is
quite sure of the cause. Darwin died on April 19, 1882, and was buried in
Westminster Abbey, London.
TIMELINE
 GLOSSARY
allele Any of the alternative forms of a gene that may occur at a given point
on a chromosome.
allopatric speciation The formation of new species through geographic
isolation.
anatomy Structural makeup of an organism.
antibiotic Drug that kills bacteria.
artificial selection Change over time of domesticated organisms due to
selection (breeding) by people.
asexual reproduction Production of young without the need for mating or the
fusion of sex cells.
biogeography The study of where organisms live and how they got there.
biological arms race The coevolution of predators and their prey.
chromosome Structure in the nucleus that contains DNA.
classification The organization of different organisms into related groups by
biologists.
coevolution Evolution involving changes in two species that depend on each
other to survive.
convergent evolution When distantly related creatures evolve similar body
plans in response to similar environments.
creationism Theory that organisms were created by God and do not evolve.
cryptic species Species that is indistinguishable from another without genetic
study.
deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) Molecule that contains the genetic code for all
cellular (nonvirus) organisms.
endemic Organism that lives in just one place, typically an island.
eukaryote Cell containing organelles; animals, plants, and fungi are
eukaryotes.
evolution Process of change in groups of organisms over long periods of
time.
extinct When the last individual of a species dies.
fertilization The fusion of a sperm with an egg.
fitness The relative ability of an organism to survive and produce viable
young.
fossil The remains or traces of longdead organisms replaced by minerals.
founder effect Phenomenon that causes low genetic diversity and unusual
genes to be expressed in populations (such as those on islands) founded
by just a few individuals.
gene Section of DNA that codes for the structure of a protein.
gene flow Passage of genes through a geographically linked population.
gene pool The total variation of genes in a population.
genetic bottleneck Loss of genetic diversity caused by very low population
levels.
genetic drift The random loss of genetic diversity; especially important in
small populations or ones on islands.
geologist Scientist who studies rocks.
hominid Member of the family
Hominidae, to which people belong.
hybrid Young produced by breeding between individuals of different
species.
inbreeding depression Lack of fitness due to inbreeding, caused by a buildup
of recessive genes.
iterative evolution Repeated evolution of similar structures in different groups
over long periods of time.
Lamarckism Outdated evolutionary theory that suggested that a parent’s
features changed according to use during its lifetime before being
inherited by young.
mass extinction A relatively swift die-off of large numbers of species.
meiosis Cell division that leads to the production of sex cells.
melanistic When an individual is much darker than normal, such as in
panthers.
minimum viable population The smallest possible population a species can
tolerate before extinction becomes inevitable.
mutation A change to a gene; can be neutral (have no effect), negative, or
positive.
natural selection Theory that only the fittest organisms survive and
reproduce; one of the causes of evolution.
neo-Darwinism Branch of evolutionary theory that incorporates natural
selection with advances in the understanding of genetics.
niche The ecological role of an organism in an ecosystem.
paleontologist Scientist who studies fossils.
polyploid Organism with extra sets of chromosomes.
predator Animal that catches other animals for food.
prokaryote Single-celled organism, such as a bacterium, that does not contain
miniorgans.
punctuated equilibrium Theory that rapid bursts of evolutionary change are
separated by much longer periods of little change.
recombination The shuffling of genes during sexual reproduction. It leads to
increased genetic diversity.
reproductive isolation The separation of one population from another so they
cannot interbreed.
sexual dimorphism Anatomical differences between males and females of the
same species.
sexual reproduction Production of young through the fusion of sex cells, often
after mating between a male and a female.
sexual selection Form of natural selection driven by an organism’s preference
for characteristics in a mate.
species A group of organisms that can potentially mate with each other to
produce young that can also interbreed successfully.
spontaneous generation Ancient belief that organisms could arise directly
from nonliving matter.
subspecies Subdivision of a species; a population that may have different
colorings and a different range than other subspecies but can still
interbreed with them.
sympatric speciation The formation of new species through behavioral and
other mechanisms rather than geographic isolation.
vertebrate Animal with a backbone.
vestigial structure An organ or structure that has become redundant, or may
be used for a completely different purpose than its original function.
zygote An egg fertilized by a sperm that will develop into a new organism.
 FOR MORE INFORMATION
Canadian Institute of Ecology and Evolution
3737 Wascana Pkwy.
University of Regina
Regina, SK S4S 0A2
Canada
(306) 337-8867
Web site: http://ciee-icee.com
The Canadian Institute of Ecology and Evolution, a consortium of research universities from
throughout Canada, seeks to bring together and train new generations of scientists representing
various research areas with the aim of finding insights and solutions for critical environmental
issues.

