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Adaptation by natural selection acting over generations is one important process by which species change over time in response to changes in environmental conditions. Traits that support successful survival and reproduction in the new environment become more common; those that do not become less common. Thus, the distribution of traits in a population changes.

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With a mutation, the number and/order of bases in a gene is changed. This structural change in genes results in a structural change in the protein created, thus resulting in some change in structure or function of the organism. Though rare, mutations may result in changes to the structure and function of proteins. Some changes are beneficial, others harmful, and some neutral to the organism. Changes (mutations) to genes can result in changes to proteins, which can affect the structures and functions of the organism and thereby change traits.

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Each distinct gene chiefly controls the production of specific proteins, which in turn affects the traits of the individual.

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Genes are located in the chromosomes of cells, with each chromosome pair containing two variants of each of many distinct genes.

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In genetic engineering, humans interfere on the genetic level by harvesting the desired gene from an organism and then transplanting it into the desired organism. This is a faster method to end up with organisms with the desired trait.

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In artificial selection, humans have the capacity to influence certain characteristics of organisms by selective breeding. One can choose desired parental traits determined by genes, which are then passed on to offspring.

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Variations of inherited traits between parent and offspring arise from genetic differences that result from the subset of chromosomes (and therefore genes) inherited.

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Natural selection means that the organisms with the best traits for that environment survive and reproduce, which leads to more organisms with that trait over time. Natural selection leads to the predominance of certain traits in a population, and the suppression of others.

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Analyzing the anatomical structures and embryological development of different organisms can tell us which organisms are more closely related and which are more distantly related.

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Even though species may look alike or seem similar, they may not actually be related. To figure out which species are actually related, scientists need to use other sources of evidence—embryological development and anatomical structures. The more similar these are between species, the more likely they evolved over time from a recent common ancestor. This allows scientists to reconstruct evolutionary history.

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The fossil record is not the only piece of evidence that helps tell the story of life on Earth. There is also anatomical and embryological evidence to explain common ancestry.

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Anatomical similarities and differences between various organisms living today and between them and organisms in the fossil record, enable the reconstruction of evolutionary history and the inference of lines of evolutionary descent.

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Comparison of the embryological development of different species also reveals similarities that show relationships not evident in the fully-formed anatomy. Sometimes relationships not evident in the fully-formed anatomy can be seen by comparing the embryological development of different species. Each species inherits its embryological development from its ancestors, so this would imply that species that are more closely related would have more similar embryos. Over time, natural selection modifies the embryos in different ways, causing the differences seen in related, but distinct species

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Changes in one part of a system might cause large changes in another part, systems in dynamic equilibrium are stable due to a balance of feedback mechanisms, and stability might be disturbed by either sudden events or gradual changes that accumulate over time. Stability might be disturbed either by sudden events or gradual changes that accumulate over time.

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The fossil record documents the existence, diversity, extinction, and change of many life forms and their environments through Earth’s history. The fossil record and comparisons of anatomical similarities between organisms enables the inference of lines of evolutionary descent.

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The geologic time scale interpreted from rock strata provides a way to organize Earth’s history. The geologic time scale is a model that helps us study Earth’s 4.6 billion-year-old history by separating the long history using major events.

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Adaptation by natural selection acting over generations is one important process by which species change over time in response to changes in environmental conditions. Traits that support successful survival and reproduction in the new environment become more common; those that do not become less common. Thus, the distribution of traits in a population changes.

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This is one of the best known cases of natural selection, and is particularly interesting for this unit since the change of environment was human-caused. Before the industrial revolution in England, the dominant form of the moth was a lighter color (as shown in the picture above on the right). These lighter moths were very difficult for predators to pick out against the light-colored bark of many trees common in England. In the mid-1800s, however, a new form of the moth began to appear. This version of the moth was a dark-colored peppered moth, first appearing in 1848 (as shown in the picture above on the left). By 1895, scientists reported that 98% of the peppered moth population was this darker color. This increase in darker moths corresponded with the industrial revolution. Factories produced soot that turned the bark of the trees darker. This made the lighter moths easier to spot by predators, so they were eaten, while the darker-colored moths survived to reproduce and pass on their genes.

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Populations change over time. Over time, there will be more organisms with the best suited trait to that environment in a population.