Presented by Mr.

kosgei felix
 Evolution
It was coined from a Greek word evolve which means gradual
change.
Definition
Evolution :is the process by which complex live forms gradually
develop from simple life forms over a long period of time.
Importance of studying Evolution
It attempts to explain:
 Origin of life
 The diversity and unity of life. That is, how living organisms
are related and
 inter-dependent.
 Theories of origin of life
There are several theories which try to explain the origin of
life. They include:
 Special creation theory
 Spontaneous generation (Abiogenesis) theory
 Life from life (biogenesis) theory
 Chemical evolution theory
 Organic evolution theory
 Special creation theory
 It proposes that the whole universe and all its contents
was created by a supreme being called God.
 It is a belief held by all the major religions which include
Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Judaism, e.t.c.
 The knowledge and evidence of this theory are based on
faith and therefore cannot be contradicted by science
since they cannot be scientifically tested.
Spontaneous Generation (Abiogenesis) theory
It states that living organisms suddenly arouse from non-living
matter e.g.
 Egyptians believed that fish and snakes came from mud.
 Greeks believed that rats arouse from garbage .
 Some scientists suggested that bacteria arouse from
nutrient media.
 This theory was disapproved by Louis Pasteur (19th) who
showed that bacteria and fungi only grew in non-sterile
conditions.
 From this experiment, the theory of biogenesis came up.
Life from life (Biogenesis) theory
It was believed that life begins from
the pre-existing life forms e.g maggots
from meat.
 Chemical Evolution theory
 It postulates that life came into being through a combination of chemical
elements such as hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, carbon, e.t.c. which were
in existence in the ancient world.
 Through catalytic effect of frequent lightning, high energy radiations such
as U.V radiations and high temperature and pressure prevailing at that
time, these elements were combined to form simple molecules such as
Ammonia, Methane, Hydrogen and water vapour.
 The simple molecules then combined to form complex molecules such
as lipoproteins, polysaccharides, and self-replicating molecules similar to
DNA (the genetic material of living cells).
 Successive replication of these molecules and further development led
to formation of simple cellular organisms resembling the present day
bacteria and viruses.
 The simple life forms underwent a series of changes over a long period
of time giving rise to present generation of living organisms.
Evidence That Chemical Evolution Occurred

Note: In 1953, an American scientist called

S.L Miller was able to produce four of the 20
known naturally occurring amino acids in the
laboratory by passing electrical sparks
through a mixture of hydrogen, Methane,
water vapour and ammonia under high
temperature and pressure.
This is evidence that chemical evolution
occurred.
 Organic Evolution
 It is based on the idea of descent with modification
 It is based on the concepts of chemical evolution theory.
 It is the gradual development of complex life forms from simple
life forms over a long period of time.
Organic evolution is the process by which changes in the genetic
composition occur in response to environmental changes
Organic evolution is therefore based on three ideas:
 The living world is changing, not a static place
 Change is gradual
 Closely related species have evolved from one basic ancestor
Evidences of Organic Evolution
1. Fossil Records/Study (Paleontology)
 Fossils are remains of living organisms that existed long ago and
have been naturally preserved over a long period of time.
 The remains include hard plant and animal parts such as bones,
teeth, shells, woody parts.
 They also include impressions of body parts e.g foot prints, leaf
venations, e.t.c.
 The preservation is done in sedimentary rocks and plant resins.
The sedimentary rocks are usually arranged in strata, with old
fossils in the lower strata and the recent/younger fossils
occurring in the upper strata.
 Through radio-isotope dating technique, the age of fossils can
be determined.
Continuation…..

