4 Pieces of Evidence for Evolution Notes

4 Pieces of Evidence for Evolution Notes

1. Biogeography – similar plants and animals exist around the globe. Ex. – birds inhabit every continent on the planet; every ocean or body of water (with few exceptions) contain fish and aquatic mammals. This is evidence that they must have come from a common ancestor.

2. Paleontology – Fossils are proof that other species of plants and animals have existed in the past.

3. Comparative Anatomy –Almost all plants and animals have similar structures and functions. If the structures arose from a common ancestor (for ex. a human’s arms and a whale’s flippers), it is an example of organic evolution, and the two structures are called homologous structures. If the structures did not arise from a common ancestor (for ex. a bird’s wings and an insect’s wings), it is an example of convergent evolution, and the structures are called analogous structures.

4. Molecular Biology – all living things have DNA and/or RNA that is made from the same nucleotides (A, C, T, G, U), just in a different pattern. This is evidence of a single common ancestor.