Down House
Luxted Road
Downe, Kent
London Borough of Bromley England BR6 7JT
0 1689 859119
Web site: http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/daysout/properties/home-of-charles-dawin-down-house
Down House was the home of Charles Darwin and is now open to the public for tours, lectures, and
more.

National Center for Science Education

420 40th Street Suite 2
Oakland, CA 94609
(510) 601-7203
Web site: http://ncse.com
The National Center for Science Education offers information and resources to schools and members
of the public interested in promoting the teaching of evolution in the classroom.

National Evolutionary Synthesis Center

2024 W. Main Street
Suite A200
Durham, NC 27705
(919) 668-4551
Web site: http://www.nescent.org
By promoting cross-disciplinary research, the National Evolutionary Synthesis Center seeks to ask
and answer significant questions related to evolution. Its Education and Outreach group works
with the public to communicate the center’s goals and to improve evolution education.

National Museum of Natural History

Smithsonian Institution
P.O. Box 37012
Washington, DC 20013
(202) 633-1000
Web site: http://www.mnh.si.edu
The exhibits at the National Museum of Natural History survey the world’s history, cultures, and
biodiversity through its exhibits, collections, and research. Among its many attractions is
FossiLab, which allows visitors to watch paleontologists at work, and the Hall of Human Origins,
which chronicles the evolution of humans.

Royal Tyrell Museum

Highway 838 Midland Provincial Park
Drumheller, Alberta T0J 0Y0
Canada
(888) 440-4240
Web site: http://www.tyrrellmuseum.com
The Royal Tyrell Museum is dedicated to inspiring interest in the science of paleontology through its
collections, research, and outreach programs. Its many exhibits include one of the world’s largest
displays of dinosaurs.

Society for the Study of Evolution

4475 Castleman Avenue
St. Louis, MO 63110
(314) 577-9554
Web site: http://www.evolutionsociety.org
The Society for the Study of Evolution seeks to promote the study of evolution by holding annual
meetings for findings in evolutionary biology to be shared and discussed as well as various
education and outreach initiatives. It also publishes the scientific journal Evolution.

WEB SITES

Due to the changing nature of Internet links, Rosen Publishing has

developed an online list of Web sites related to the subject of this book.
This site is updated regularly. Please use this link to access the list:

http://www.rosenlinks.com/CORE/Evol
 FOR FURTHER READING
Ackroyd, Peter. The Beginning. London, UK: Dorling Kindersley, 2003.
Dawkins, Richard. The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for
Evolution. New York, NY: Free Press, 2009.
Day, Trevor. Routes of Science: Genetics. San Diego, CA: Blackbirch Press,
2004.
Gates, Phil. Horrible Science: Evolve or Die. New York, NY: Scholastic,
1999.
Gould, Stephen Jay. Wonderful Life: The Burgess Shale and the Nature of
History. New York, NY: W.W. Norton, 1989.
Howard, Jonathan. Darwin: A Very Short Introduction. New York, NY:
Oxford University Press, 2001.
Mayr, Ernst. What Evolution Is. New York, NY: BasicBooks, 2001.
Milner, Richard. Darwin’s Universe: Evolution from A to Z. Berkeley, CA:
University of California Press, 2009.
Olson, Steve. Mapping Human History: Discovering the Past Through Our
Genes. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Co., 2002.
Quammen, David. The Reluctant Mr. Darwin: An Intimate Portrait of
Charles Darwin and the Making of His Theory of Evolution. New York,
NY: Atlas, 2007.
Roberts, Alice. Evolution: The Human Story. New York, NY: DK
Publishing, 2011.
Ward, David, and Cyril Walker. DK Handbook: Fossils. New Yor, NYk:
DK Publishing, 2000.
Zimmer, Carl. Evolution: The Triumph of an Idea. New York, NY:
HarperCollins, 2006.
INDEX
A

