EVOLUTION-II

Some interesting adaptations

 Camouflage

Leaf frog Peppered moth

Leaf-tailed Gecko Baron Caterpillar

 Camouflage

Chameleon Changing Color

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ioblgpA5eTo
 Camouflage

Dresser crab camouflage

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYyFTK0C4Nw&t=13s
 Camouflage

Mimic octopus – the true champion of camouflage

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PmDTtkZlMwM
 Mimicry
Syrphid fly Yellow jacket wasp
 Mimicry: 3 types

 In Batesian mimicry, the mimic shares signals similar to the

model, but does not have the attribute that makes it undesirable
to predators.

 Müllerian mimicry describes a situation where two or more

species have very similar warning and both share genuine anti-
predation attributes.

 Aggressive mimicry: Humpback anglerfish

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKjFVBVGad0&t=67s
 Evidences supporting that species
are related

 Fossil Record

 Homologous Body Structures

 Vestigial Organs

 Embryology

 Biochemical Evidence
Fossil records

Archeopteryx: missing link

between reptiles and birds
Fossil records

Pikaia: Missing link

between non-chrodates
and chordates
Homologous body structures
 Embryology
Developmental similarities among organisms.
 Vestigial organs
 The appendix

 Wisdom tooth

 Coccyx

 The ear muscles

 Arrector Pili

 The Palmar Grasp Reflex (Not an organ, but behavior)

 Biochemical evidences
 Like structural homologies, similarities between biological
molecules can reflect shared evolutionary ancestry.

o The same genetic material (DNA)

o The same, or highly similar, genetic codes

 Homologous genes

o Biologists often compare the sequences of related genes

found in different species

o The basic idea is that the two species have the "same"
gene because they inherited it from a common ancestor.

• humans, cows, chickens, and chimpanzees all

have a gene that encodes the hormone insulin.

• human and chimpanzee insulin genes are much

more similar (about 98% identical) than human
and chicken insulin genes (about 64% identical).
Evolution: Is it only natural selection?
 Gene, Allele, Genotype, Phenotype

 An allele is a variant of gene.

IA IB i

IAIA IAIB IAi

IA
A AB A
IBIA IBIB IBi
IB
AB B B
iIA iIB ii
i
A B O
 Genotype and phenotype

 Let us take an example, may be eye color.

 Let us assume that the eye color is dictated by two alleles of a

gene.

 Let us further assume that the allele for BROWN eyes (B) is
dominant over that for the BLUE eyes (b).

 Predict the eye color of the individuals with following genotypes:

BB Bb bb
 Allele frequency

 Suppose you have a population having only five individuals.

 What is the phenotype frequency and the allele frequency?

BB Bb 𝑝=𝑓 𝐵 =
4
= 0.4
10

bb 𝑞=𝑓 𝑏 =
6
= 0.6
10
Bb bb

𝑝+𝑞 =1
 Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium

 Assumptions:

o Infinite population 𝑝+𝑞 =1

o No selection
𝑝2 + 2𝑝𝑞 + 𝑞 2 = 1
o No mutation

o No gene flow
Homozygous Homozygous
o Random mating dominant recessive
Heterozygous

Essentially, no evolution
 Hardy-Weinberg equation

 Suppose, in a population, there are 16% people who have blue

eyes.

 Can you determine the frequency of the alleles in the population?

 Hint: 𝒒𝟐 = 𝟎. 𝟏𝟔

 Solution: 𝑞 2 = 0.16
𝑞 = 0.16 = 𝟎. 𝟒

p = 1 − 𝑞 = 1 − 0.4 = 𝟎. 𝟔

𝑝2 + 2𝑝𝑞 + 𝑞 2 = 1

(0.6)2 = 0.36 (0.4)2 = 0.16

2 × 0.6 × 0.4 = 0.48
 What could be the use of this information?
 Evolution

 Natural selection

o An advantageous trait  Edge over other individuals

 Genetic drift

o a mechanism of evolution in which allele frequencies of a

population change over generations due to chance
(sampling error) rather than ‘selection-driven’ change.

o Genetic drift occurs in all populations of non-infinite size, but

its effects are strongest in small populations.

o Random (rather than selection-driven) changes in allele

frequencies in a population over time

o Genetic drift may result in the loss of some alleles (including

beneficial ones) and the fixation, or rise to 100% frequency,
of other alleles.
 Genetic drift

https://openstax.org/books/concepts-biology/pages/11-2-mechanisms-of-evolution
 Bottleneck effect
 An extreme example of genetic drift that happens when the size of a
population is severely reduced.

 Imagine a disaster that randomly kills a large portion of the

population

o A large portion of the genome suddenly being wiped out

o Suddenly, the genetic structure of the survivors becomes the

genetic structure of the entire population

o The new gene pool could be very different from the pre-disaster
population.

Northern elephant seal

 Founder effect

 Another extreme example of drift, one that occurs when a small

group of individuals breaks off from a larger population to
establish a colony.

 The new colony is isolated from the original population, and the
founding individuals may not represent the full genetic diversity of
the original population.

o The alleles in the founding

population may be present at
different frequencies than in
the original population

o Some alleles may be missing

altogether.

 The founder effect is similar in concept to the bottleneck effect,

but it occurs via a different mechanism (colonization rather than
catastrophe).
 Gene Flow

 The flow of alleles in and out of a population resulting from the

migration of individuals or gametes

 While some populations are fairly stable, others experience more

flux.

o Many plants, for example, send their seeds far and wide,
by wind or in the guts of animals.

o These seeds may introduce alleles common in the source

population to a new population in which they are rare.
Common misconceptions about evolution

 Individuals evolve

 Evolution explains the origin of life

 Evolution is controversial among scientists

 Organisms evolve on purpose

 Lamarck’s Theory of Evolution

 Tendency toward Perfection

 Use and Disuse:

o If a body part were used, it

got stronger

o If body part NOT used, it

deteriorated

 Inheritance of Acquired Traits:

o acquired changes were

passed to offspring
Jean Baptist Lamarck (1800s)
 Lamarck’s Theory of Evolution

 Giraffes all had SHORT necks

originally

 Giraffe’s Necks got LONGER

from stretching for food

 “Acquired” trait (long necks) then

passed to offspring

 Giraffe population became long-

necked
 Lamarck’s mistakes

 Was Lamarck correct?

o No

 Why?

o Traits are passed down from one generation to the next by

genes, not by an individual’s life experiences or activities.

o Lamarck did not know how traits were inherited (Traits are
passed through genes)

o Genes do not change by activities in life.

o Change through mutation occurs before an organism is born

Antibiotic resistance in bacteria

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=plVk4NVIUh8&t=11s