The Evidence for Evolution McGraw Hill （麦格劳希尔进化的证据）.pdf

21 The Evidence for Evolution Concept Outline 21.1 Fossil evidence indicates that evolution has occurred. The Fossil Record. When fossils are arranged in the order of their age, a continual series of change is seen, new changes being added at each stage. The Evolution of Horses. The record of horse evolution is particularly well-documented and instructive. 21.2 Natural selection can produce evolutionary change. The Beaks of Darwin’s Finches. Natural selection favors stouter bills in dry years, when large tough-to-crush seeds are the only food available to finches. Peppered Moths and Industrial Melanism. Natural selection favors dark-colored moths in areas of heavy pollution, while light-colored moths survive better in unpolluted areas. Artificial Selection. Artificial selection practiced in laboratory studies, agriculture, and domestication FIGURE 21.1 demonstrate that selection can produce substantial A window into the past. The fossil remains of the now- evolutionary change. extinct reptile Mesosaurus found in Permian sediments in 21.3 Evidence for evolution can be found in other Africa and South America provided one of the earliest clues to a former connection between the two continents. fields of biology. Mesosaurus was a freshwater species and so clearly incapable The Anatomical Record. When anatomical features of of a transatlantic swim. Therefore, it must have lived in the