What did Darwin mean by natural selection? Natural selection

Since 2007 American Museum natural history
and the Darwin Manuscripts Project have been transcribing Charles Darwin's manuscripts and digitizing them so that they can be freely accessed on the Internet. To date, more than 50% of the manuscripts have already been deciphered and digitized, and you can familiarize yourself with them on the museum's website.

In 1831-1836, Charles Darwin traveled around the world, during which he recorded observations about heredity, variability and the struggle for survival of living organisms. Continuing to collect data on evolution in nature, the scientist in 1859 published his main work "On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection or the Preservation of Favored Breeds in the Struggle for Life", where he told about everything that is now considered fundamental in the natural sciences.

“This is the preservation of species that survive by having the best structure, structure or instinct, I have called “natural selection”; and Mr. Herbert Spencer expressed the same idea well in the phrase "Survival of the fittest." The wording "natural selection" is bad in some respects because it seems to imply a conscious choice; but we will forget about it, getting used to it a little. No one objects to chemists who talk about "selective affinity" (trends chemical substances combined with other substances to which they prefer); of course, an acid cannot make a choice by reacting with a base, while the conditions of life dictate to us that new form life will be abandoned or chosen for the future. But the wording is not bad at the same time, because it combines the reproduction of species domesticated by man and the natural conservation of species in nature. For the sake of brevity, I sometimes speak of natural selection as an intelligent force, just as astronomers talk about gravity determining the motions of the planets, and how agriculturists think of man as the creator of domestic species simply because he can make choices. In both cases, natural selection is not without diversity and depends to some extent on environment. I often humanize the word "Nature" because it seems to me difficult to avoid this ambiguity, but by nature I mean only common work and the result of many natural laws, and under the laws only a certain series of events.

Biology. General biology. Grade 11. A basic level of Sivoglazov Vladislav Ivanovich

4. The evolutionary theory of Charles Darwin

Remember!

What kinds of variability do you know?

What is artificial selection?

The main work of C. Darwin, in which the theory of evolution was outlined, is called "The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favored Breeds in the Struggle for Life"; it was published in 1859. On the very first day, the entire circulation was sold out, huge for those times - 1250 copies. The appearance of this work was preceded by almost 30 years of scientific research and reflection.

Participation in the expedition. In 1831, Darwin was asked to complete a five-year circumnavigation of the world on the USS Beagle as a naturalist. The young researcher got the opportunity to study the nature of the most remote corners of the globe (Fig. 7).

In South America, Darwin found fossils of giant sloths and armadillos. The modern species of these animals living in the same places were very similar to extinct ones, which led Darwin to think about the possible relationship of these organisms (Fig. 8).

On the Galápagos volcanic islands, Darwin discovered a variety of finches that differed in size and bill structure, but were very similar to the mainland species (Fig. 9). Darwin suggested that once the birds came to the islands from the mainland and changed, adapting to different food sources (hard seeds, fruits, insects).

Rice. 7. Journey of Charles Darwin: A - ship "Beagle"; B - portrait of Ch. Darwin; B - expedition route

Rice. 8 Sloth Skeletons South America(on right - modern look, left - fossil)

In Australia, the scientist was struck by the amazing ancient fauna: marsupials and egg-laying mammals that have long died out in other places on the globe.

Travel has played a decisive role in shaping scientific views Darwin. Having boarded the ship as a supporter of the immutability of wildlife, five years later, when returning home, Darwin was convinced that species could change and give rise to other species.

Ch. Darwin's doctrine of artificial selection. The data collected by Darwin during the expedition and accumulated in scientific research by his contemporaries indicated the existence of the variability of the living world. However, the mechanisms of these changes remained unknown.

Returning to England, Darwin continued his Scientific research. He drew attention to the existence of two opposite phenomena: heredity and variability. At that time, it was still unknown what the nature of these two properties of living organisms was, but Darwin absolutely correctly understood that it was heredity and variability that underlie evolutionary transformations. Darwin distinguished between definite and indefinite variability.

Certain, or group, variability arises under the influence of environmental factors and manifests itself in all individuals in the same way. For example, when the quality of forage is improved, cows produce more milk, and when fertilizers are applied to the fields, crop yields become much higher. However, these changes are not passed on to the next generation, and in order to get a good harvest for the next year, the fields must be fertilized again. At present, this form of variability is usually called non-hereditary or phenotypic (see § 30, class 10).

Rice. 9. Species of finches that live in the Galapagos Islands

Darwin was much more interested in another form of variability - indefinite, or individual. Indefinite variability is the appearance in an individual of a new manifestation of a trait that was not in the ancestral forms. Darwin believed that it is indeterminate variability that ensures the emergence of new species, because it is inherited. In modern biology, it is known that mutations are the main cause of hereditary variability (see § 30, class 10).

