EVOLUTION

• Derived from Latin worlds e=from +volvere=to

roll. The act of unrolling or unfolding. • It is
defined as slow, gradual and orderly changes
from simple to complex over a long period of
time.
• Darwin defined evolution as “descent with
modification”.
• It can also be defined as gradual changes in
heritable traits of living organism over a
number of generations.
Types of evolution
 i. Inorganic evolution: It refers to gradual changes in
non-living things like soil, rock, chemical
compounds etc. E.g. change in atmosphere of the
earth from reducing to oxidizing one.
ii. Organic evolution: It refers to the changes in living
organisms. E.g. Darwin's finches. It can also be
defined as the process by which primitive form of
life, once originated, underwent gradual changes
with changing environmental conditions of the
earth to evolve into present day diverse form of
life over a long period of time.
Patterns of organic evolution
i. Convergent evolution: The development of
 similar adaptational features in unrelated
groups of organism is called convergent
evolution. It is also called adaptive
convergence. E.g. wings of birds and butterfly,
fins of fish and flippers of whale.
ii. Divergent evolution: The development of
different functional structures from a common
ancestral form is called divergent evolution. It
is also called adaptive radiation. E.g. Darwin’s
finches, limbs of mammals.
iii. Parallel evolution: Evolution that deals with
two species evolving indecently of each other
maintaining the same level of similarity. E.g. old
world and new world monkey.
iv. Progressive evolution: The evolution in which
simple forms of organism develop into complex
forms is called progressive evolution. E.g.
multicellular organisms from unicellular ones. v.
Retrogressive evolution: The evolution in which
complex forms of organisms develop into
simpler forms. E.g. evolution of fungi from algae.
Evidences of organic evolution
1. Morphological and anatomical evidences
2. Paleontological evidences
3. Embryological evidences
 4. Biochemical/Physiological evidences
5. Genetical evidences
Morphological and Anatomical
evidences
• The comparative study of the morphological and
anatomical structures of different groups of
animals and plants provide a clue for evolution.
• The studies in comparative anatomy suggest that
anatomical similarities become more and more
complex progressively as one proceeds from
lower animal to higher animal and the organisms
have inherited anatomical similarities from
 common ancestor.
The study of homologous organ, analogous organs,
vestigial organs and atavism provide evidences in
favour of organic evolution.
i. Homologous organs: The homologous organs
are those organs which have common origin
and structure but different functions and
appearance. For examples, forelimbs of frog,
bird, bat, whale, horse and human. All these
have same bones like humerus, radius, ulna,
carpal, metacarpal and phalanges. They have
same muscles, blood vessels, nerves but
perform different function and have different
appearance.
The forelimbs of frog is used for jumping, bird for
flying, bat for flying, whale for swimming, horse for
running and human for grasping.
Study of homologous organs suggest common
ancestry i.e. they are developed from same
ancestor. It showed divergent evolution.

ii. Analogous organs: The analogous organ are

those organs which have almost similar appearance
and function but are different in origin and
structure. For example, wings of birds and insects.
Wings of birds and insects are used for same
function flight and but their origin is different.
In birds wings are modified forelimbs supported by
bones, muscles, blood vessels while that of insects
are modified outgrowth of body wall and
membranous.
Analogous organs suggest convergent
evolution. It is due their similar adaptational
features for life in similar habitat. It shows
dissimilar ancestry.

