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LECTURE OUTLINE(lectures
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Introductory remarks
Patterns
make sense
Understanding
nature requires knowledge base and ability to see patterns
Process
of evolution hard to recognize
Clues
are in animal distribution
Nature
of earth’s crust, mantle and core guessed at by meteorologist Alfred Wegener
It
was known of suggestive fit of S. America and Africa (especially when comparing
continental shelves). Geologists of time knew coal formed in tropics but
was dispersed worldwide
Striae,
scrapings of glaciers from ice age matchwhen
S. America is compared to Africa. It was known that mesosaurs fossils are
found only in Africa & S. America
Wegener
suggested union of continental masses(Pangea
= all lands)in 1912 article. Wegener
thought of floating continents. But why did continental masses drift? Wegener
suggested:
the
rotation of the earth created a centrifugal force towards the equator "pole-fleeing
force".
And
the westward drift of the Americas due to the gravitational forces of the
sun and the moon
Scientists
scoffed. Wegener, a German, ridiculed in NYC at 1926 at American Association
ofPetroleum Geologists. Crust considered
connected solidly to mantle. How would continents plow through oceans.
Earthquakes don’t move continents.
Holmes
establisher of earth’s age, geologist, believed in fluid interior and convection
currents.
The
asthenosphere which is heated by radioactive decay of elements such as
Uranium, Thorium, and Potassium is a heated layer and the source of lava
we see in volcanos, the source of heat that drives hot springs and geysers,
and the source of raw material which pushes up the oceanic ridges and forms
new ocean floor.
Maurice
Ewing (Columbia University), discovered mid Atlantic ridges and very young
rock on ocean’s bottom. Later research showed bands of magnetized rock
parallel to ridge, changes in magnetism linked with times of earth’s magnetic
field reversals. Bands mirroring each other indicate concurrent spreading
in Atlantic and Pacific away from the ridges.
1st
lecture
Outlandish
islands – stark evolution
Whyare
flightless birds on islands?
Komodo
dragon
The
Komodo Dragon is referred to by the residents of Indonesia as the ora.
The largest ever measured was 10 feet, 2.5 inches. The saliva of an ora
contains four forms of bacteria with no known antidotes.
Ribbon
tailed bird of paradise Habitat:
Native
to New Guinea and close-by islands. Found in parts of
Australia.
Found in rainforests and other environments.
Chordata,
subphylum Vertebrata, class Aves, order Aepyornithiformes, family Aepyornithidae
This
elephant bird, is a species of ratite from Madagascar, family Aepyornithidae
Their eggs, the largest single cells in the animal kingdom, measured up
to 13 in. (33 cm) in length ½ ton, 2 gal. Egg. They became extinct
about 800 years ago. The flightless bird grew to around ten or eleven feet
tall, and is estimated tohave weighed up to 1100 pounds. By comparison,
a BIG Ostrich will go eight feet and 300 pounds.
Madagascar
– 4th largest island, over 1000 miles long and 350 miles wide,
tallest mtn. in north over 9000 ft.. One of highest literacy rates yet
one of poorest. Gentle slopes on west with fertile valleys & grassy
plains. Deserts on the south, precipitous drops on east with waterfalls
and mighty rivers.,wet (Dec.-April) & dry (May – Nov.) seasons.environmentally
ravaged
2nd
lecture
Humans
– An Interesting bipedal animal
not
adept physically
but
sentient
and
a tool maker
who
communicates
and
works cooperatively
this is both good and bad
What
about those birds on islands?
Competition
Predation
Human
contact
What
about the connections between the earth – an island – and the GSMNP?
Isolation
Immigration
Extinction
Refuge
Persian
Carpet Analogy
Are
the pieces worthless?
Why
does fragmentation = loss of species?
Loss
of resources
Habitat
Food
Some
Losses
Vulpes
vulpes – Bryce Canyon
Glenn
Canyon – Lake Powell
GSMNP
Red
Wolf –unsuccessful reintroduction
Parvo
virus
Food
Human
destruction of animals
Elk
–what will happen?
It’s
gone – so what?
Stellar
Sea Cow, Carolina Parakeet, Great Auk, Passenger Pigeon,
What’s
next?
