Fossils and Evolution
Amazing Events in Life History
• Sex - Who Needs It?
• We are a team - Mitochondria
• The Great Freeze 900-600 m.y. ago
– What survived and how?
• Mass Extinctions
– Dinosaurs = 4th worst
– Permian extinction (220 m.y. ago) took out
90% of all species
Mass Extinctions
Classification of Dogs and Humans
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Chordata
Class
Mammalia
Order Carnivora (Dogs) Primates (Humans)
Family Canidae
Hominidae
Genus Canis
Homo
Species familiaris
sapiens
“Actually, I considered
this an extreme honor.
Besides, I knew no one
was going to write and
ask to name a new
species of swan after
me. You have to grab
these opportunities
when they come along.”
Strigiphilus
garylarsoni
The Five Kingdom System
•
•
•
•
•
•
Animals
Plants
Protista (one-celled organisms)
Fungi
Bacteria*
Ediacaran Fossils? (ca. 700 m.y. ago)
What’s Bigger Than a Kingdom?
• Bacteria differ from all other kingdoms in
lacking a cell nucleus
• We need a bigger box
• Superkingdoms or Domains
– Monera (Bacteria)
– Archaea
– Eukarya (have cell nucleus)
• Need electron microscopes and molecular
biology to see differences