The Evolution of Living Things

1. The geological timeline

divided the history of the
earth into three eons,
which in turn are divided
into eras, periods and
epochs
a. The first two eons
(the Archaean and the
Proterozoic) lasted
approximately 4 billion
years

b. The current eon (the Phanerozoic) has lasted

for about only the last billion years
i. this eon contains the most history of
life on earth
ii. it is divided into 3 eras:
1) the Paleozoic
2) the Mesozoic
3) the Cenozioc

2. The first cells

a. the first organisms single- celled prokaryotic and appeared in
the Archaen
b. The earliest evidence we have of this are
fossils called stromatolites
i. stromatolites are layered rocks that form
when certain prokaryotes bind thin films
of sediment together
ii. stromatolites exist today, formed by
contemporary prokaryotes in warm shallow
sea water

c. The earliest prokaryotes probably arose before

the first fossils were created
d. Porkaryotic cells were the only life on earth
until about 2.1 billion years ago
3. The production of the atmospheric oxygen
a. at first, there was no molecular oxygen in
the atmosphere
b. the first cells produced oxygen as a result
of the water-spiltting step in photosynthesis
c. over time, this oxygen saturated the water,
and began accumulating in the atmosphere
d. at about 2 billion years ago, an oxygen
revolution occurred, with the levels shooting
up to between 1% and 10% of current levels
e. oxygen attacks chemical bonds and damaged cells,
so it is probable that many prokaryotic species
disappeared at this time

f. Some prokaryotic species survived in

anaerobic environemtns
g. Others developed adaptations such as cellular
respiration, which uses oxygen to harvest
energy from organic molecules
5. The first eukaryotic cells
a. we think eukaryotic cells are about 2.1
billion years old
b. the features that distinguish eukaryotic
cells from prokaryotic cells evolved over
time

c. Nuclear membrane and the endomembrane

system (Golgi) probably developed as
infoldings of the plasma membrane
d. We think that mitochondria and chloroplasts
appeared through as process knows as
serial endosymbiosis
i. endo- means inside; and
symbiosis means living together
ii. These organelles began as small,
prokaryotic cell with specialized
biochemical pathways (cellular
respiration and photosynthesis)
iii. They may originally have been undigested prey
or internal parasites
iv. Over time, they began living within the larger cells
v. since all eukaryotic cells have mitochondria, but only some
have plastids, so mitochondria probably evolved first

6. Evidence for endosymbiosis

a. Endosymbiosis occurs today- scientist have observed instances or prey or
parasites becoming endosymbiotic in as little as five years
b. Mitochondria and chloroplasts;
i. resemble prokaryotic cells in size

ii. Have enzymes and transport systems on their

inner membranes that are homologous to
those found in the plasma membranes of
living prokaryotes
iii. Replicate independently of the rest of the cell
by a process resembling binary fission
iv. Have single, circular DNA molecules not
associated with histones, like prokaryotic
chromosomes
v. Have cellular for transcription and translation
of their DNA into proteins
vi. Have ribosomes more similar to those of prokaryotes
than eukaryotes in terms on RNA sequence, size, and
sensitivity to antibiotics.

Phanerozoic

7. The origin of multicellular organisms

a. based on comparison of DNA sequences,
the earliest common ancestor of
multicellular organisms lived about 1.5
billion years ago.
b. the oldest fossil evidence comes from about
1.2 billion years ago (fossil algae)
c. large multicellular fossils do not appear until
about 575 million years ago
d. this date coincides with the end of the
snowball earth period
i. this was caused by a series of severe ice ages
about 750 to 580 million years ago.

8. The evolution of animals (the Cambrian explosion)

a. although earlier animal fossils exist,
Cambrian period saw sudden appearance
of new phyla
b. early animals were relatively small, soft
bodied, and show little evidence of
predation
c. during the Cambrian we see the first large
animals (over 1m), the first predator
adaptations, and the first defensive adaptation
like hard parts

Kimberella

9. The colonization of land

a. cyanobacteria an other prokaryotes may
have coated damp surfaces on land over a
billion year ago
b. larger organisms did not colonize land until
about 500 mya
c. the first large organisms on land were plants
and fungi
d. plants developed adaptations that;
i. prevented dehydration of the organism
ii. Prevented dehydration of gametes and
embryos.

e. Fungi must have accompanied plants from the

beginning
i. even today, most plants have symbiotic fungi
associated with their roots
ii. the fungi aid plants in absorbing minerals
and water from the soil
f. Animals colonized land about 420 mya
i. arthropods were the first land animals
ii. The earliest tetrapods fossils date to about
364 mya, and appear to have evolved from
lobe-finned fishes.

9. Human ancestors did not appear until 6 or

7 mya, Homo sapiens not until about
195,00 years ago

Cladograms
Node: Represents a
Taxonomic group
(existing species or
ancestor)
Branch: Represents
The number of changes
That have occurred
To ancestral and present
Species

Root: Common ancestor of

all taxa

1. A cladogram is a tree-like diagram where

nodes represent the splitting of two new
groups from a common ancestor
2. Members of a clade typically share a set of
features not found in more distant relatives

Constructing a cladogram
1) Compile characteristics being analyzed into a
table.
Characteristic

Shark

Frog

Kangaroo

Human

Vertebrae

Two pair
Of limbs
Mammary
Glands
Placenta

2) Construct a Venn diagram using tabeled

data

3) Convert Venn diagram into cladogram