Florida
Panther, Grizzly Bear, Condor
Ecological
Collapse
Relax
to Equilibrium
Ecosystem
Decay
Tigers
Total
5000-7000-Panther tigris balica, P.t. sondaica, P.t. Sumatra( now about
400-500)
Evolution-
Miacid precursors, 60 million ya, evolved to dogs, bears and cats
Central
Asian beginnings – west to Africa (E. Europe?), east to China, down to
Indonesia, back west to India.
None
on Lombok – why?
subspecies
– what does it mean?
Salvelinus fontinalis brook
trout w/ northern & southern strains
Outlandish
Island Forms – larger forms or smaller forms than on mainland or bizarre
forms
Komodo
Dragons,
Geochelone
(island tortoises),
Lemurs
(Madagascar),
Birds
of Paradise,
marine
iquanas
3rd
lecture
Noted
Biogeographers –
Darwin
(cirmcunavigates on Beagle, visits Galapagos),
Alfred
Wallace (collects in Indonesia and the Amazon),
Wallace’s
Line
Bali
vs Lombok – differing avifauna
West
to Java, Sumatra, Borneo
Animals
– orangutans, tigers, monkeys, bears, barbets,
East
to Celebes, N. Guinea, Komodo, Timor, Australia
Animals
– friarbirds, cuscus, cockatoos, tree kangaroos, birds of paradise
Wallace’s
Conclusion
1855
“On the Law Which Has Regulated the Introduction of New Species” The
Annals and Magazine of Natural History (good journal of that time)
“Every
species has come into existence coincident both in time with a pre-existing
closely allied species”
Reaction’s
to Wallace – Firestorm & Face-Saving
Colleagues
Science
as a club – membership for the well to do or leisure class (Clergy), Wallace
an itinerant collector and seller of animals
Generally
not many written replies to author’s first paper
(he
was traveling thru Indonesia at time)
Darwin
–
Dismissed
Wallace’s paper as special creationism, and initially notes “Wallace’s
paper:Laws of Geograph. Distrib. Nothing very new.”
Sir
Charles Lyell –1797-1875, British pre-eminent geologist
He
attended Oxford University at age 19. He was knighted for scientific accomplishment
in 1848. He grew up the oldest of 10 children. Lyell's father was an
active naturalist. Lyell had access to an elaborate library including subjects such as Geology..
Supporter
of uniformitarianism and a Victorian creationist – geology a slow process
of change (in the past as today)
therefore
earth’s age is great – anti biblical thought
change
in earth is gradual & slow –biblical belief in catastrophism
preoccupied
with Wallace’s implications
Studies
islands and endemism and notes older islands have more endemics (as pointed
out by Wallace)
Does
God favor older islands? (is he whimsical?)
Or
does their isolation provide for evolution
His
conclusion -we cannot know God’s will
Island
life is peculiar
Endemics
abundant and differing from island to island
Is
this God’s whimsy or a Natural Process?
Frogs
aren’t on volcanic islands (Lyell)
Adults
and eggs don’t survive salt water immersion
Either
God doesn’t put them on islands or
Frogs
can’t get to islands.)
Darwin’s
dilemma
Why
do Galapagos fauna resemble S. America? (Wallace)
No
one conjectured (Wallace’s criticism of Darwin)
Darwin
is the Galapagos expert (Journal of Researches / Beagle – travelogue)
Hints
at mystery of new beings
“we
seem to be brought somewhat near to the great fact – that mystery of mysteries-the
first appearance of new being on this Earth”
Darwin
knew why.
20
years of building evidence, for his Theory of Evolution through Natural
Selection
Wallace
suggests evolution
Galapagos
oceanic island
Populated
by sea or air crossing
Descendents
modified (evolved)
“like
other newly-formed islands, by the action of winds and currents, and at
a period sufficiently remote to have had the original species die out,
and the modified prototypes remain”
Works
to explain why
isolation
+ time = new species,
how?
