Title: Natural Selection, Evolution
1Natural Selection, Evolution Implications for
the Conservation of Wildlife
2Evolution
- Its the process that drives-
- the diversity of reproductive strategies weve
studied - the ongoing relationships between predator and
prey - the patterns of wildlife distributions around the
globe - responses to disturbances
- guides the migrants
- as well as the demise of all the species that
have become extinct throughout all of time
3- Taxonomy Birds
- Class Aves (birds)
- Order Anseriformes (ducks, geese, swans, and
relatives) - Order Galliformes (chicken-like birds)
- Order Caprimulgiformes (nightbirds)
- Order Apodiformes (hummingbirds and swifts)
- Order Balaenicipitiformes (shoebill or
whale-headed stork) - Order Charadriiformes (shorebirds and relatives)
- Order Ciconiiformes (storks and relatives)
- Order Coliiformes (mousebirds)
- Order Columbiformes (doves and pigeons)
- Order Coraciiformes (kingfishers and relatives)
- Order Cuculiformes (cuckoos and relatives)
- Order Falconiformes (diurnal birds of prey)
- Order Galbuliformes
- Order Gaviiformes (loons)
- Order Gruiformes (coots, cranes, and rails)
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5And even for humans, it drives
and who will not
who will survive
6And may just influence what happens next on
this graph
7- Nothing in biology makes sense except in
the light of evolution -Theodosius
Dobzhansky - Evolution through natural selection
- is the foundation of modern ecology,
- biology and medicine.
-
8Theory or Fact?
- In everyday vernacular, a theory is a guess.
- As a scientific term, a theory is a statement of
what are held to be the general laws, principles,
or causes of something known or observed (OED) - A scientific theory is testable and can make
verifiable predictions - In fact, it has been noted that we know more
about the mechanisms of evolution than we do
gravity, the nature of light, sleep, the weather,
and something even more nebulous and stormy
love.
9- Throughout much of human history, the dominant
perspective (and still is in some of the less
educated parts of the world and country), was
that everything was divinely created in its
present form, and that this Creator also
orchestrated their interactions not unlike a
master puppeteer.
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11- Theologist What have you learned about the
mind of God in the course of your studies of
biology? - J.B.S.Haldane Madame, only that he had an
inordinate fondness for beetles.
12J.B.S. Haldane
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14Charles Darwin(1809-1882)
- Published one of the most
- influential books ever written-
- On the Origin of Species-
- in 1859
- 2009 marks the 200th anniversary
- of his birth and 150th anniversary
- of the publication of OtOoS
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17The Galapagos Islands
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20What is Natural Selection?
- principle by which each slight variation of a
trait, if useful, is preserved Darwin
21Natural Selection
- Individuals within populations are variable for
nearly all traits - Individuals pass on their genes to offspring
- More offspring are produced than can survive
- Individuals that survive and go on to reproduce
(the most) are those with the varieties (alleles)
that best adapt them to their environment - Outcome alleles associated with higher fitness
increase in frequency from one generation to the
next
22Artificial Selection
23Artificial Selection
24Natural Selection is also a part of population
regulation
- The reproductive potential of populations is
great, but - populations tend to remain constant in size,
because - populations suffer high mortality.
- Individuals vary within populations, leading to
- differential survival of individuals.
- Traits of individuals are inherited by their
offspring. - The composition of the population changes by the
elimination of unfit individuals
- Rabbits should cover the earth, but
- they dont, because
- many are caught by predators.
- Some rabbits run faster than others,
- and escape from predators
- and so do their young.
- Populations of rabbits, as a whole, tend to run
faster than their predecessors.
From Ricklefs The Economy of Nature Second
Edition
25Important Points
- Weak forces operating over long periods of time
create large and dramatic change. - Natural selection is the non-random survival of
random variants - Natural selection- by itself- is not evolution.
It is the mechanism that can lead to evolution. - Natural selection takes place within a
generation, but evolution takes place across
generations.
26Watson Crick Mechanism of inheritance DNA 1953
Gregor Mendel Contemporary of Darwin father of
genetics -1866 Heritable traits dominance
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28Peter Rosemary Grant
29Daphne Major
30Started research project on Darwin finches in
1973.
31Geospiza fortis
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34Graph showing the distribution of beak depths for
medium ground finches in Year 1
34
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37la Niña Drought
el Niño Rains
38Drought (la nina)
Wet (el nino)
39Following the drought of 1977, 85 of the medium
ground finch population died.
- In 1975, the rainy season came and went with nary
a drop of rain (el Niño)
40Year 3 Data
40
41Caltrop seeds (Tribulus)
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43- This demonstrates natural selection, but the
story is not quite over - The year of the drought, no young were produced
- After the drought, the 15 that survived
represented birds with larger bills. - These individuals did breed the following year.
- What do think their offspring looked like?
- (Small beaks? Medium beaks? Big beaks?)
- This is evolution.
44Other evidence for evolution
- Common structures (homologous)
- Analogous structures (convergent evolution)
- DNA Research
- Fossil Record
- Embryonic development
- Vestigial Organs Structures
- Imperfections in Structure
- Drug-Resistant Bacteria
45Homologous Structures common ancestor
46Homologous Structures
47Convergent Evolution Physical adaptations to
similar ecological conditions
48Convergent Evolution
49DNA
- - species that appear to be more
- distantly related from their positions
- in the fossil record are found to have
correspondingly greater differences in - their DNA than species that appear
- more closely related in the fossil record.
50Fossils
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54Conservation Connection
- It is not the strongest of the species that
survives, nor the most intelligent, - but the one most responsive to change.
Charles Darwin
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56 Punta
Alta a perfect catacomb for monsters of extinct
races
57- We are changing the world faster than species are
able to adapt to these changes.
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63Humans as an Evolutionary Force
- Human-induced evolution caused by unnatural
selection through harvest of wild animals
(Allendorf, F.W. and J. J. Hard. 2009. PNAS. Vol.
106) - The nature of fisheries- and farming-induced
evolution (Hutchings, J.A. and D.J. Fraser.
2007.Molecular Ecology. Vol.17) - Rapid human-induced evolution of insecthost
associations (Singer, M., C.D. Thomas and C.
Parmesan. 1993. Nature. Vol. 366) - Humans as the World's Greatest Evolutionary Force
(Palumbi, S.R. 2001. Science. Vol. 293)
64Evolution BooksThe Old Classics
65Evolution BooksThe New Classics
66- It is a century now since Darwin gave us the
first glimpse of the origin of species. We know
now what was unknown to all the preceding caravan
of generations that men are only fellow-voyagers
with other creatures in the odyssey of evolution.
This new knowledge should have given us, by this
time, a sense of kinship with fellow-creatures a
wish to live and let live a sense of wonder over
the magnitude and duration of the biotic
enterprise. -
Aldo Leopold
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