BI102 General Biology

Spring 2008

Dr. Brian K. Penney

Goulet 2320

603 641-7149

bpenney@anselm.edu

Brian K. Penney 's web page

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1. The idea of organic evolution has a long history

   The idea of "descent with modification" actually extends over 4,000 years!

   • The central question is why organisms are generally well-adapted to the environment
   • Greeks debated the idea of evolution by natural selection, but Aristotle's view of fixed species persisted due to historical contingency
   • Studies of fossils during the Enlightenment led to the idea of evolution, but the mechanism was unclear
   • Darwin merely added the mechanism of natural selection and broad comparative evidence

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2. Multiple lines of evidence support the idea of evolution

   1) Comparative anatomy: and the understanding of homologous versus analogous structures

   2) Comparative embryology

   3) Biogeography and the Fossil record

   4) Molecular biology

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3. Natural selection as the mechanism for evolution

   a. natural selection definition: reproductive success is unequal, and those individuals best meeting demands of the environment have the greatest reproductive success

   b analogous to artificial selection, which can actually produce greater change in form

   c. examples: 1) pesticide resistance in insects, 2) antibiotic resistance in bacteria

Copyright 2007-2008, Brian K. Penney

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