It was this form of variability that was used by English breeders when creating new breeds of animals. By that time, more than 150 breeds of pigeons had been bred in England, many breeds of dogs, chickens, cattle, etc. Supporters of the immutability of species argued that each breed had its own wild ancestor. Darwin proved that this was not the case. All breeds of chickens are descended from the wild Banking chicken, cattle breeds from wild tours, and all the amazing variety of pigeons from the wild rock pigeon (Fig. 10).

Breeding domestic animals and cultivated plants, English farmers searched among the offspring for those individuals in which the desired trait was expressed most clearly. The selected specimens were crossed with each other, and from the organisms of the next generation, those forms were again selected in which necessary for a person the sign was best expressed. From one initial form, it was possible to obtain many different varieties or breeds at the same time, if selection was carried out according to different characteristics. Consequently, when breeding new varieties and breeds, man used artificial selection.

Rice. 10. Breeds of a pigeon: A - a wild pigeon; B - pout; B - Jacobin: G - Thurman; D - carrier pigeon; E - peacock dove

by artificial selection called the process of creating new breeds of animals and plant varieties through the systematic preservation and reproduction of individuals with certain traits and properties valuable to humans in a series of generations.

Sometimes a single large mutation leads to the emergence of a breed. This is how the Ancona breed of short-legged sheep, dachshund, duck with a crooked beak appeared, and in 2004 a cat with short legs was discovered in the USA, which gave rise to a new breed.

Artificial selection has been carried out by man at all times, but in ancient times it was unconscious. Our distant ancestors left the best animals or saved the best seeds for sowing, based on practical experience, without setting themselves a specific goal. If the breeder sets himself a specific task and selects according to one (two) traits, such selection is called methodical.

Ch. Darwin's doctrine of natural selection. In artificial conditions, the factor that selects this or that organism is a person. Darwin believed that if he could find a similarly acting factor in nature, the problem of the origin of species would be solved.

Impressed by reading the work of T. Malthus about the desire of organisms for unlimited reproduction, Darwin analyzed the patterns of reproduction of various organisms. In 750 years, the offspring of one pair of elephants, the slowest breeding animals, can amount to 19 million individuals. An oyster lays 1 million eggs per season, and the well-known raincoat mushroom produces 700 billion spores, and yet the globe is not covered with oysters and mushrooms. Despite the fact that individuals tend to reproduce in geometric progression, the number of adults of each species remains approximately constant. In other words, most of descendants perish in struggle for existence before reaching puberty.

Darwin singled out three forms of the struggle for existence: interspecific, intraspecific, and the struggle against adverse environmental factors (Fig. 11).

Intraspecific struggle occurs between individuals of the same species. This struggle is most acute because organisms belonging to the same species have similar needs. In animals, this struggle is manifested in the competition for food and territory, in many plants - in the shading of other individuals due to faster growth. Males of many species during the breeding season enter into a struggle for the right to start a family. Mating tournaments lead to sexual selection, when the stronger male leaves the offspring, and the weak or sick are excluded from the breeding process, and their genes are not passed on to the offspring.

Rice. 11. Struggle for existence

Fight against adverse environmental factors It has great importance in the survival of organisms. In a dry summer, many plants die, the flood takes the lives of many animals, not all organisms can survive the frosty winter.

In the struggle for existence, some individuals successfully cope with this task, while others cannot leave offspring or die. As a rule, offspring are left mainly by organisms with traits that are useful for given living conditions. The result of the struggle for existence is natural selection.

Darwin called the process of survival and reproduction of the fittest individuals natural selection, the main driving force that directs the evolutionary process. The material for this selection is hereditary variability. In the process of natural selection, there is a gradual accumulation of changes useful for a group of organisms, which leads to the formation of a new species.

The value of Darwin's theory. Darwin was not the first scientist to develop the theory of evolution. His merit lies in the fact that he was the first to scientifically explain the mechanisms of evolution in general and speciation in particular. Darwin considered the main factors of evolution to be hereditary variability, the struggle for existence and natural selection.

Darwin illustrated his point of view on the same example that J. B. Lamarck used in his time to explain his theory of evolution - on the giraffe. Darwin suggested that in some ancestral population of giraffes, individuals differed slightly in the length of the neck and legs. This assumption is quite legitimate, because no two identical individuals exist in any population. During periods of food shortage in the savannah, animals of different sizes were forced to compete for the leaves of trees (intraspecific struggle for existence). Taller animals could reach the leaves growing on the upper branches and inaccessible to short individuals. Therefore, short giraffes died, and with them, such signs as short legs and neck disappeared from the population. The long neck and long legs of the modern giraffe are the result of generational survival and breeding by taller individuals.