Fossil records are used to construct a complete

evolutionary history of a species which reveals:
a) The extinction of some organisms due to presence of
fossils of organisms that no longer exist today such as
dinosaur, H. habilis.
b) The existence of transitional forms between groups of
organisms to show progressive change from primitive
forms to complex modern forms.
Explain how fossils records are used as evidence
of organic evolution
 Many fossils represent organisms that have become extinct e.g.
Dinosaurs , flying reptiles
 Fossils founds in lower layers of the soils are less complex than
those found at the upper showing that organisms become
more complex with time
 The numbers of early organisms were small but have been
increasing over the years
 Early forms of life was confined in water as earliest fossils
represent only aquatic organisms which were later followed by
terrestrial forms
 Increased population forced some of the organisms t change in
form and occupy different ecological habitats , hence the
emergence of terrestrial plants and animals
 Human Evolution
 Man, apes and monkeys belong to the order primates.
 As a result, they are believed to have evolved from ape-like
creature called proconsul, which belonged to the order
primates.
 The proconsul existed 20 million years ago. It gave rise to
two families; Hominidae (Humans) and pongidae (Apes).
 Hominidae is divided into two genera; Australopithecus and
Homo.
 Australopithecus existed 4 million years ago together with
some members of the genus homo but all its members
together with some members of the genus homo got extinct.
The only hominids that exist today are modern man.
What evolutionary characteristics make the modern man
(Homo sapiens) better adapted to his environment?
 Having well developed and large brain capacity ( 1350- 1450cm2)
giving high intellectual capacity for thinking and reasoning
 Having pre-hensile hands for grasping tools and carrying out
various activities such as driving and digging
 Having two eyes at the front to give a wide angle of binoculars
view. He is not blinded completely when one of the eyes is
damaged
 Being bipedal ( locomotion on two limbs ) make him fast in
movement i.e. Running
 Having an upright posture makes him see far , can detect danger
from far and escape early
 Development of speech for effective communication with each
other. Has the ability to vocalize sound
 Having a non- opposable toe on the feet for stability on the
ground when walking
 Limitations of Paleontology
 Missing links of fossil records to link with ancestral forms.
This is because some fossils have been destroyed by scavengers,
or decomposition. Other fossils have not been discovered.
 Distortion of some fossil parts during fossilization resulting
into wrong impression of structures. Due to sedimentation
 Destruction of fossils by geological activities such as
earthquakes, faulting, folding, e.t.c therefore giving inadequate
information. This results into false conclusions being drawn.
 2. Comparative Anatomy
 Comparative anatomy refers to the Comparison of basic
internal structures of various species of organisms.
 The Study of internal structures of organisms points
towards a common or varied ancestry of such organisms.
There are three types of structures/organs in terms of
anatomical evolution.
These are:
Homologous
 Analogous
 Vestigial Structures.
 Homologous structures/organs
 These are structures/organs with common embryonic origin or
ancestry but have been modified in the course of evolution to
perform different functions.
 This is as a result of the organisms exploiting different environments
(occupying different ecological niches). Organisms with
homologous structures are said to have undergone adaptive
radiation or divergent evolution.
Example is Pentadactyl limbs in vertebrates
 The forelimbs of vertebrates, though varied in various species, share
a common basic pentadactyl plan/framework
Examples of homologous structures
a) Pentadactyl limbs in vertebrates:
Bat wings are for flying
,human hands for grasping and manipulating
,flippers of whale for swimming.
a) Beaks of birds
b) Feet of birds
c) Mouth parts of insects:
Piercing and sucking mouth parts e.g. mosquitoes
Sponging and sucking mouth parts e.g. houseflies
Cutting and chewing mouth parts e.g. grasshoppers
Homologous structures
Analogous structures/organs
Structures/organs with varied embryonic origin or ancestry but
have been modified in the course of evolution to perform similar
functions due to the exploitation of same kind of environment.
Such structures appear morphologically similar though anatomically varied.
Organisms with analogous structures are said to have underwent
convergent evolution.
Examples
 (i) Wings of birds and those of insects – wings of birds have a
pentadactyl framework while those of insects are supported by
toughened veins composed of cuticle which originate from the
exoskeleton.
 (ii) Eyes of molluscs (e.g. octopus) and those of vertebrates
 (iii) Fins of fish and flippers of whale
Homologous and analogous structure
 Vestigial structures/organs
These are structures/organs that have greatly reduced in size and
become functionless due to disuse over a long period of time.
 They might have been functional in the ancestral forms but
due to the changes in the environment, they lost their
usefulness.
 Examples include:
 Ear muscles
 Caecum and appendix
 Body hair
 Coccygeal vertebrae
 Nictitating membrane
 3. Cell biology/ cytology
 This is the study of cell.
 Researches in cell structure and function have shown that
basic similarities exist between cells from almost all kinds
of living things.
 Thus all eukaryotic cells contain the same organelles as
mitochondria, ribosomes, endoplasmic reticulum etc. And
other biological chemicals like ATP, DNA and RNA.
 These similarities indicate that all cell types have a
common ancestral origin
4. Geographical distribution of organisms on earth
 The distribution of living things on the world shows that
regions with similar climates and topography are not
necessarily inhabited by similar species of organisms. It is
believed that millions of years ago, the world was one giant
land mass surrounded by huge ocean (pangae).
 Later on the land mass split, members of the same species
occupying the different regions became isolated. Through
mutation and natural selection, each group evolved
independently adapting to a different set of environmental
conditions.
 This being that the organisms which are found in different
and isolated places look different suggests that special
creation may not have taken place.
Continuation….
Study of geographical distribution of organisms reveals that
different geographical regions with similar climatic conditions
and same latitudes consist of different flora and fauna e.g.
(i) Short tailed monkeys of Africa and long prehensile tailed
monkeys of Amazon-America
(ii) Jaguars and panthers of Amazon, leopards and cheetahs of
Africa and tigers of Asia
(iii) Buffaloes of Africa and Bison of America
 5. Comparative embryology
 This is the study of development of embryos of different
organisms. A similarity between embryos in animals is an
indication of the common ancestry.
 Recapitulation theory suggests that embryos of organisms
that are closely related resemble each other up to a certain
development stage. “ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny”
meaning an organism repeats its ancestral history during
embryological development. Like during the early stages of
development, the embryos of different vertebrates are
almost the same e.g. Fish, amphibians, birds and mammalian
embryos have similar features, indicating that they arose
from a common ancestor
Illustration of embryology
 6. Comparative Serology
 Species that are closely related contain more similar blood
proteins e.g in chimpanzee and man are biochemically
similar.
 When antibodies produced in a rabbit are mixed with
serum from different animals immunological reactions
occurs forming precipitate.
 The greater the amount of precipitate the closer the
phylogenetic relationship.
 A lot of precipitate is produced with anthropoid apes like a
chimpanzee showing a close relationship but none with a
distant animal like a dog
 This suggests evolution from a common ancestor.
 comparative serology
Antibody( Ab)
produced in a rabbit
against human serum
Ab Ab Ab Ab

