10

Module 3

SCIENCE
SOURCES OF EVIDENCE
FOR EVOLUTION
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INSTRUCTION TO THE LEARNERS

Simple reminders for this module.

1. Read and follow the instructions carefully.

2. Answer the pre-test, check and compare your answers with the
answers provided at the back of this module.

3. Be honest in working on this module.

4. The activities are divided into three parts. Read and perform all the
activities, as this will help you to have a better understanding of the given
topic.

5. Answer the pre-test and the post test honestly.

6. Lastly, compare your answer with the answer key on the last page of
this module.

OVERVIEW

Evolution is a key unifying principle in biology. As Theodosius

Dobzhansky once said, “Nothing in biology makes sense except in the
light of evolution.” But what, exactly, are the features of biology that
make more sense through the lens of evolution? To put it another way,
what are the indications or traces that show evolution has taken place in
the past and is still happening today?

In this module, you will examine the sources of evidences for

evolution on both macro and micro scales. You will look at several types
of evidence (including physical and molecular features, geographical
information, and fossils that provide evidence for, and can allow you to
reconstruct, macro evolutionary events.
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LET’S CHECK YOUR PRIOR KNOWLEDGE!

A. Multiple Choice. Choose the letter of the best answer.

1. Where can most of the fossils be found?

A. Black soil
B. Lava flows
C. Igneous rock
D. Sedimentary rock

2. Similar structures that related species have inherited from a

common ancestor are called
A. Ancestral structures
B. Analogous structures
C. Homologous structures
D. Multi-cellular structures

3. In what era can the oldest fossils be found?

A. Cenozoic
B. Mesozoic
C. Paleozoic
D. Pre-Cambrian

4. According to evolutionist, which is the best test to show the

relatedness of two organisms?
A. Similarity in structure
B. Similarity in development
C. Similarity in genomic DNA
D. Similarity in courting behavior

5. Which of the following is the weakest evidence supporting a close

evolutionary relationship between two animals?
A. Lesser chickens look like birds.
B. The bones of a bird’s wings are similar to the bones of a dog’s
legs.
C. Human embryos look like turtle embryos in their early
development.
D. The amino acid sequence in mouse hemoglobin is similar to the
amino acid sequence in monkey hemoglobin.
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B. Identify the sources of evidence that support the theory of evolution.

Write your answer in a graphic organizer like the one below.

Sources of Evidence

Theory of Evolution

(Please refer to Key to Correction on p. 15 for the correct answer.)

WHAT YOU WILL LEARN FROM THIS MODULE?

After reading this module, you should be able to

 Identify the sources of evidence for evolution

 Examine the sources of evidence for evolution
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LET’S LEARN!

SOURCES OF EVIDENCE IN THE STUDY OF EVOLUTION

Organisms inhabiting the earth have changed overtime. Their

structures, traits and abilities allowed them to adapt and survive in their
environment. Data gathered from fossil records, anatomy and
morphology, embryonic development, and biochemistry could be
analyzed to demonstrate if evolution of life on Earth has taken place.

 FOSSIL RECORD

Fossils are the preserved remains of previously living organisms or

their traces, dating from the distant past.

Fossils like the ancient fishes provide evidences on how life changes
over time. Fossils can also help scientists infer how earth’s surface has
changed. Fossils are clues to what environments were like.

There are numerous types of fossil evidence that have been left
behind by organisms. Some of the types of fossil evidences commonly
used by scientists include trace fossils, molds and casts, replacement
fossils, petrified fossils, amber and original material fossils.

A trace fossil is any indirect evidence left by an organisms.

Examples of trace fossils include footprints, burrows and fossilized faeces
that have been left behind by organisms. They simply leave material
evidence that the organisms existed rather than evidence of the actual
structure of the organism.

Molds and casts are also important fossil evidence. Molds are
impressions of entire organisms that have been left behind. Casts are
molds that have been filled with sediment over time. Compression is most
common fossil for leaves and ferns but can occur to other organisms.
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Examples of Fossils

Petrified wood Trilobite Sloth skull

Mollusk Crinoids Fern

[Link]

Most fossils form when living things die and are buried by sediments.
The sediments slowly harden into rock and preserve the shapes of
organisms. Fossils are usually found in sedimentary rocks. Sedimentary
rock is the type of rock that is made of hardened sediment. Sediment is
Smade up of rock particles or the remains of living things.

Earth's rocks form layers on top of each other over very long time
periods. These layers, called strata, form a convenient timeline for dating
embedded fossils. Strata that are closer to the surface represent more
recent time periods, whereas deeper strata represent older time periods.

