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any fossilized remains of a life form that exhibits traits common to both an ancestral group and its derived descendant group

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Biogeography is the study of the distribution of life forms over geographical areas. 

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Biogeography is the study of the distribution of life forms over geographical areas. 

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Biogeography not only provides significant inferential evidence for evolution and common descent, but it also provides what creationists like to deny is possible in evolution: testable predictions. 

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Biogeography not only provides significant inferential evidence for evolution and common descent, but it also provides what creationists like to deny is possible in evolution: testable predictions. 

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Anatomy is the branch of biology concerned with the study of the structure of organisms and their parts. Anatomy is a branch of natural science which deals with the structural organization of living things.

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The science of DNA testing was developed in 1985 by British scientist Alec Jeffreys.

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The science of DNA testing was developed in 1985 by British scientist Alec Jeffreys.

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Definition: Embryology is the branch of biology that studies the prenatal development of gametes, fertilization, and development of embryos and fetuses. 

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Definition: Embryology is the branch of biology that studies the prenatal development of gametes, fertilization, and development of embryos and fetuses. 

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Biogeography is separated into two areas: ecological and historical

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Biogeography is separated into two areas: ecological and historical

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Species may share similar physical features because the feature was present in a common ancestor (homologous structures).

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DNA in our cells reflects each individual’s unique identity and how closely related we are to one another. The amount of difference in DNA is a test of the difference between one species and another – and thus how closely or distantly related they are.

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- Archaeopteryx
- Australopithecus afarensis
Amphistium

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Ecological biogeography: about current distribution patterns

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Ecological biogeography: about current distribution patterns

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While the genetic difference between individual humans today is minuscule – about 0.1%, on average – study of the same aspects of the chimpanzee genome indicates a difference of about 1.2%.

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The strong similarities between humans and the African great apes led Charles Darwin in 1871 to predict that Africa was the likely place where the human lineage branched off from other animals – that is, the place where the common ancestor of chimpanzees, humans, and gorillas once lived. The DNA evidence shows an amazing confirmation of this daring prediction.

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DNA evidence is analyzed using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method, which allows for very small samples to be tested and identified. Once the sample is tested, it may be cross-referenced with DNA profiles already in a database or with genetic data provided by a suspect.

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DNA evidence is analyzed using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method, which allows for very small samples to be tested and identified. Once the sample is tested, it may be cross-referenced with DNA profiles already in a database or with genetic data provided by a suspect.

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Historical biogeography: about long-term and large-scale distributions

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Historical biogeography: about long-term and large-scale distributions

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The study of one type of evidence of evolution is called embryology, the study of embryos. An embryo is an unborn (or unhatched) animal or human young in its earliest phases. Embryos of many different kinds of animals: mammals, birds, reptiles, fish, etc. look very similar and it is often difficult to tell them apart.

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The study of one type of evidence of evolution is called embryology, the study of embryos. An embryo is an unborn (or unhatched) animal or human young in its earliest phases. Embryos of many different kinds of animals: mammals, birds, reptiles, fish, etc. look very similar and it is often difficult to tell them apart.

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The idea that animal and plant species were not constant, but changed over time, was suggested as far back as the 18th century.
Darwin's On the Origin of Species, published in 1859, gave it a firm scientific basis.

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Biogeographic studies divide the Earth’s surface—primarily the continents and islands—into regions exhibiting differences in the average composition of flora and fauna. It is thought that the present-day distribution patterns of plant and animal forms, as reflected in such biogeographic regions, are the result of many historical and current causes.

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Archaeopteryx is one of the most famous transitional fossils and gives evidence for the evolution of birds from theropod dinosaurs.

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Archaeopteryx is one of the most famous transitional fossils and gives evidence for the evolution of birds from theropod dinosaurs.

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Darwin's evidence for evolution:  Embryology

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Darwin's evidence for evolution:  Embryology

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I.  The "facts of embryology"

A.  There is usually a difference in form between embryo and adult.
B.  Serial structures (e.g., segments, limbs) are usually identical in the embryo, but specialized and diverged in the adult.
C.  Different species in the same Class (e.g., mammals) often have very similar embryos, even if the adult forms are quite different.
D.  Embryonic structure is unrelated to "conditions of existence", unless the embryo is active (e.g., feeding)
E.  Embryos are sometimes more highly "organized" than adults (e.g., some parasitic forms).