aardvark, 53
adaptation
behavioral, 24
explanation of, 24
physiological, 26
adaptive radiation, 51, 52–53
alleles, 29, 35, 36, 37, 39–40
dominant, 29, 35
recessive, 29, 35, 38, 42, 44
allopatric speciation, 48–49
amniotic egg, evolution of, 52, 59
amphibians, 16, 52, 58–59, 60, 62
antibiotics, 15
Archaeopteryx, 62
Argentinosaurus, 61
arthropods, 58
artificial selection, 23
asexual reproduction, 47, 54
australopithecines, 65–66, 67
Australopithecus, 65
Australopithecus afarensis, 66, 67
Australopithecus garhi, 66

bacteria, 10, 15, 33, 47, 57

Beagle, 19, 73, 74–76
behavioral adaptations, 24
Bible, 8–9, 11, 13, 65, 74, 78
biogeography, 22
birds, evolution of, 16, 40, 52, 61–62
Brachiosaurus, 61
Burgess Shale, 58

Cambrian explosion, 58
camouflage, 22
cheetahs, 41, 43
chromosomes, 30, 49, 50
cichlid fish, 50
civilization, beginning of, 71
classification of species, 47
clouded leopard, 55
coccyx, 14
coevolution, 53–54
convergent evolution, 13, 16, 54, 55, 62
creationists/creationism, 9, 13
Crick, Francis, 31
Cro-Magnons, 71
cryptic species, 48
cyanobacteria, 57
cynodonts, 62

Darwin, Charles, 6–7, 8, 9, 10, 13, 18, 19–22, 28, 29, 31, 64, 65, 66
biography of, 72–79
Darwin, Erasmus, 72
Darwinian (Darwin-Wallace) theory, steps of, 77–79
Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex, 78, 79
dinosaurs, 60–61, 62
extinction of, 55, 61, 62
Diplodocus, 60, 61
directional selection, 38, 44
dirk-toothed cats, 25
disruptive selection, 38
DNA, 7, 17, 29–30, 31–32, 64, 65, 70
DNA fingerprinting, 32–33
structure of, 31
dodo, 55
dominant alleles, 29, 35
Drosophila melanogaster, 30

echinoderms, 58
ectomorphs, 55
ediacaran organisms, 58
Eldredge, Niles, 44
eukaryotes, 57
evolution
coevolution, 53–54
convergent evolution, 13, 16, 54, 55, 62
definition of, 6, 18, 36, 77
first reactions to theory of, 6
how it is studied, 9
on islands, 40
iterative evolution, 55
speed of, 12, 43
evolution, support of, 7, 10
anatomical evidence, 15–17
fossil evidence, 10–12
 genetic evidence, 17
geographical spread, 14–15
similarities across the globe, 12–13
vestigial structures, 14, 17
extinctions, mass, 55, 60, 62

fertilization, 36
finches, Darwin’s study of, 19, 76, 77
fitness, explanation of, 23
Fitzroy, Robert, 73
fossils, 7, 9, 10–12, 13, 22, 44, 45, 47, 55, 57, 58, 60, 61, 64, 66, 67, 69, 76
finding your own, 63
how they form, 12
founder effect, 40, 42
Franklin, Rosalind, 31

Galápagos Islands, 19, 40, 51, 76

finches of, 19, 51, 53, 76, 77
gene flow, 39, 41, 45, 50
gene pool, 30, 35, 38, 39, 40
genes, 22, 23, 28, 29–30, 31, 34, 35, 36, 37, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 48, 49, 54, 61
genetic bottleneck, 41, 43
genetic drift, 28, 30, 37, 39–40, 42, 43, 46
genome, 45
geologic time/eras, 57
giant tortoises, Darwin’s study of, 19
golden lion tamarin, 43
Gould, Stephen Jay, 44
Gryphaea, 11