High
ppt
ppt
ppt ppt

Human
chimpanzee Monkey Dog
serum
 7. Taxonomy
Modern classification involves grouping of organisms on the
basis of similarities and differences among organisms in terms of
structure, physiological functioning and phylogeny (evolutionary
history) of organisms e.g. man and apes belong to the order
primates whose ancestor is proconsul.
Mechanisms of Organic Evolution
These are ways/processes on how the evolution is thought to
have occurred.
They are theories that explain how organisms have been
gradually changing and forming new species from pre-
existing ones.
There are two theories i.e.
 Lamarck’s theory also known as the theory of use and
disuse
 Darwin’s theory of natural selection.
(a) Lamarck’s Theory of Use and Disuse
He carried out studies and proposed that particular body structures
develop in organisms when need arises.
According to him, the environmental conditions dictate the development
of a specific structure.
 He believed that adaptation of organisms to the environment was the
chief cause of evolution.
 The function required determines the type of the structure to develop.
The organism s therefore undergoes developmental changes during its
lifetime. These changes are subsequently passed on to the off spring.
The offspring are then supposed to form new species due to these
changes base on these;
Lamarck explained the long necks of modern giraffes in the following
manner;
Ancient giraffes were fewer in number and had shorter necks than those
living today. When they increased there was competition for food in the
form of tree leaves. This made them to stretch their necks so as to reach
for leaves on the higher branches. The result of this was an elongated the
giraffes necks
Lamarks theory is based on three propositions;
 Theory of need: plants and animals change because they need
to change.
 The development of organs has a direct relationship to their
work. The size of an organ is proportional to its use or
disuse
 All that has been acquired or altered in the organization of
an organism during its life- time transmitted to the next
generation
Limitations of Lamarck’s Theory
 It is true that the environment can shape the phenotype of
an organism e.g. Muscles of body builders increase due to
their continuous use.
 However, from the knowledge of genetics, the acquired
characteristics cannot be inherited (phenotype) since they do
not affect the genotype.
(b) Darwin’s Theory of Natural Selection

