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FOSSIL RECORD EVIDENCE

Background: Students know fossils are the remains of organisms that lived long ago. The fossils can be dated to show their age.

Essential Question: Why is important to use other evidences of evolution and not just the fossil record ? (CIRCLE ans. )

Vocabulary: Highlight or underline the different time periods that show the evolution of life on earth.

Darwin’s Quote“Of this history (of the world)

we possess the last volume alone….

Of this volume

only here and there a short chapter

has been preserved;

and of each page,

only here and there a few lines.”

WHAT DID HE MEAN?

RELATE IT TO THE FOSSIL RECORD

B. Fossils are remains that can tell a story

1. the relationship between species

2. the climate of earth during specific times

3. behavior and physical characteristics

I. FOSSIL RECORDA. Shows evidence of Evolution over time

THE FOSSIL RECORD REVEALS THE DIVERSITY OFVARIOUS GROUPS OF ORGANISMS OVER GEOLOGIC

TIME

C. Shows Speciation1. Usually most abundant after mass extinctions

a. species have new places to liveb. less competition for food

The GOOD news: the species that manage to survive a mass

extinction become the "stock" for the new adaptive radiations that fill

the many gaps left by extinctions. Lucky for us one primate survived

the Cretacious extinctions......

D. Shows 5 Mass extinction

1. Usually caused by change in environment

a. cooler temperatures killed the dinosaurs

b. continent movement change habitat of marine animals

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Ordovician: 50% of animal families,

Devonian: 30% of animal families,

Permian: 90% of animal families, including over 95% of marine species; many trees, amphibians, most bryozoans and brachiopods, all trilobites.

Triassic: 35% of animal families, including many reptiles and marine mollusks.

Cretaceous: up to 80% of ruling reptiles (dinosaurs); many marine species including manyforaminiferans and mollusks.

Current extinction crisis causedby human activities.

Species and families experiencing mass extinction

Bar width represents relative number of living species

Extinction

Millions ofyears ago

PeriodEra

Pa

leo

zo

icM

eso

zo

icC

en

ozo

ic Quaternary

Tertiary

Cretaceous

Jurassic

Triassic

Permian

Carboniferous

Devonian

Silurian

Ordovician

Cambrian

Today

65

180

250

345

500Extinction

Extinction

Extinction

Extinction

Extinction

Extinction• Evolution has not always progressed in a straight-forward manner, or from simple to complex.

• The Burgess Shale fauna were complex and bizarre marine animals from 530 million years ago that vanished completely.

Extinction in the context of Evolution

• If the environment changes rapidly and• The species living in these environments do not already possess genes which enable survival in the face of such change and

• Random mutations do not accumulate quickly enough then

• All members of the unlucky species may die

E. Incomplete fossil record

1. Most organisms will decay or be eaten before becoming fossils

2. Organisms that live in area where there is no potential of being fossilized will never be represented.

3. Due to small sample size it is difficult to study biodiversity within in species.

630-542 million years agohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geologic_time_scale

II. Ediacara Evidence – 630 mya

A. The Ediacara animals were strange organisms from which animal life began

B. The evolution of the familiar animals, plant and fungi Kingdoms happened during this time.

www.peripatus.gen.nz/paleontology/Ediacara.html


III. Cambrian Explosion – 542-515 mya

A. Several fossil sites show the diversity of marine animal life

B. Dramatically exploded over a short time.

Claw of AnomalocarisBurgess Shale fossils

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IV. Land Visitors – 500 mya

500 million years agohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geologic_time_scale

© Simon Braddy

Eurypterid

A. Tracks in ancient coastal dunes show that some marine animals started to make temporary visits to the sea shore to feed or mate

B. Similar to crabs today

V. Permanent Residents -460-400 mya


A. Worms and primitive plants started to colonize the land

Liverworts similar to the first plants

Ancient worm burrows


B. Analysis of fossil poo shows that animals started to eat plants

Fossil millipedesFossil poo contains plants

VI. First Forests 380-370 mya


A. plants grew trunks, leaves and seeds for the first time

B. This allowed them to live away from water.

SeedsLarge leavesTree trunks

VII. Amphibians -380-365 mya


IchthyostegaPanderichthys

A. Certain fish evolved limbs and lungs for life on land

B. The first land-dwelling amphibians retainedmany fishy characteristics

VIII. Reptiles -315 mya


A. The evolution of laying eggs on land.

B. This allowed reptiles to move away from water

Hylonomus lyelli

Lay eggs on land

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Links Between Major Groups

Fishes

Coelacanth and Lung Fish

Early Amphibian

Lizard-Legs on the sides

Lizard Legs

under body

Early Mammal

Early Primate

IX. First Rainforests -320-290 mya


A. Coal layers in North America and Europe are the results of the first tropical rainforests.

B. Era of giant insects.

Coal ForestsFossil plant

X. The Great Dying -251 mya

251.4 million years agohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geologic_time_scale

Extinction intensity

A. 90% of life died in a massive wave of extinction B. the largest of the so-called “Big Five”

mass extinctions

% s

pecie

s e

xtinct

XI. Dinosaurs -220-65 mya


A. Shortly after the extinction, dinosaurs appeared.

B. dominated the land for the next 150 myrs!

Links

• Links have been found between:– Fish and Amphibians– Reptiles and Birds– Reptiles and Mammals

Dinosaur Foot

Modern BirdsFeet

XII. Birds -155 mya


A. Birds evolved from dinosaurs.B. The similarity between birds and dinosaurs has been recognized for 160 years.

Archaeopteryx

is one of the earliest knownbirds

Microraptor

is a small feathereddinosaur

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Missing Links

• Darwin predicted that intermediate species yet to be discovered (Missing Links), would have traits linking the major groups of organisms

• Since Darwin many of these “Missing links” have been found.

Modern Bird

Archaeopteryx

Dino

Archaeopteryx Fossil

XIII. Mammals -220 mya to present


A. Mammals evolved about thesame time as the dinosaurs, but lived in their shadow for a 150 million years

B. Many were small, nocturnalinsect-eating animals

1. This could have lead to being warmblooded.

Yanoconodon

Link between hoofed mammals

and Whales60 million years ago

Could walk like a sea lion

But also swam50 Million years ago

Spent little time on

land, small hind legs useless for walking

40 Million years ago

Modern Whales have front

flippers and small internal hind leg bones that do not

have a function

Whale Evolution

XIV. Deep Impact -65 mya


Shocked quartz

The Crater of Doom

miac.uqac.ca/MIAC/qtz-chic.jpgA. the Earth was hit by a 10 km meteorite B. wiping out the dinosaurs

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• Cretaceous Extinction: 65 million years ago.• Loss of the dinosaurs.• Good evidence that this event was caused by an

asteroid that hit in the Yucatan, causing a “nuclear winter”.

XV. Grass and Grazers -35 mya


A. climate became cooler and drier creating grasslands

B. grazing mammals became widespread

XVI. Humans -2 mya


Cave art

Neanderthal

A. They pioneered the use of fire and tools to control their world

A. developed society and culture

XVII. Sixth Extinction -today

Todayhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geologic_time_scale

A. humans activity has increased the rate of species extinction

B. Possibly in our sixth mass extinction

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