Scientists who study fossils are called paleontologists.

Paleontologists collect fossils from sedimentary rocks all over the world.
They use this information to determine what past life forms were like.
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Paleontologists also classify organisms. Their group similar organisms

together. They arrange organisms in the order in which they lived, from
earliest to latest. Together, all the information that paleontologists have
gathered about the past is called fossil record. The fossil record provides
evidences about the history of life and the past environments on Earth.
The fossil record also shows that different groups of organisms have
changed over time.

[Link]
alTimeWith
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LET’S DO IT AT HOME!

FAMILY FOSSILS

A Fossil is something old that has been preserved. With your

parents’ permission, look around your house for the oldest object you can
find. Interview family members to determine how old the object is, why it
has been preserved, and how it may have changed since it was new.
Make a drawing of the object and bring it to class. Tell to the class the
story of this “fossil.”

Source: Printice Hall Science Explorer Indiana Grade 8, Pearson Prentice

Boston,Massachusetts,

 COMPARATIVE ANATOMY

If two or more species share a unique physical feature, such

as a complex bone structure or a body plan, they may all have
inherited this feature from a common ancestor. Physical features
shared due to evolutionary history (a common ancestor) are said
to be homologous.

To give one classic example, the forelimbs of whales,

humans, birds, and dogs look pretty different on the outside. That's
because they're adapted to function in different environments.

The similar bone arrangement of the human, bird, and whale

forelimb is a structural homology. Structural homologies indicate a
shared and evolved from common ancestor. This type of evolution
is called divergent evolution.
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Homologous Structures

Image credit: "Understanding evolution: Figure 7," by OpenStax College, Biology, CC BY 4.0.

Not all physical features that look alike are marks of common
ancestry. Instead, some physical similarities are analogous: they evolved
independently in different organisms because the organisms lived in
similar environments or experienced similar selective pressures. This
process is called convergent evolution. (To converge means to come
together, like two lines meeting at a point.) For example, two distantly
related species that live in the same place like bird, bat and butterfly. This
shared feature (wings) doesn’t reflect common ancestry but have similar
functions.

Examples of Analogous Structures

Image credit: [Link]

[Link]#.WcOh_NERW6o
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LET’S TRY TO DO THIS!

Direction: Tell whether the structures below are homologous or

analogous.

STRUCTURE CLASSIFICATION
Bird wing and Bee wing
Crocodile forelimb and Human arm
Whale flipper and mouse forelimb
Bat wing and Butterfly wing
Human arm and cat forelimb

(Please refer to Key to Correction on p. 15 for the correct answer.)

 EMBRYONIC DEVELOPMENT

An embryo is an early stage of development in organisms. Embryonic

development include stages such as blastula, gastrula, and
organogenesis.

Scientists make inferences about evolutionary relationships by

comparing the early development of different organisms. Adult fish,
salamander, chicken, cat and human look quite different from each
other. However, during early development, these five organisms are
similar. All of them have a tail and a row tiny slits along their throats. These
similarities suggest these vertebrate species are related and share a
common ancestor.
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The images below show a human and mouse embryo that appear
externally close to the same stage of development.

37 - 42 days, Week 6, 8 - 11 mm CRL (Carnegie stage 16)

11.5 days, Week 2, 6 - 7 mm CRL (Theiler Stage 19)

[Link]
_Animal_Development

Which illustration refers to the embryonic development of human?

Mouse?

 GENETIC INFORMATION

Some species have similar body structures and development

patterns. Scientists infer that the species inherited many of the same
genes from a common ancestor.

Genes are made of DNA. By comparing the sequence of nitrogen

bases in the DNA of different species, you can infer how closely related
the two species are. The more similar the DNA sequence, the more
closely related the species are.

The DNA bases along a gene specify what type of protein will be
produced. Therefore, you can also compare the order of amino acids
in a protein to see how closely related the two species are.
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LET’S TRY TO DO THIS!

LET’S TRY
TELLTALE TO DO THIS!
MOLECULES

Problem

What information can protein structure reveals about evolutionary

relationships among organisms?

Procedure

1. Examine the table below. It shows the sequence of amino acids in

one region of protein, cytochrome c, of six different animals.
2. Predict which five other animals are most closely related to the
horse. Which animal do youSUM UPis the most distantly related?
think
3. Compare the amino acid sequence of the horse to that of the
donkey. HowStyrofoam,
functions. many aminoinksacids
arediffer
usedbetween the and
in offices two species?
pri
Record that number in your notebook.
4. Compare the amino acid sequences
LET’S DO IT! of each of the other animals
to that of the horse. Record the number of differences in your
notebook.