Darwin's doctrine serves as a natural scientific basis for a materialistic explanation of the expediency of the structure of living organisms, the origin and diversity of species, and is one of the greatest achievements of natural science in the 19th century.

Simultaneously with C. Darwin, another natural scientist, Alfred Russel Wallace, came to the same conclusions about the mechanisms of evolution. In July 1858, Darwin and Wallace made presentations together on their ideas at a meeting of the Linnean Society in London. Subsequently, Wallace fully recognized the priority of Darwin and introduced the term "Darwinism" to refer to new theory evolution.

The theory of evolution proposed by Darwin was subsequently expanded and revised in the light of new genetic data, molecular biology, paleontology, ecology and received the name synthetic theory of evolution.

Review questions and assignments

1. What observations of Charles Darwin shook his faith in the immutability of species?

2. What are the causes of group variability?

3. What is artificial selection?

4. What are the reasons for the struggle for existence in wildlife? Give examples of three forms of struggle for existence that you have observed in nature.

5. Which relationship results in natural selection?

6. What is the role of natural selection in evolution?

7. Consider Figure 11. What forms of struggle for existence does it illustrate? Justify your answer.

Think! Execute!

1. In the very first Russian translation of Charles Darwin's work, instead of the now familiar word "selection", the term "selection" was used (which is also an analogous word for the English selection used by Charles Darwin). Why was it subsequently replaced? Express your opinion.

2. Select the criteria yourself and compare the theories of J. B. Lamarck and C. Darwin.

Work with computer

Refer to the electronic application. Study the material and complete the assignments.

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The brilliant scientist Charles Darwin wrote what every person needs to know in order not to fall into a utopia, namely: “Natural selection daily and hourly investigates beneficial changes throughout the world, discarding the bad ones, preserving and adding up the best ones.” Obviously, natural selection implements the principle of improvement. The famous founder of the theory, Ean Baptiste Lamarck, argued that the main force that sets in motion the entire evolutionary process is the internal striving for perfection inherent in organisms. However, the desire for perfection, as equilibrium shows, is possessed by the entire Universe. The striving for perfection is inherent in the structure and principle of the balance and is expressed by gravitation. Therefore, we can rightly say that the main type of attraction is evolutionary attraction, which is an attraction to perfection, to harmonization, to order, to perfection - this is the main feature of spirituality.

So the whole universe is the highest degree spiritual. The cosmic mind is tirelessly working on the spirituality of the Universe with the help of its balanced mechanism of creation, for the operation of which truthful information in the universe is needed, and its quality at the moment and about improving the quality for the next period. Continuous improvement in the quality of information in stages creates a harmonic process that improves created forms. Man belongs to highly organized forms. His brain is able to work as a cosmic mind, to harmonize the world, himself and society. The law of perfection is the condition of life for both man and society.

According to Darwin, natural selection is a harmonic process regulated by the equilibrium mechanism. Moreover, this is a continuous process of nature, it concretely shows how the formation of the upper limit of the measure and the movement of the measure up the evolutionary axis to progress take place in life. Natural selection should be seen as structural element evolution. It is always directed towards progress.

It is unacceptable to identify the process of evolution with the process of natural selection, because the laws of evolution are the laws of equilibrium, which are more complex than the laws of natural selection according to Darwin. The identification of the process of evolution with the process of natural selection strikes at the very teachings of Darwin, contributing to the emergence of anti-Darwinian trends. One cannot identify the broad with the narrow, the more complex with the simpler. Moreover, the complexity of evolution in society is due to the action of the information component, which is an extremely controversial process.

Driving form of natural selection according to Darwin

The most valuable thing in Darwin's teaching is the disclosure of an element of the equilibrium mechanism of the general evolutionary process of the Universe with the help of a driving form of selection. This element shows how the evolutionary mechanism of equilibrium, using information about the change in traits, controls the harmonization of the population. Implementation of the trend towards improvement at all stages of harmonious development is the harmonization of a complex developing system that forms the orderliness of the world. It was Darwin who, using the arithmetic mean, studied information about the development of a population. He said that the development of the population follows the growth of the average. It is from the arithmetic mean that the cosmic mind originates. Hegel called it absolute reason. Both Darwin and Hegel suffered from those who used their brilliant works for their own selfish interests. But even more affected were many peoples, tormented by acute conflicts and poverty in the 19th and 20th centuries.