 According to Charles Darwin, variations are the raw

materials for evolution.
 New species are formed from pre-existing ones as a
result of gradual accumulation of advantageous
variations over a long period of time. The main
features of natural selection are
 Features of natural selection;
a) All organisms produce more offsprings but only a few
survive to adult hood
b) Every organism faces a constant struggle to survive.
c) Variations occur within members of a population.
d) Individuals with advantageous variations/ are better
adapted to the environment/ selected for (survival of the
fittest)
e) Individuals that are better adapted reproduce and transmit
the variations and hence their traits on to their
offsprings.leading to emergence of new species
(speciation)
What is meant by natural selection?
 This is a process by which individual organisms that are better
adapted to survive, grow and reach maturity through reproduction,
they pass on their favourable characteristics to their offspring’s.
Individuals with unfavourable characteristics are eliminated
naturally or they die.
 The process works on hereditary variations. Individuals with
favourable variations have some selective advantages over those
with unfavourable variations.
 Natural agents such as climate, competition for food, reproductive
capacity ,produce differential mortality that leads to greater
changes of survival for individuals with selective advantage.
 These individuals pass on their advantageous genetic variations to
their offspring’s through reproduction.
Describe organic evolution according to the theory of
natural selection by Charles Darwin. (20mks)
 Variations occur in a population and from within some
individual members.
 Some of the variations are advantageous (Beneficial variations)
thus making an organism to be well adapted to the
environment while others are disadvantageous.
 Through sexual reproduction, these characteristics (variations)
are transmitted to the successive offsprings.
 The number of offsprings produced at any particular time by far
exceed the parental generation. However, only a few survive to
adulthood and are able to reproduce. This is due to
environmental pressures e.g. predation, diseases, and
competition for food/mates e.t.c. This is called ‘struggle for
existence’.

Continuation….

 In the struggle for existence, individuals with advantageous
variations are well adapted to the environment and therefore are
selected to survive and reproduce, While those that have
disadvantageous variations are poorly adapted hence perish (die
out or migrate) and do not transmit their characteristics to the next
generation. This is called ‘survival for the fittest’.

 The individuals that are selected for reproduction transmit the beneficial
variations to their offsprings. These variations gradually accumulate from
generation to generation over a long period of time leading to
emergence of new forms of species. This is called speciation.
 Note: speciation is a result of accumulation of variations in a
population and the rate at which variations occur in a
population determine the rate of speciation.
Explain how new species of organisms develop by the
process of evolution
 For a new species to emerge, (a deme ) small genetic units of
a population) must first become completely isolated from
others over a long time
 Any new variations that arise in the population will not thus
flow to the other demes
 Variations together with the evolutionary forces of natural
selection and genetic drift ( drop in gene frequency ) then act
on the isolated deme to favour the emergence of new species
 Factors that favour speciation
a)Geographical isolation –
Refers to separation of populations by natural geographical
barriers
physical barriers such as mountains , deserts and seas hinder interbreeding
between demes/ population since they restrict movement of individuals from a
deme/ population to another e.g. Unique fauna of Austria and Galapagos island
was due to geographical isolation.
This lead to the emergence of different beaks among the finches adapted for
different feeding modes