Henslow, John Stevens, 73, 76

hibernation, 26
hominids, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69
Homo erectus, 67
Homo ergaster, 67
Homo habilis, 66, 67, 68
Homo heidelbergensis, 67, 68, 69
Homo sapiens, 47, 68, 69
Homo sapiens neanderthalensis (Neanderthal people), 68, 69
Homo sapiens sapiens, 68
honeycreepers, 51
horseshoe crabs, 55
human evolution,
multiregionalism theory of, 69
“Out of Africa” scenario of, 69
humans
and chimpanzees, similarity of DNA, 17, 65
evolution of, 64–71
genetic diversity of, 43
Hutton, James, 74
Huxley, Thomas, 9, 78
hybrids/hybridization, 21, 47, 49, 52, 69
hybrid vigor, 47
Hyracotherium, 11

ichthyosaurs, 62
inbreeding, 41, 42–43, 44
inherited/genetic disorders, 33, 38
inherited variations, 23
Irish elk, sexual selection and, 21
islands, evolution on, 40
iterative evolution, 55

Johanson, Don, 67

Kimura, Motoo, 45

Lamarck, Jean Baptiste, 7–8, 19, 74, 77

Lamarckism, 8, 74
Leakey, Louis, 67
Leakey, Mary, 67
leopards, 23
life, beginning of on Earth, 56–57
Linnaeus, Carolus, 47
Lyell, Charles, 19, 74, 76, 78

mammals, 14, 15, 16, 17, 52, 53, 54, 55, 60

development of, 62
diversification of, 63
marsupials, 14–15, 54, 55, 63
mass extinctions, 55, 60
meiosis, 30, 36
Mendel, Gregor, 22, 29, 31
metazoans, 57–58
migration, 28, 30, 37, 40, 41
minimum viable population (MVP), 43
“missing link,” 66
mitochondria, 57, 70
“mitochondrial Eve,” 70
moa, reconstruction of, 27
mollusks, 58, 60
Morgan, Thomas, 30
multiregionalism theory of human evolution, 69
mutation/mutations, 15, 24, 30, 33, 37, 40, 45, 46
and DNA, 31–32
explanation/types of, 23, 30, 37
how they spread through a population, 32
mutualism, 53

natural selection, 8, 9, 10, 15, 19, 20, 22, 23, 24, 27, 28, 31, 39, 40, 42, 44, 46, 71, 76
directional selection, 38, 44
disruptive selection, 38
explanation of, 7, 18, 32, 37–38, 77
forms of, 38
stabilizing selection, 38
Neanderthal people, 68, 69
niche, explanation of, 24
North Atlantic right whale, 44

Old Order Amish, 38

On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or The Preservation of Favoured Races in
the Struggle for Life, 6, 7, 20, 77, 78
“Out of Africa” scenario of human evolution, 69
Owen, Richard, 27

panthers, 23
peacocks, sexual selection and, 20
Permian mass extinction, 60
physiological adaptations, 26
Piltdown Man, 66
pipistrelle bats, 48
plaster of Paris casts, making your own, 68
polydactyly, 38
polygenic traits, 29
polyploidy, 49, 50
population, definition of, 18
preadaptation, 27
prokaryotes, 57
punctuated equilibria, 12, 44

R
recessive alleles/genes, 29, 35, 38, 42, 44
recombination, 36, 54
religious views on life, 6, 8–9, 11, 13, 65, 74, 78
reproduction
asexual, 47, 54
sexual, 35–37, 46, 54
reproductive isolation, 50
reptiles, 16, 52, 59–60, 61, 62, 63
Rothschild’s giraffe, 49
ruminants, and dependence on microorganisms, 53

saber-toothed cats, 24–25, 55

scimitar cats, 24–25
Sedgwick, Adam, 73
sexual dimorphism, 20, 68
sexual reproduction, 35–37, 46, 54
sexual selection, 20, 21, 37
Smilodon, 55
snakes, claws and, 17
speciation (creation of new species), 19, 22, 23, 27, 33, 38, 40, 44, 46, 47, 48–49, 50–52, 53, 67, 77,
79
allopatric, 48–49
sympatric, 48, 49, 50
species
classification of, 47
creation of new/speciation, 19, 22, 23, 27, 33, 38, 40, 44, 46, 47, 48–49, 50–52, 53, 67, 77, 79
explanation of, 46–48
extinction of, 55, 60
spontaneous generation, 7
stabilizing selection, 38
subspecies, 19, 49, 68
“survival of the fittest,” 23
sympatric speciation, 48, 49, 50