Charles Darwin's teaching is the basis of the modern theory of evolution

Ch.Darwin's evolutionary theory is based on the idea of ​​a species, its variability in the process of adaptation to the environment and the transfer of traits from ancestors to offspring. At the same time, the evolution of cultural forms proceeds under the influence of artificial selection, the factors of which are variability, heredity and creative activity man, and evolution natural species is carried out due to natural selection, the factors of which are variability, heredity and the struggle for existence.

Variability

Comparing many breeds of animals and plant varieties, Darwin noticed that within any species of animals and plants, and in culture, within any variety and breed, there are no identical individuals. Based on the instructions of K. Linney that reindeer herders recognize each deer in their herd, shepherds recognize each sheep, and many gardeners recognize varieties of hyacinths and tulips by bulbs, Darwin concluded that variability is inherent in all animals and plants.

Analyzing the material on the variability of animals, the scientist noticed that any change in the conditions of detention is enough to cause variability. Thus, by variability, Darwin understood the ability of organisms to acquire new characteristics under the influence of environmental conditions. He distinguished the following forms variability:

In The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or The Preservation of Favored Breeds in the Struggle for Life (1859) and Changes in Domestic Animals and Cultivated Plants (1868), Darwin described in detail the diversity of domestic animal breeds and analyzed their origin. He noted the diversity of cattle breeds, of which there are about 400. They differ from each other in a number of ways: color, body shape, degree of development of the skeleton and muscles, the presence and shape of horns. The scientist studied in detail the question of the origin of these breeds and came to the conclusion that all European breeds of cattle, despite the great differences between them, descended from two ancestral forms domesticated by man.

The breeds of domestic sheep are also extremely diverse, there are more than 200 of them, but they come from a limited number of ancestors - mouflon and argali. Various breeds of domestic pigs are also bred from wild forms of the boar, which, in the process of domestication, have changed many features of their structure. Breeds of dogs, rabbits, chickens and other domestic animals are unusually diverse.

Of particular interest to Darwin was the question of the origin of pigeons. He proved that all existing breeds of pigeons descended from one wild ancestor - a rocky (mountain) pigeon. The breeds of pigeons are so varied that any ornithologist, finding them in the wild, would recognize them as independent species. However, Darwin showed their common origin based on the following facts:

  • none of the species of wild pigeons, except for the rocky, has signs of domestic breeds;
  • many features of all domestic breeds are similar to those of the wild rock pigeon. Domestic pigeons do not build nests in trees, retaining the wild pigeon instinct. All breeds exhibit the same behavior when courting a female;
  • when crossing pigeons of different breeds, hybrids sometimes appear with signs of a wild rock pigeon;
  • all hybrids between any breeds of pigeons are fertile, which confirms their belonging to the same species. It is quite obvious that all these numerous breeds arose as a result of a change in one original form. This conclusion is also true for most domestic animals and cultivated plants.

Darwin paid much attention to the study of various varieties of cultivated plants. So, comparing various varieties of cabbage, he concluded that they were all bred by man from one wild species: they differ in the shape of the leaves with similar flowers and seeds. Ornamental plants, such as different varieties of pansies, have a variety of flowers, and their leaves are almost the same. Gooseberry varieties have diverse fruits, and the leaves almost do not differ.

Causes of variability. Having shown the variety of forms of variability, Darwin explained the material causes of variability, which are environmental factors, the conditions for the existence and development of living beings. But the effect of these factors is not the same depending on physiological state organism, its stage of development. Among the specific causes of variability, Darwin identifies:

  • direct or indirect (through the reproduction system) influence of living conditions (climate, food, care, etc.);
  • functional tension of organs (exercise or non-exercise);
  • crossing (the appearance in hybrids of signs that are not characteristic of the original forms);
  • changes due to the correlative dependence of parts of the body.

Among the various forms of variability for the evolutionary process, hereditary changes are of paramount importance as the primary material for variety, breed and speciation formation - those changes that are fixed in subsequent generations.

Heredity

Darwin understood heredity as the ability of organisms to preserve their species, varietal and individual characteristics in their offspring. This feature was well known and represented hereditary variability. Darwin analyzed in detail the importance of heredity in the evolutionary process. He drew attention to cases of single-color hybrids of the first generation and splitting of characters in the second generation, he was aware of heredity associated with sex, hybrid atavisms and a number of other phenomena of heredity.

