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View of Life
The Origin of Species
The Evolution of Populations
24, 1859
◦ The day Charles Darwin published On the Origin
of Species by Means of Natural Selection.
The Origin of Species
◦ Focused biologists’ attention on the great
diversity of organisms
England
EUROPE
NORTH
AMERICA
PACIFIC ATLANTIC
OCEAN OCEAN
SOUTH
Darwin in 1840, AMERICA
after his return
AUSTRALIA
Andes
Cape of
Good Hope
Tasmania
Cape Horn New
Tierra del Fuego Zealand
(a) Cactus eater. The long, (c) Seed eater. The large ground
sharp beak of the cactus finch (Geospiza magnirostris)
ground finch (Geospiza has a large beak adapted for
scandens) helps it tear cracking seeds that fall from
and eat cactus flowers plants to the ground.
and pulp.
Sirenia
Elephas Loxodonta Loxodonta
Hyracoidea (Manatees
maximus africana cyclotis
(Hyraxes) and relatives)
Years ago
Mammuthus
Stegodon
Mammut
Deinotherium
Platybelodon
Millions of years ago
Barytherium
Moeritherium
Terminal Lateral
bud buds
Flower
Leaves
cluster
Cauliflower Kale
Flower
Stem
and
stems
Broccoli Wild mustard Kohlrabi
NORTH
AMERICA
Sugar
glider
AUSTRALIA
Flying
squirrel
Experimental
transplant of
Predator: Killifish; preys guppies
mainly on small guppies
Guppies:
Larger at
sexual maturity
than those in
“pike-cichlid pools”
at maturity (days)
Control Population: Guppies
Age of guppies
185.6
161.5 85.7 92.3
from pools with pike-cichlids
58.2 as predators
48.5
67.5 76.1
Experimental Population:
Guppies transplanted to
Males Females Males Females pools with killifish as
predators
CONCLUSION Reznick and Endler concluded that the change in predator resulted in different variations
in the population (larger size and faster maturation) being favored. Over a relatively short time, this altered
selection pressure resulted in an observable evolutionary change in the experimental population.
In humans, the use of drugs
◦ Selects for pathogens that through chance
mutations are resistant to the drugs’ effects
Natural selection is a cause of adaptive
evolution
Researchers have developed numerous drugs
to combat HIV
◦ But using these medications selects for viruses
resistant to the drugs
Percent of HIV resistant to 3TC
Patient
No. 1
Patient No. 2
Patient No. 3
Weeks
The ability of bacteria and viruses to evolve
rapidly
◦ Poses a challenge to our society