Thylacosmilus, 55
Triceratops, 61
Triticum aestivum, 50
twins/multiple births, 36
Tyrannosaurus rex, 61

vertebrates, 16, 17, 52, 62

development of, 58–59
vestigial structures, 14, 17

W
Wallace, Alfred Russel, 20, 77
Watson, James, 31
whales, pelvic bones in, 17
Wilberforce, Bishop Samuel, 9, 78
 PHOTO CREDITS
Cover, p. 3 Don Johnston/age fotostock/Getty Images; pp. 6, 16 (right)
Konrad Wothe/Minden Pictures/Getty Images; p. 7 John Downer/Taxi/Getty
Images; p. 8 Martin Lehmann/Shutterstock.com; p. 9
HixnHix/Shutterstock.com; p. 10 Andy Crawford/Dorling Kindersley/Getty
Images; pp. 13, 36, 42 iStockphoto/ Thinkstock; p. 14
holbox/Shutterstock.com; p. 15 worldswildlifewonders/Shutterstock.com;
p. 16 (left) M.M./Shutterstock.com; p. 17 (top) cretolam-
nap/Shutterstock.com. 17 (bottom) CP Cheah/Flickr/Getty Images; p. 18
Bob Thomas/Popperfoto/Getty Images; p. 19 Ammit
Jack/Shutterstock.com; p. 20 Shawn Hempel/Shutterstock.com; pp. 21, 40
Visuals Unlimited, Inc./Gerald & Buff Corsi/Getty Images; p. 23
WilleeCole/Shutterstock.com; p. 24 Zoonar/ Thinkstock; p. 25 Oxford
Scientific/Getty Images; p. 26 MartinMaritz/Shutterstock.com; p. 27 Mary
Evans Picture Library/The Image Works; p. 28 Library of Congress Prints
and Photographs Division; p. 29 Hemera/ Thinkstock; p. 30
Studiotouch/Shutterstock.com; pp. 31, 56 Science Source/ Photo
Researchers/Getty Images; p. 33 Ulrich Baumgarten/Getty Images; p. 34
Monkey Business Images/Shutterstock.com; p. 37 Rob
Christiaans/Shutterstock.com; p. 38 Biophoto Associates/Photo
Researchers/Getty Images; p. 41 Visuals Unlimited, Inc./Gerard Lacz/Getty
Images; p. 43 Eric Gevaert/Shutterstock.com; p. 44 Brian J. Skerry/National
Geographic Image Collection/Getty Images; p. 45 Valeriy
Yevchenko/Memorix Photography & Video/Shutterstock.com; p. 46
Deborah McCague/Shutterstock.com; p. 47 © iStockphoto.com/Nancy
Brammer; p. 48 De Agostini Picture Library/Getty Images; p. 49 Stu
Porter/Shutterstock.com; p. 50 Dariush M/Shutterstock.com; p. 51 Dorling
Kindersley/Getty Images; p. 53 Denis-Huot/hemis.fr/Getty Images; p. 54
dinosmichail/Shutterstock.com; p. 58 Nils Bornemann/Shutterstock.com; p.
60 Matt Jeppson/Shutterstock.com; p. 62 (top) Russell
Shively/Shutterstock.com; p. 62 (bottom) Sari ONeal/Shutterstock.com; p.
63 Michael Melford/National Geographic Image Collection/ Getty Images;
p. 64 Lee Berger/DAPD/AP Images; p. 65 Lamont-Doherty Earth
Observatory/AP Images; p. 66 Natural History Museum/AP Images; p. 67
Ariadne Van Zandbergen/Lonely Planet Images/Getty Images; p. 68 Jack
Hollingsworth/ Photodisc/Thinkstock; p. 70 DEA/G. Dagli Orti/De
Agostini Picture Library/ Getty Images; p. 72 Marc Deville/Gamma-
Rapho/Getty Images; p. 75 Science & Society Picture Library/Getty
Images; p. 78 British Library/Robana/Hulton Fine Art Collection/Getty
Images; interior pages background images © iStockphoto.com/Cathy Keifer
(borders), © iStockphoto.com/Sergey Yeremin; top of pp. 6, 10, 18, 28, 34,
46, 56, 64, 72 © iStockphoto.com/aleksandar velasevic; all other photos and
illustrations © Brown Bear Books Ltd.