At the same time, Darwin noted that the study of variability and heredity, their immediate causes and laws, is associated with great difficulties. The science of that time could not yet give a satisfactory answer to a number of important questions. The works of G. Mendel were also unknown to Darwin. Only much later did broad studies of variability and heredity begin, and modern genetics took a giant step in the study of the material foundations, causes and mechanisms of heredity and variability, in the causal understanding of these phenomena.

Darwin attached great importance to the presence of variability and heredity in nature, considering them the main factors of evolution, which has an adaptive character. [show] .

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However, having substantiated the question of variability and heredity as factors of evolution, Darwin showed that they themselves do not yet explain the emergence of new breeds of animals, plant varieties, species, or their fitness. Darwin's great merit lies in the fact that he developed the doctrine of selection as the leading and guiding factor in the evolution of domestic forms (artificial selection) and wild species (natural selection).

Darwin established that as a result of selection, a change in the species occurs, i.e. selection leads to divergence - deviation from the original form, divergence of characters in breeds and varieties, the formation of a large variety of them

Natural selection- the main evolutionary process, as a result of which the number of individuals with maximum fitness (the most favorable traits) increases in the population, while the number of individuals with unfavorable traits decreases. In the light of the modern synthetic theory of evolution, natural selection is seen as main reason development of adaptations , speciation and origin of supraspecific taxa . Natural selection is the only known cause of adaptations, but not the only cause of evolution. Non-adaptive causes include genetic drift, gene flow, and mutations.

The term "natural selection" was popularized by Charles Darwin, comparing this process with artificial selection, the modern form of which is selective breeding. The idea of ​​comparing artificial and natural selection is that in nature the selection of the most “successful”, “best” organisms also takes place, but in this case it is not a person who acts as an “appraiser” of the usefulness of properties, but the environment. In addition, the material for both natural and artificial selection are small hereditary changes that accumulate from generation to generation.

Mechanism of natural selection

In the process of natural selection, mutations are fixed that increase the fitness of organisms. Natural selection is often referred to as a "self-evident" mechanism because it follows from simple facts such as:

  1. Organisms produce more offspring than can survive;
  2. In the population of these organisms, there is hereditary variability;
  3. Organisms with different genetic traits, have different survival rates and ability to reproduce.

Many examples of the action of stabilizing selection in nature have been described. For example, at first glance it seems that individuals with maximum fecundity should make the greatest contribution to the gene pool of the next generation. However, observations of natural populations of birds and mammals show that this is not the case. The more chicks or cubs in the nest, the more difficult it is to feed them, the smaller and weaker each of them. As a result, individuals with average fecundity turn out to be the most adapted.

Selection in favor of averages has been found for a variety of traits. In mammals, very low and very high birth weight newborns are more likely to die at birth or in the first weeks of life than middle weight newborns. Accounting for the size of the wings of sparrows that died after a storm in the 50s near Leningrad showed that most of them had too small or too large wings. And in this case, the average individuals turned out to be the most adapted.

Disruptive selection

Disruptive (tearing) selection- a form of natural selection, in which conditions favor two or more extreme variants (directions) of variability, but do not favor the intermediate, average state of the trait. As a result, several new forms may appear from one initial one. Darwin described the operation of disruptive selection, believing that it underlies divergence, although he could not provide evidence for its existence in nature. Disruptive selection contributes to the emergence and maintenance of population polymorphism, and in some cases can cause speciation.

One of the possible situations in nature in which disruptive selection comes into play is when a polymorphic population occupies a heterogeneous habitat. Wherein different forms adapt to different ecological niches or sub-niches.

An example of disruptive selection is the formation of two races in a large rattle in hay meadows. Under normal conditions, the flowering and seed ripening periods of this plant cover the whole summer. But in hay meadows, seeds are produced mainly by those plants that have time to bloom and ripen either before the mowing period, or bloom at the end of summer, after mowing. As a result, two races of the rattle are formed - early and late flowering.

Disruptive selection was carried out artificially in experiments with Drosophila. The selection was carried out according to the number of setae, leaving only individuals with a small and large number of setae. As a result, from about the 30th generation, the two lines diverged very strongly, despite the fact that the flies continued to interbreed with each other, exchanging genes. In a number of other experiments (with plants), intensive crossing prevented the effective action of disruptive selection.

sexual selection

sexual selection This is natural selection for success in reproduction. The survival of organisms is an important but not the only component of natural selection. Another important component is attractiveness to members of the opposite sex. Darwin called this phenomenon sexual selection. "This form of selection is determined not by the struggle for existence in the relations of organic beings among themselves or with external conditions, but by the rivalry between individuals of one sex, usually males, for the possession of individuals of the other sex." Traits that reduce the viability of their carriers can emerge and spread if the advantages they provide in breeding success are significantly greater than their disadvantages for survival.

