Evolution Lab Exercise Report (by Dr. Lapik) Evolution Lab Exercise Report (by

Evolution Lab Exercise Report (by Dr. Lapik)

PART I. FOSSIL EVIDENCE

Observe the fossil photographs and descriptions provided in the Reading file.

Create the Fossil Range Chart using the template and example on the next page

If you have an access to printer, you can use color pencils or markers to color the printout of the chart template and submit a photo or a scan.

To “color” the Fossil Range Chart, select corresponding parts of the table and in the Home tab, click on the Paint Bucket tool

To “color” the Fossil Range Chart, select corresponding parts of the table and in the Home tab, click on the Paint Bucket toolIf working digitally, select the desired cells of the range chart template and “color” them digitally using the Microsoft Word tools shown below:

Consulting the Reading file part I (A), fill out the Fossil Range Chart template on the next page:

Shade the geological time range for each fossilized organism using one color (or cross-hatching)

Mark the time period where each fossil belongs in a different color (or cross-hatching)

See example for fossil #2 on the next page:

Geological range for Batostomella gracilis species is digitally colored in yellow;

The time period where the specific Batostomella gracilis fossil (that we now have in our HWC bio lab) belongs to is digitally colored in green.

Geological Time Scale and Major Events in Evolution of Life

Fossil Range Chart

Fossil Inventory Number

and name abbreviation

B.g.

M.t.

#16

C sp.

#17

Dino

#21

Shark

#23

D.s.

#24

P.h.

Based on the Fossil Range Chart you’ve created above, answer the following questions:

Note: to refer to a particular fossil, you do not have to write out its full Latin name, feel free to use its inventory number that we use in the lab or abbreviate its Latin name by two first letters, for example, B.g. for Batostomella gracilis.

1. Which of the seven fossils you’ve examined is the oldest?

2. Which of the seven fossils you’ve examined is the most recent?

3. Which two fossils were found in approximately the same geological layer? What does it mean?

4. Which fossils belong to the branches of evolution that survived to our days?

5. Which fossils belong to the branches of evolution that disappeared / became extinct?

PART II. COMPARATIVE ANATOMY AND EMBRYOLOGY EVIDENCE

Using the information in the Reading file part II and textbook reading, answer the following questions:

Whales possess vestigial organs in the form of pelvic girdle and hind limb bones. How would you explain this?

How can you explain that, while forelimbs of bats and human arms are used for vastly different purposes, they do have similar anatomy?

How would you explain the presence of gill slits in embryos of animals that do not form gills?

PART III. BIOINFORMATICS AND GENE MODIFICATION EVIDENCE

A. SICKLE CELL ANEMIA: GENETICS AND EVOLUTION

Wild-type beta-globin gene fragment

C A C G T A G A C T G A G G A C T C

Sickle-cell beta-globin gene fragment

C A C G T A G A C T G A G G A C A C

Circle the mutation in DNA of the sickle-cell beta-globin gene fragment (above)

Transcribe beta-globin DNA into mRNA. Note: mRNA is already arranged in codons (below)

Translate mRNA codons into amino acids of hemoglobin protein sequence (below):

Wild-type beta-globin gene fragment

C A C

G T A

G A C

T G A

G G A

C T C

Transcription produces mRNA fragment:

Translation produces wild-type beta-globin polypeptide fragment:

Sickle-cell beta-globin gene fragment

C A C

G T A

G A C

T G A

G G A

C A C

Transcription produces mRNA fragment:

Translation produces mutant beta-globin polypeptide fragment:

Image credit: “The genetic code,” by OpenStax College, Biology (CC BY 3.0).

Using the terms “none,” “low,” “high,” fill out Columns 2 and 3 of the Table below:

Possible genotypes

Risk of sickle cell anemia

Likelihood of surviving malaria

Notes on risks of sickle cell anemia and malaria

Homozygous dominant for the wild type beta-globin allele

Heterozygous for the wild type beta-globin allele

“Sickle cell trait”= carrier

Homozygous recessive for the wild type beta-globin allele

will develop sickle cell anemia

Using the information in the Reading file part III (A) and your work in the table above, answer the following questions:

Is the term “heterozygote advantage” relevant when describing the sickle cell allele frequency maintained by malaria? Explain.

Explain why natural selection did not remove the sickle cell allele from the population?

B. Human Evolution

Using the information in the Reading file part III (B) and chapter (section 7.13) of your textbook answer the following questions:

Based on the phylogenetic tree in the Reading file part III (B), which species are more closely related to humans: orangutans or gorillas? Explain.

What can you say about the relationship between humans and chimps? Can we conclude that “humans come from chimps”? Explain.

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