iii. Vestigial organs: The organs which are

incompletely developed(rudimentary) and
generally non functional are called vestigial
organs.
There are about ninety such organ in human
body. For examples, vermiform appendix,
wisdom teeth, caudal vertebrae-coccyx,
nictitating membrane, ear muscles etc.
The vestigial organs were fully developed
and functional in the ancestors but with the
change in habit these organs were no more
needed by the organisms and gradually reduced
to vestiges. For example, the vermiform appendix
in human is remnant of the caecum which is large
and functional in all herbivores for cellulose
digestion. It suggest that ancestor of human were
herbivores.
iv. Atavism: The sudden appearance of some
ancestral features in certain individual is called
atavism. Fro examples, human baby with tail, long
and pointed canine, large and thick body hair,
extra nipple etc. The presence of atavistic
characters suggest that these organs were fully
developed and regularly found and were lost in
course of evolution. But suddenly appeared to
show distant ancestry.
 Paleontological evidences
The study of fossils is called paleontology. Fossils
can be defined as the remains of plants and
animals existed in past geological ages.
 Leonardo da Vinci is called ‘father of
paleontology’ while George Cuvier is called
‘founder of modern paleontology’.
It provides direct and more reliable evidence in
favour of organic evolution.
Process of fossilization: The process of formation
of fossils of dead organisms lived in the past is
called fossilization.
Types of fossils: On the basis of parts of organism
preserved fossils are of following types a.
Unaltered or intact fossil: In this type of fossil
the entire organism or parts may get
preserved in original form in very cold and dry
 parts of the world. For example, wooly
mammoth preserved in frozen ice of Siberia,
insects preserved in amber (fossil resin exuded
from pine tree ).
b.Petrified fossils: The most common type of fossils
which is formed by partial or complete
replacement of organic parts of dead organisms by
minerals like carbonate, sulphate, phosphate etc. c.
Casts and moulds : The type of fossils which is
formed by hardening of the surrounding materials of
buried organism.
d.Compression: It is common type of plant fossil
where the internal structure is left as a thin carbon
film giving the outline of organism.
 e.Impression: Impression are formed when the dead
organism or parts of body comes in contact with soft
clay and hardens into rock with a print of it.
Significance of fossils/Importance of paleontology:
Following information can be extracted form the
study of fossils-
• The most primitive forms of life are recorded in the
oldest rocks.
• Different fossils are formed at different time period.
• There were large number of species that lived in the
past but are extinct now.
• Some organisms which remained scarce in one period
became dominant in next period or era.
• The evolutionary history of the organism has been
 established e.g., horse.
• The missing link or connecting link between two
different groups of organisms are revealed .
Connecting links:
Some organisms possess characters of two
separate groups, one being primitive and
other being advanced. Such species which
bridge two different groups are called
connecting link. For example, Peripatus is the
connecting link between Annelida and
Arthropoda. Archaeopteryx is the connecting
link between reptile and bird. Duck-billed
platypus is connecting link between reptile
and mammal.
 Peripatus