SECTION OF CYTOCHROME C PROTEIN IN ANIMALS

Animals Section of Cytochrome c Protein in Animals

39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53
Horse A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O
Donkey A B C D E F G H Z J K L M N O
Rabbit A B C D E Y G H Z J K L M N O
Snake A B C D E Y G H Z J K W M N O
Turtle A B C D E V G H Z J K U M N O
Whale A B C D E Y G H Z J K L M N O

Source: Printice Hall Science Explorer Indiana Grade 8, Pearson Prentice Hall,
Boston, Massachusetts,

Based on these data, which species is mostly related to the horse?

Which is most distantly related?

(Please refer to Key to Correction on p. 15 for the correct answer.)

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LET’S SUM UP!

Evidences of evolution come from many different areas of

biology:

 Anatomy. Species may share similar physical features because the

feature was present in a common ancestor (homologous
structures).

 Embryonic Development. Species look similar during their early

development.

 Molecular biology. DNA and the genetic code reflect the shared
ancestry of life. DNA comparisons can show how related species
are.

 Fossils. Fossils document the existence of now-extinct past species

that are related to present-day species.

LET’S CHECK HOW MUCH YOU HAVE LEARNED!

A. Multiple Choice. Write the letter of the best answer.

1. The remains or traces of organisms, such as animals, plants, insects

from the past, which are preserved through natural processes.

A. bones C. artifacts
B. fossils D. remnants
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2. Similar structures that related species have inherited from a common

ancestor are called

A. ancestral structures C. homologous structures

B. analogous structures D. multi-cellular structures

3. Based on the number of amino acid sequence (section of

cytochrome c of animals), which pair of organisms is least related to
each other?

A. Horse and Turtle C. Rabbit and Snake

B. Horse and Donkey D. Snake and Whale

4. Changes in a species over a long period of time are called

A. evolution. C. variation.
B. extinction. D. developmental stages.

5. Geologic time scale is divided into

A. relative ages. C. unconformities.

B. absolute ages. D. eras and periods.

B. Tell whether the statement below is True or False.

1. Fossils, patterns of embryonic development and similar body

structures all provide evidence that organisms have changed over
time.

2. Analogous structure is associated to divergent evolution.

3. Most fossils form when organisms that die become buried in

sediments.

4. The embryonic development of the different vertebrates in the late

stage is similar.

5. By comparing the sequence of nitrogen bases in the DNA of

different species, you can infer how closely related the two species
are.

(Please refer to Key to Correction on p. 15 for the correct answer.)

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REFERENCES

Department of Education, Science 10 Learner’s Guide, Rex Bookstore,

Inc. FE 2015

Department of Education, Science 10 Teacher’s Guide, Rex Bookstore,

Inc. FE 2015

Printice Hall Science Explorer Indiana Grade 8, Pearson Prentice Hall,

Boston, Massachusetts, 2005

ELECTRONIC REFERENCES

[Link]

[Link]
[Link]#.WcOh_NERW6o

[Link]
Connections_GeologicalTimeWith

[Link]
an_and_Other_Animal_Development
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
ANSWER KEY

Let’s check your prior knowledge!

A. 1. A 2. A 3. B 4. A 5. C

B. Fossil records, comparative anatomy, genetic information

Let’s try to do this! (Comparative Anatomy)

1. Analogous
2. Homologous
3. Homologous
4. Analogous
5. Homologous

Let’s try to do this! (Telltale)

Most closely related - Horse and Donkey with 1amino acid difference

Distantly related - Horse and Turtle with 3 amino acid difference

Horse and Snake with 3 amino acid difference

Let’s check how much you have learned!

A. 1. B 2. C 3. A 4. A 5. D
B. 1. True 2. False 3. True 4. False 5. True
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METADATA

Title: Evidence for Evolution

Language: English

Keywords: S10LT-IIIf-39

Description: The module will help the students to identify and

examine the sources of evidence for evolution

Primary Media: Print Material

Primary storage: CD, Flash drive

Resource Location: Department of Education

Region VI- Western Visayas
Division of Aklan
District of Madalag
Madalag National High School

Developer: JENALYN N. NACASABUG

Teacher III

Checked by: NOEL L. SOLIDUM LUCITA T. BELINARIO

MT I-Linabuan NHS T III-Tangalan NHS

Reviewed by: ANGEL D. ROSE HERMY E. FELICIANO

MT II-Mangan NHS MT I-Gaudencio L. Vega NHS

Endorsed by: Dr. MARY CHERRY LYNN M. DALIPE

Education Program Supervisor
Science and Research