 Note; Galapagos is a Spanish word meaning island

Evolution of Galapagos finches beaks
 b)Ecological isolation – these are barriers that arise as a result
of a deme occupying a different type of habitat from the
original type for reason of ; breeding , escape from enemies or
feeding
 c)Reproductive isolation – these include genetic changes
which bring about barriers to successful mating among
individuals of a given population.
 Genetic differences within the gametes of individuals may lead
to failure of fertilization or / infertility or result in infertile
offspring’s e.g. In man , individuals with 45 or 47 chromosomes
instead of normal 46 chromosomes are infertile .
 Inheritable structural changes in genitalia of individuals in a
deme may hinder the mating process. Fertilization and viable
offspring’s will only result from genetically similar individuals
 d)Behaviour isolation – these include changes in courtship
Behaviour, song sounds and nesting habits proceeding mating. If
some courtship Behaviour activities are not recognized by a
prospective mate, then the individuals are not likely to mate.
Changes in social Behaviour may restrict interaction with other
individuals of the same population hence there will be no likelihood
of mating.
 e)Artificial selection and selective breeding by man
 Man selects animals and plants varieties with desirable qualities or
characteristics and allow them to interbreed while those with
undesirable qualities are prevented from mating hence become
eliminated. Genetic manipulations bringing about polyploidy in
plants have been used to develop crop varieties with desirable
characteristics

 Natural Selection in Action
Evolution is a gradual process over many years making it
impossible to observe species being formed.
 However, formation of strains and varieties within species
are indicators of speciation in progress.
Examples of natural selection in action include;
 Industrial melanism,
Sickle cell trait,
Resistance to drugs, pesticides and antibiotics
 a)Industrial melanism (peppered moth)
The peppered moth; Biston betularia,
 They exist in two distinct forms: a speckled white form (the normal form) and a
melanic, dark form.
 The moths normally rest on the trunks and branches of trees where they camouflaged
against predators
 The first melanic moths were observed in 1848 around Manchester in Britain. Since that
tie the number has increased tremendously outnumbering the speckled white form. The
increase went together with the increase in industrialization.
 The increase in the population of the melanic form is correlated with environmental
changes brought about by industrialization and pollution. Smoke and soot from factories
have darkened the tree trunks over the years.
 This has resulted in the preservation of mutation in Biston betularia leading to evolution
of their melanic form. The dark background of the tree trunks made the white moths
move conspicuous (easily seen) while the black form blended well with the dark tree
trunks. It became harder for predators to see the black moth. The white moth was
therefore more likely to be eaten than the black one. During industrialization, the black
form was therefore more likely to survive. The surviving moths eventually moved to areas
where the trunks were not coated with smoke. The black form gradually became dominant
Biston betularia( peppered moth)
b)Resistance to drugs, pesticides and antibodies
Long exposure to the drugs makes some organisms to undergo
mutation and develop new strains whose protein coat cannot be
destroyed by the antibodies so produced. Through reproduction
the populations of the new strains increase whereas the
individuals that would not have undergone mutation are
eliminated or die. Eventually there emerges a population of the
new strains that are resistant to drugs
c)Sickle cell trait
There is high frequency of this mutant gene in places of where
malaria prevalence is high.
This due to heterozygous individual being resistant to malaria a
situation called heterozygous advantage. These individuals are
selected for.
Explain the role of mutations in evolution
 Mutation can be advantageous or disadvantageous to an individual
organism.
 Those organisms with advantageous will be naturally selected to
survive and the existing environmental conditions because they will
be better adapted. Such individuals will grow to maturity and
through reproduction, pass over their favourable characteristics to
their of springs which will become better adapted to the
environment than their parents.
 Those individuals with the disadvantageous mutations will be
eliminated or die before maturity, hence will not be able to pass on
their unfavourable characteristics to any offspring. This leads of
emergence population that are better adapted to the existing
environmental conditions than their parental population, hence
evolution would have taken place

 Mechanisms of Evolution
 Chromosomal and gene mutation – which are transmitted from
parents of offspring’s. This brings about changes / variations in a
population , hence evolution
 Cross- over – occurs during prophase i of a meiotic cell division –
occurs when homologous chromosomes pairs up and their
chromatids break and rejoin at certain points. When they separate or
segregate into a daughter cells (gametes) they will have a gene
sequence different from the original chromosomes. Different
combinations of genes are reproduced leading to variations
 Interbreeding- between individuals of adjacent populations changes
the frequency resulting in variations in the populations.
 Migration – immigration and emigration of animals tends to alter the
gene frequency
 Environmental changes- certain environmental changes may affect
individuals in a population in such away they are not able to pass
their characteristics to the next generation. The gene frequency in
the new generation will differ from the proceeding one.
 The end

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