Two hypotheses about the mechanisms of sexual selection are common.

  • According to the “good genes” hypothesis, the female “argues” as follows: “If this male, despite the bright plumage and long tail, managed not to die in the clutches of a predator and survive to puberty, then he has good genes that allowed him to do this . Therefore, he should be chosen as the father of his children: he will pass on his good genes to them. By choosing bright males, females choose good genes for their offspring.
  • According to the “attractive sons” hypothesis, the logic of female selection is somewhat different. If bright males, for whatever reason, are attractive to females, it is worth choosing a bright father for your future sons, because his sons will inherit the bright color genes and will be attractive to females in the next generation. Thus, a positive feedback occurs, which leads to the fact that from generation to generation the brightness of the plumage of males increases more and more. The process goes on increasing until it reaches the limit of viability.

When choosing males, females do not think about the reasons for their behavior. When an animal feels thirsty, it does not reason that it should drink water in order to restore the water-salt balance in the body - it goes to the watering hole because it feels thirsty. In the same way, females, choosing bright males, follow their instincts - they like bright tails. Those who instinctively prompted a different behavior did not leave offspring. The logic of the struggle for existence and natural selection is the logic of a blind and automatic process that, acting constantly from generation to generation, has formed that amazing variety of forms, colors and instincts that we observe in the world of wildlife.

Selection methods: positive and negative selection

There are two forms of artificial selection: Positive And Clipping (negative) selection.

Positive selection increases the number of individuals in the population that have useful traits that increase the viability of the species as a whole.

Cut-off selection culls out from the population the vast majority of individuals that carry traits that sharply reduce viability under given environmental conditions. With the help of cut-off selection, strongly harmful alleles are removed from the population. Also, individuals with chromosomal rearrangements and a set of chromosomes that sharply disrupt the normal operation of the genetic apparatus can be subjected to cutting selection.

The role of natural selection in evolution


Charles Darwin considered natural selection to be the main driving force of evolution, in the modern synthetic theory of evolution it is also the main regulator of the development and adaptation of populations, the mechanism for the emergence of species and supraspecific taxa, although accumulation in late XIX At the beginning of the 20th century, information on genetics, in particular the discovery of the discrete nature of the inheritance of phenotypic traits, led some researchers to deny the importance of natural selection, and alternatively proposed concepts based on the assessment of the genotype mutation factor as extremely important. The authors of such theories postulated not a gradual, but a very fast (over several generations) spasmodic nature of evolution (the hypotheses of the synthetic theory of evolution and - indicate the insufficiency of the classical synthetic theory of evolution for an adequate description of all aspects of biological evolution ". The discussion about the role of various factors in evolution began more than 30 years ago and continues to this day, and sometimes it is said that "evolutionary biology has come to the need for its next, third synthesis."

In the example of the worker ant, we have an insect extremely different from its parents, yet absolutely barren and therefore unable to transmit from generation to generation acquired modifications of structure or instincts. One can ask a good question - to what extent is it possible to reconcile this case with the theory of natural selection?

- Origin of Species (1859)

Darwin assumed that selection could be applied not only to the individual organism, but also to the family. He also said that, perhaps, to one degree or another, this can also explain the behavior of people. He turned out to be right, but it was not until the advent of genetics that it became possible to provide a more expanded view of this concept. The first draft of the "kind selection theory" was made by the English biologist William Hamilton in 1963, who was the first to propose considering natural selection not only at the level of an individual or a whole family, but also at the level of a gene.

§ 3- SCIENTIFIC AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC BACKGROUND OF THE ORIGIN OF THE THEORY OF CHARLES DARWIN

1) List the main scientific prerequisites for the emergence of evolutionary theory. Fill the table.

  • Scientific area

    Basic premise

    Geology

    The works of C. Lyell, showing that the surface of the Earth is constantly changing under the influence of everyday factors - fluctuations in temperature, wind, rain, vital activity of organisms and others.

    Cytology

    The cell theory of T. Schwann, showing that the basis of the structure of all living beings is the cell.

    Embryology

    Research by K. Baer, ​​showing the similarity in the structure of the embryos of vertebrates and that the development of all organisms begins with the egg.

    Comparative anatomy

    Accumulated materials that testify to the variability of species, rudiments, atavisms, homologous and similar organs.

    2) Describe the observations made by C. Darwin during the expedition on the ship "Beagle", which made him doubt the divine creation of species.

    • Answer:
    • 1- Skeletons of extinct giant mammals similar to modern armadillos and sloths.
    • 2- Closely related species of Galapagos finches, differing from each other in the nature of food and the shape of the beak.
    • 3- Significant differences in the structure of animals living on the Cape Verde Islands, from species living on the continent that are closely related to them.

