Name: ___________________________________________ Date: ____________________ Period: ____
Evidence of Evolution
Read Chapter 15: Pages 382-385. Much evidence has been found to indicate that living things
have evolved or changed gradually during their natural history. Paleontology, embryology,
biochemistry, and comparative anatomy are areas of study that have provided evidence of
evolution.
Part A: FOSSILS Textbook pg 382
Observe the fossil footprints diagram below:
1. How many different types of footprints are observed in Position 1? _________________
2. In which direction are the animals walking? (N, S, E, W) ________ How do you know?
________________________________________________________________________
3. What can you tell about the change in the speed of any of the footprints?
________________________________________________________________________
4. In Position 2, what may have occurred? Why do you think there is a clustering of
footprints?
________________________________________________________________________
5. In Position 3, give a possible explanation for the print pattern.
________________________________________________________________________
6. Is it possible that the different types of footprints seen in the diagram maybe never met
each other at the same moment in time? _______ Why or Why not?
________________________________________________________________________
Name: ___________________________________________ Date: ____________________ Period: ____
Part B: Sedimentary Rock Layers Textbook pg 382
1. Observe the rock layer below noticing the various fossils present in each layer. How
many layers of rock are being observed? ____________
2. What kind of rock are the layers shown above most likely to be?
____________________________________________________________________
3. Which fossil is probably older, A or C? ______
4. Which fossil is probably the most recent (newest), B or C? ______
5. Which facts about fossils did you use to answer questions 3 and 4?
____________________________________________________________________
6. Which fossil is probably the most complex, A, B, C, or D? ______
7. Which fossil is probably the most simple, A, B, C, or D? ______
8. How did you know which fossils are more simple or more complex?
Part C: Homologous Structures: Textbook pg 384
Carefully examine the drawings of the various bones below. Look for similarities
among the various animals.
Color each part of the human arm with a different color. Then color the
corresponding bone in each of the other animals the same color as the human bone.
Name: ___________________________________________ Date: ____________________ Period: ____
1. Describe the function of each animal’s bones below:
a. Humand. Bat_____________________
_____________________
b. Horsee. Bird_____________________
_____________________
c. Catf. Whale_____________________
_____________________
2. Are the bones arranged in a similar way in each animal? _____________
3. Structures that are formed in similar ways during embryonic development, but have
different mature forms in different organisms are called,
_____________________________________________________________________
Part E: Vestigial Organs Textbook pg 384
1. The cave fish and minnow shown below are related, but the cave fish is blind. Explain
why eyesight is not an important adaptation to life in a cave.
________________________________________________________________________
2. Does the appearance of the cave fish and minnow suggest common ancestry?
_________ Why? _________________________________________________________
3. Do vestigial organs serve a useful purpose or function? ___________________________
4. Name two human vesitigial organs. _______________________ and ________________
5. Organs or structures that have lost their function in organisms and become reduced in
size are called ____________________________________________________________
Part F: Biochemical Similarities
Name: ___________________________________________ Date: ____________________ Period: ____
1. What biochemical compound has the same basic structure in all eukaryotic organisms?
________________________________________________________________________
2. What energy carrier compound is found in all living systems? ______________________
The amino acid sequences of certain proteins can be used to determine how closely
related different organisms are.
Analyze the following chart showing the number of amino acid differences in the
protein, cytochrome c, in the four animals as compared to humans.
Animal
Dog
Dogfish
Rattle snake
Rhesus
Monkey
Amino Acid Differences in
the Protein Cytochrome C
8
24
12
1
3. Which of the animals is most closely similar to the human? _______________________
4. Which of the animals is least similar to the human? ______________________________
ANALYSIS and INTERPRETATIONS
1. How could paleontologist reconstruct our present-day environment 25,000 years from
now if all written history were to be destroyed?
________________________________________________________________________
2. Scientists have found fossils of the same kind of organisms on different continents. How
might this have occurred?
________________________________________________________________________
3. List 3 catergories that are direct evidence of evolution in LIVING organisms.
a. _________________________________
b. _________________________________
c. _________________________________
4. What NON-LIVING evidence is also valuable to provide explanations of evolutionary
change? _________________________________________________________________
5. All the evidence for evolution helps explain the conclusion that all living organisms
evolved through gradual modification of earlier forms and descend from a
___________________________________ ancestor.
6. The penguin’s wings and the leg bones of snakes, such as Boas, have no particular
function. What type of organs are these?
_______________________________________
7. What two biochemical compounds support the idea that all living things evolved from a
common ancestor?
a. ______________________________
b. ______________________________