01:750:109 Chapter Notes - Chapter 15.3: Mutation, Natural Selection
Evolution on Earth and Beyond
●2 key characteristics we assume all life must share:
○Ability to reproduce
○Ability to adapt to environment
●Theory of evolution
What is the evidence for evolution
●Evolution: "change w time"
○Observations of evolution
■Primarily from fossil record
■Evolution has occurred
○Theory of evolution
■Charles Darwin
■How evolution occurs
■Natural selection
Accumulating Evidence
●Evolution occurs bc passing of genetic info from one generation to next is not always perfect
●DNA altered by occasional copying errors or by external influences, such as ultraviolet light from
Sun or exposure to toxic or radioactive chemicals
●Mutation: any change in an organism's DNA
○Many mutations are lethal, killing the cell in which the mutation occurs
○Some may improve a cell's ability to survive and reproduce