    § 4 THE DOCTRINE OF CHARLES DARWIN ON ARTIFICIAL SELECTION

1) Answer the questions.

1-What achievements Agriculture England in the XIX century, Charles Darwin paid special attention?

  • Answer: By that time, English farmers had bred many breeds of dogs, pigeons, cattle and chickens, and intensive breeding of new varieties of cultivated plants was carried out.

2- What were his scientific interests as the reason for this?

  • Answer: The constancy of species claimed that every variety and breed has its own wild ancestor, but Darwin believed that this was not so.

2) Fill in the gaps in the table.

3) Answer what explains the diversity of breeds of domestic animals and varieties of cultivated plants. Give two examples each of plant varieties and animal breeds resulting from the efforts of breeders.

  • Answer: Breeders developed animals or plants, leaving those organisms in which the trait had the most pronounced degree. Domestic apple tree, black currant - plants, rabbit, domestic duck - animals.

4) Add an offer.

  • Answer: The traditional way of breeding new varieties of plants and animal breeds is artificial systematic selection and reproduction of individuals with the most valuable traits and properties for humans.

§ 5 THE DOCTRINE OF CHARLES DARWIN ON NATURAL SELECTION

1) Choose and underline the correct answer.

What regularity is subject to the process of reproduction of living organisms in the absence of limiting factors?

2) Add a definition.

  • Answer: The struggle for existence - it is a set of diverse and complex relationships that exist between organisms and environmental conditions.

3) What are the three forms of the struggle for existence that Ch. Darwin singled out.

  • Answer:
  • 1- Interspecies.
  • 2- Intraspecific.
  • 3- Fighting adverse conditions external environment.

4) Explain why intraspecific struggle is the most intense.

  • Answer: In individuals of the same species, the needs for food, territory and other conditions of existence are the same. Males of some species compete for females.

5) Describe the organisms that win in the struggle for existence.

  • Answer: In the struggle for existence, individuals who have a hereditary complex of signs and properties survive and leave offspring.

6) Explain what Ch. Darwin understood by natural selection.

  • Answer: He understood the processes of selective extermination of some individuals and preferential reproduction of others taking place in nature.

7) Finish the statement.

  • Answer: The material for natural selection is hereditary variation.

8) Explain why variability due to direct environmental influences does not matter for evolution.

  • Answer: Variability due to the direct influence of the external environment does not matter for evolution, since it is not inherited.

9) Give comparative characteristic natural and artificial selection. Fill the table.

  • Characteristic

    Natural selection

    artificial selection

    Source of genetic diversity

    hereditary variation, natural mutations

    hereditary variability, artificial mutations, crossbreeding, etc.

    Selecting factor

    Environmental conditions

    The significance of acquired traits for the organisms themselves

    New species

    New varieties of plants, breeds of animals, strains of microorganisms, lead to the appearance of species impossible in nature

    The dependence of the result on the will of man

    Increase the adaptability of organisms to environmental conditions

    May be harmful to organisms themselves

    §6- FORMS OF NATURAL SELECTION

    1) List the main forms of natural selection.

    • Answer:
    • 1- Driving.
    • 2- Stabilizing.

    2) Name the form of natural selection that maintains the conformity of shape and size between flowers of insect pollinating plants and pollinating insects.

    • Answer: Stabilizing selection.

    3) Add an offer.

    • Answer:
    • Living fossils (relict forms of plants and animals) have survived to our time thanks to the action of stabilizing forms of natural selection.
    • Give an example of a relict animal and a relict plant: coelacanth coelacanth fish, gymnosperm plant ginkgo biloba.

    4) Choose and fill in the correct variants of the missing words.

    • Answer:
    • Stabilizing selection operates in permanent environmental conditions throughout big periods of time.

    5) Name the form of natural selection that operates in changing environmental conditions, and indicate its evolutionary results.

    • Answer:
    • Form of natural selection - driving selection.
    • Results:
    • A) The emergence of new characters within the species.
    • B) Weakening or loss of an irrelevant feature.
    • C) Elimination of less successful combinations of genes.

    6) It is known that some time after the start of the use of a particular pesticide, forms of animals resistant to it appear. Explain this phenomenon in terms of natural selection.

    • Answer: There is motive selection. Species have new features that provide resistance to changes in the external environment.

    7) Finish the statements.

    • Answer:
    • 1- The form of natural selection that transforms species is called driving selection.
    • 2- The form of natural selection, fixing the received forms, is called stabilizing selection.