Archaeopteryx:
Archaeopteryx lithographica is commonly
known as reptile bird. It was a primitive bird
like form found in the rocks of Jurassic period
by Andreas Wagner from Germany. It was
about the size of a crow and had characters of
both reptile and a bird.
• It had beak like bird but teeth and heavy jaw
like reptiles.
• Forelimbs are modified into wings like bird
but had claws on its wings like reptiles.
• It had feathers like birds but had scales like
reptiles. • It had feathery tail like bird but tail
vertebrae like reptiles.
• The sternum is without keel and bones were
non neumatic.
Evolution of horse:
The history of evolution of horse dates back to
about 60 million years ago in Eocene period of
Cenozoic era. The ancestor of the horse was
Eohippus which was about the size of fox having
longer head, short legs with four toes on each
front foot and three on each hind foot. It was a
forest dweller and browser feeding on soft
vegetation.
The probable line of evolution of modern
horse from Eohippus through Mesohippus,
Parahippus, Merychippus, Pliohippus to Equus.
Major modification occurred in course
of evolution of modern horse include-
• Increase in body size.
• Increase in length and mobility of neck. •
Reduction in number of toes from four to one. •
Elongation of fore part of skull.
• Development of premolar and molar teeth. •
Elongation of distal part of limbs so that wrist and
ankle are high up.
• Fusion of metatarsal and metacarpal.
• Enlargement and elongation of 3rd digits.
Embryological Evidences (Evidences from
Embryology):
These evidences are based on the comparative
study of the embryos of various animals. (i)
Similarity in Early Development:
• In all the multicellular animals the fertilized egg
(zygote) undergoes segmentation (cleavage) to
produce a solid structure, the morula.
• The morula develops into a single layered
hollow blastula. The latter changes into either
two or three layered gastrula.
• The animals having two layered gastrula are said
 to be diploblastic, e.g., coelenterates.
• The animals in which three layered gastrula is
found are known as triploblastic, such as frog,
lizard, etc. Diploblastic gastrula consists of
ectoderm and endoderm.
• These two or three layers of gastrula are termed
as primary germ layers, which give rise to the
entire animal.
• Such a similar early development establishes a
close relationship among all multicellular
animals.
(ii) Resemblance among Vertebrate Embryos: • If a
comparative study of embryos of the same age of
vertebrates, such as a fish, a salamander, a tortoise,
a chick and a man is made, it is observed that they
resemble one another closely.
• They have more or less the same form and
structures like gill clefts, tail, etc. Although the
embryos of all vertebrates resemble with one
another but the embryos of closely related groups
resemble more closely than the embryos of the
distant groups. This is another evidence establishing
close relationship among these divergent
vertebrates.
(iii) Development of Vertebrate Organs:
 • Development of many vertebrate organs (e.g., heart,
brain, kidney) indicate the possible path of evolution
as well as the common ancestry of vertebrates.
• For example, during its development the heart of a
mammal or bird is initially two-chambered (as in
fishes), then three-chambered (as in amphibians and
some reptiles) and ultimately four-chambered.
• It clearly shows that birds and mammals have
originated from fishes through amphibians and
reptiles.
(iv) Recapitulation Theory/Biogenetic Law: • In
1828, Von Baer, the father of modern embryology,
proposed Baer’s law which stated that during
embryonic development, the generalized features
(such as brain, spinal cord, axial skeleton, aortic
arches, etc. are common to all vertebrates)
appeared earlier than the special features (like hair
in mammals only, feathers in birds only, limbs found
in quadrupeds only) which distinguish the various
members of the group.
• Later on this law was modified as the biogenetic
law by Ernst Haeckel in 1866. Haeckel’s biogenetic
law states that “Ontogeny repeats phylogeny”.
Ontogeny is the life history of an organism while
phylogeny is the evolutionary history of the race of
that organism. In other words an organism repeats
its ancestral history during its development.
Examples:
• In the development of the frog a fish like tailed
larva (tadpole) is formed, which swims with the tail
and respires by the gills. This indicates that the
frog has been evolved from a fish like ancestor.
Evidences from Biochemistry and
Comparative Physiology:
• Living beings exhibit a large degree of similarity
in chemical constitution, biochemical reactions
and body functions. They provide a number of
evidences of common ancestry and evolution
 of different groups of organisms.
1. Protoplasm:
• All living beings are made of protoplasm,
commonly called living matter. Its biochemical
constitution is similar in all the organisms. About
90% of the protoplasm is formed of four
elements — carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and
nitrogen. Along with phosphorus and sulphur,
they constitute most of the organic compounds
of living matter — carbohydrates, proteins, lipids
(fats) and nucleic acids.
2. Nucleic Acids and Chromosomes:
• The hereditary material is present in the form of
 DNA. DNA is usually organized into chromatin fibres
in the nucleus and chromosomes in a dividing cell.
It has the same chemical composition in all the
organisms. Genetic code, that expresses the effect
of DNA nucleotides, is universal.
3. Enzymes:
• An organism has a number of systems. A systems
possesses a similar set of enzymes in different
organisms, so much so that Kreb’s cycle has similar
enzymes in both plants and animals.
• The enzymes trypsin and amylase are the same
throughout the animal kingdom. Vertebrates have a
similar set of digestive enzymes in their digestive
 tracts. Because of it, the digestive enzymes of one
animal can be safely administered to another
animal including human beings.
4. Hormones:
• They are bio-chemicals produced by ductless or
endocrine glands which in traces help in
triggering reactions or functions in other parts of
the body.
• The hormones of vertebrates are both chemically
and functionally similar. In case of deficiency in
human beings, the hormones obtained from
other vertebrates are taken as injections, e.g.,
insulin, thyroxin.
5. Comparative Serology:
• Serology deals with study of serum od animals and
serum is the liquid that separates out from clotting
blood i.e. plasma without corpuscles and
fibrinogens.
• The proteins present in the serum acts as antigens.
When these antigens are injected into the body of
another animal antibodies are produced in the body
of the animal.
• Due to the reaction of antigen and antibody a white
precipitation is formed. The precipitate is called
precipitin and the test as precipitation test.
• Antibodies containing serum is called antiserum.
Antiserum of antigen of one animal can be
 tested with antigen of another animal in order
to show their relationship.
• If the precipitate in one animal results with more
diluted antigen of another animal, then they are
closely related.
• If precipitate results with less diluted antigen,
then those animals are not closely related.
• This technique is used to support phylogenetic
link. For example, serological test of whales with
other mammalian groups indicate that
their serum proteins are most like to those of
even toed hoofed mammals such as sheep,
cattle, hippopotamus tec. Similarly, man is
 closely related to ape than monkey from the
serological test.
Evidences from Genetics:
• Genetics is the science that deals with heredity of
animals and plants. It also provide evidences for
organic evolution. Mutation and recombination
are the sources of hereditary variations. • A
number of mutations or sudden inheritable
variations appear in organisms. They can occur in
all parts of the body and in all conceivable
directions. On accumulation, mutations give rise to
new species.
• Some important mutations include Double
Toed Cats, Hornless Cattle, Red Sunflower,
Large-sized Banana, etc.
• A mule is the offspring produced by the cross
breeding of jack ass and am mare. It is a
hybrid which is sterile and very strong.
• The breeds of dogs have descended from one
or few species of wild dogs or wolf.