II.  The "principles" that explain these facts

A.  Adult variations supervene at a rather late stage
B.  Variations in adult features are inherited (expressed by progeny) at correspondingly late stages
C.  These "principles" are generally but not universally true (an exception was the tumbler pigeon) when one looks at empirical evidence from domesticated varieties

III.  How do these principles explain the facts?

A.  Breeders select on adult characters, regardless of the juvenile characters
B.  Given this, and the two principles, the young of a new variety and the parental stock will tend to be more similar than the adults
C.  Darwin extrapolates this to larger groups:  For example, the forelimbs might be legs in an ancestral species, but would be modified as flippers, arms, wings, etc. at a late stage in development; but the pattern in the embryonic stage would remain similar if not unchanged.
D.  In some cases, variation may occur at an early developmental stage, and new basic patterns might thus be produced (e.g., the tumbler pigeon); these types of exceptions to the "principles of embryology" obviously do not affect the power of descent to explain similarities in embryonic patterns among related species.

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Education Requirements. Embryologists need a bachelor's degree in biology or biomedicine and a master's degree in reproductive science or clinical science, though some embryologists earn a Ph.D. or M.D. as well. A few such scientists possess both a doctorate and medical degree

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Education Requirements. Embryologists need a bachelor's degree in biology or biomedicine and a master's degree in reproductive science or clinical science, though some embryologists earn a Ph.D. or M.D. as well. A few such scientists possess both a doctorate and medical degree

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The comparative study of the body structures of different species of animals in order to understand the adaptive changes they have undergone in the course of evolution from common ancestors. The field is largely confined to the study of the vertebrate animals.

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structures similar in different organisms because, in convergent evolution, they evolved in a similar environment, rather than were inherited from a recent common ancestor. They usually serve the same or similar purposes. An example is the streamlined torpedo body shape of porpoises and sharks.

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Fossils document the existence of now-extinct species, showing that different organisms have lived on Earth during different periods of the planet's history. They can also help scientists reconstruct the evolutionary histories of present-day species. For instance, some of the best-studied fossils are of the horse lineage. Using these fossils, scientists have been able to reconstruct a large, branching "family tree" for horses and their now-extinct relatives.

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A team from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig  had found – merely by studying a few microscopic strands of DNA – that tens of thousands of years ago Neanderthals had sheltered at Trou Al’Wesse. Meyer’s project is an example of the astonishing advances that have been made in studying ancient genomes.

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RELICS OF EDEN explores this powerful DNA-based evidence of human evolution. The "relics" are the millions of functionally useless but scientifically informative remnants of our evolutionary ancestry trapped in the human genetic code. The analysis of the chimpanzee and Rhesus monkey genomes shows indisputable evidence of the human evolutionary relationship with other primates. Over 95 percent of our genome is identical with that of chimpanzees and we also have a good deal in common with other animal species.

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RELICS OF EDEN explores this powerful DNA-based evidence of human evolution. The "relics" are the millions of functionally useless but scientifically informative remnants of our evolutionary ancestry trapped in the human genetic code. The analysis of the chimpanzee and Rhesus monkey genomes shows indisputable evidence of the human evolutionary relationship with other primates. Over 95 percent of our genome is identical with that of chimpanzees and we also have a good deal in common with other animal species.

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structures (body parts/anatomy) which are similar in different species because the species have common descent and have evolved, usually divergently, from a shared ancestor. They may or may not perform the same function. An example is the forelimb structure shared by cats and whales.

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biogeography can be divided into the following divisions:

1. Community geography: a) general community geography, b) vegetation cover geography, c) animal population geography.

2. Geography of organisms and their populations: a) general geography of organisms, b) plant geography, c) animal geography, d) mushroom geography.

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Similarities and differences among biological molecules (e.g., in the DNA sequence of genes) can be used to determine species' relatedness.

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Similarities and differences among biological molecules (e.g., in the DNA sequence of genes) can be used to determine species' relatedness.

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Early evolutionary scientists like Buffon and Lamarck used comparative anatomy to determine relationships between species. Organisms with similar structures, they argued, must have acquired these traits from a common ancestor.

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DNA has only come to be understood over the last century. The technology has been improving and has allowed scientists to not only map out entire genomes of many species, but they also use computers to compare those maps. By entering genetic information of different species, it is easy to see where they overlap and where there are differences.

The more closely species are related on the phylogenetic tree of life, the more closely their DNA sequences will overlap. Even very distantly related species will have some degree of DNA sequence overlap.

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Darwin's evidence for evolution:  Biogeographic distributions

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Darwin's evidence for evolution:  Biogeographic distributions

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ø Disjunct locations for the same extant species

øFresh water distributions
Because freshwater is isolated, might expect restricted ranges; but this is not the case (in fact, they often have distributions even broader than terrestrials):  How is this explained?
A. Distribution of Fish
B. Distribution of Shells (molluscs)
C. Distribution of Plants (often very wide ranges)
In all cases, dispersal of freshwater organisms depends largely on animal (esp. bird) transport

ø Distribution of species on oceanic islands
Darwin considered this evidence as especially strong in its support of descent with modification