    8) Expand the meaning of the thesis: "Natural selection plays a creative role in the evolution of organisms."

    • Answer: It eliminates less successful individuals from reproduction, that is, less successful combinations of genes. The creative role of selection is that the result of its action is the emergence of new types of organisms and new forms of life.

    9) Define the terms.

    • Answer:
    • Sexual selection - This is the competition of males for the possibility of reproduction.
    • Sexual dimorphism - external differences in the structure of the sexes.

What statements are related to the theory of Ch. Dar-vi-na?

1) Inside the type of races-ho-de-ing signs of pri-vo-dit to vi-do-o-ra-zo-va-niyu.

2) The view is not-one-but-ro-den and is represented by a multitude of in-pu-la-tions.

3) Natural selection - on-right-la-th-factor of evolution.

4) When creating varieties and breeds, artificial selection serves as a factor.

5) Inner striving for perfection is a factor of evolution.

6) Po-pu-la-tion is a unit of evolution.

Clear-no-no.

Statements from-no-xia-schi-e-xia to the theory of Ch. vi-do-ob-ra-zo-va-niyu; natural selection - on the right-la-th-factor of evolution; when creating varieties and breeds, artificial selection serves as a factor.

Answer: 134.

Note.

Evo-lu-qi-on-naya theory of Dar-vi-na represents-la-is a holistic teaching about the historical development of or- ha-no-che-th world.

The basic principles of the evo-lu-qi-on-noy theory of Ch. Dar-wi-na.

1. In the pre-de-lah of each species of living or-ga-niz-mov, there is a huge range of in-di-vi-du-al-noy on-the-next- stven-noy from-men-chi-vo-sti according to mor-fo-lo-gi-che-skim, physio-lo-gi-che-skim, ve-den-che-sky and any other gim signs. This iz-men-chi-ness can have a continuous, numer- ous , or a pre-ry-vis-st-qualitative character, but she su-sche-stu-e-everywhere.

2. All living or-ga-bottom-we are multiplied in a geo-met-ri-che-progress.

3. Life resources for any kind of living or-ga-niz-mov ogra-no-che-na, and therefore there must be a fight -ba for the existence of either between individuals of the same species, or between individuals of different species, or with natural conditions -i-mi. In understanding the “struggle for existence” Darwin included not only the individual’s own struggle for life, but also the struggle for success in times-many-same.

4. Under the conditions of the struggle for existence, you-live-va-yut and give offspring of the most-capable individuals, having -those from-clo-non-nia, some-rye cases-but-were-adapted-by-we-mi to given environmental conditions. This is the principle of qi-pi-al-but an important moment in the ar-gu-men-ta-tion of Dar-wi-na. From-clo-non-niya voz-no-ka-yut not on-right-len-but - in response to the action of the environment, but by chance. Not many of them are ok-y-va-yut-sya in specific conditions. In the same way, you-living-necks, someone-rye-next-du-ut-useful from-clo-non-nee, pos-living-the-neck-to-live-their pre- ku, eyes-zy-va-yut-sya are more adapted to this environment than other pre-hundred-vi-te-whether in-pu-la-tion.

5. You-living-in-and-im-image-many-of-the-same-of-fit-of-persons Dar-win called natural from -bo-rum.

6. Natural selection from del-iso-li-ro-van-ny different kinds of species in different conditions -degree-but leads to divergence (ras-hod-de-ny) of the signs of these different species-no-stay and, in the end, to vi-do-about-ra-zo-va-nyu.

Answer: 134

Source: Unified State Examination in Biology 05/30/2013. main wave. Siberia. Option 4.

Ilya Safronov (Veliky Novgorod) 02.09.2013 18:14

Well, according to the idea, the sixth option is also correct. The elementary unit of evolution is the local population.

Natalya Evgenievna Bashtannik

The population is the elementary unit of evolution - this is already the position of the Synthetic theory of evolution

Olga Ivanova 27.01.2014 17:14

Artificial selection is not the subject of evolutionary theory, and the synthetic theory of evolution develops Darwin's. The historical development of the world does not affect selection issues.

Natalya Evgenievna Bashtannik

Darwin emphasized the special importance of unconscious selection from a theoretical point of view, since this form of selection also sheds light on the process of speciation. It can be seen as a bridge between artificial and natural selection. Artificial selection was a good model on which Darwin deciphered the process of shaping. Darwin's analysis of artificial selection played an important role in substantiating the evolutionary process: firstly, he finally approved the position on variability; expedient adaptations and divergence of varieties and breeds. These important premises opened the way to a successful solution of the problem of natural selection.