Darwin
flinches
Wallace
corresponds – seeks reaction to idea
1st
letter to Darwin lost (mailed Oct. 10 1856 from Celebes)
Darwin
acknowledges similar thinking (7 months later)
Darwin’s
secret (how evolution works)
20
years gathering information ( priority to idea)
soon
to publish (Mr. Wallace be patient – hold off please)
“It
is really impossible to explain my views in the compass of a letter on
the causes and means of variation in a state of nature, but I slowly and
adopted a distinct and tangible idea.- Whether true or false others must
judge”
Different
histories and approaches
Darwin’s
Trained
for Clergy
Indecisive
youth
Boarded
the Beagle for round the world cruise
No
particular mission but to discover new living things
Unpaid
naturalist
Studied
geology & biology along the voyage
Was
seasick most of the time
Great
theorist
Wallace
father
–nonpracticing solicitor (minor lawyer), librarian, flop as businessman,
poor
family- (dropped from middle to working class thru bad business deals)
hardoworking
youth – from 14yrs old apprentice surveyor, self-educated (Outdoor work
– builds endurance, Learns math & geology)
Focused
early on biology
Laid
off – teaches in Leicester
Self
–educated …
Alexander
von Humboldt’s Personal Narrative of Travels in South America
Malthus
– essay on population
Darwin
– Journal
Swainson’s
– A Treatise on the Geography and Classification of Animals –
Robert
Chambers – Vestiges of theNatural History of Creation treatise on
evolution, considered lurid sensationalism, catalyst to Wallace, “an incitement
to the collection of facts” how do animals transform?
Wallace
Meets Bates –
collects
beetles (Darwin did the same)
they
plan to become biological collectors
went
to Amazon-showed true grit
travel
to discover answer to question –how do species arise?
Island
life (richness & endemism)
oceanic
vs. continental islands
Island
size – age – distance from continent
Madagascar
–
Size
- 4th largest @ 230,000 sq. miles (Madagascar<Borneo<New
Guinea<Greenland)
Age
- older than Bali
Distance
from mainland – 250 miles from Africa
More
of every kind of animals & plants
30
lemurs (12 other extinct forms)
more
endemics
50%
birds
80%
plants (90+% trees),
90+
reptiles
100%
of amphibians
100%
of lemurs
Bali
–
Size
- very small @ 2,100 sq. miles
Age
- younger than Madagacar
Distance
– less than 50 miles from Java
Fewer
kinds of animals & plants
Leaf
monkey & long-tailed macaque
Fewer
endemics
Bali
starling (Leucospar rothschildi)
Tiger
(Panthera tigris balica) – extinct
Island
location
Continental
once
connected to mainland (isolation from mainland by rising sea level),, occupied
by plants/animals at time of isolation
“begins
with everything and with everything to lose”
Oceanic
–
never
connected (formed by vulcanism, i.e. Surtsey in 1963 near Iceland),
not
occupied by plants/animals at time of formation (cross water dispersal)
“begins
with nothing and with everything to gain”
4th
lecture
Wallace
& Bates arrive in Amazon
Jungle
confusing
Diversity
but not abundance
Bounty
collector
Samuel
Stevens agent in London
Providing
material for stay-at-home naturalists
Wallace
works upstream
Daunting
rapids
Finds
manybutterflies but few beetles
Wallace
by necessity market driven
Benefit
of collecting many specimens of same species he sees variation in form
Wallace
loves the country but scared and lonely
Wallace
ascends several tributaries of Amazon and lives on a subsistence diet of
manioc, fish, coffee, brandy for preservative
Wallace
weakens
Chigoe
fleas
Dysentery
Malaria
Vampire
bats
Sand
fleas
Wallace
a workhorse
Collects
and sketches 160 fish spp.
Interviews
natives (speaks Portugese)
Recognizes
variation in nature
Wallace
lonely
Brother
joins him
Turns
back
Dies
of yellow fever
Wallace
& black jaguar
Awed
by animal
Recognizes
variation in form
Becomes
important to him
Redundant
collecting
Intraspecific variation
Preservation
difficult
Too
humid – moldy
Too
many ants
Egg
laying flies in sun
Shipping
difficult
Too
far upstream
Customs’
duties
Finishes
collecting
Many
preserved specimens
Several
live
Valuable
drawings
Whitewater
descent downriver
Open
canoes
Many
live animals
Toucans,
parrots, parakeets, monkeys, macaws
Several
drown enroute
Wallace
rides Helen back to England
Resinous
balsam stores
Rice
chafe for padding
Spontaneous
combustion results
Return
disastrous
Initially
fair weather
Fire
breaks out
Wallace
retrievesdiary, sketches , some
shirts
Animals
burning alive
Wallace
adrift
Lifeboats
leaky
10
days at sea
pork,
water, & biscuits
admires
stars & meteors & dolphins (fish)
always
a naturalist
Jordeson
picks Wallace et al. up
Tea
& water
brief
despair
Love
of the animal quest
Love
of learning
“The
most magnificent thing about any task is the attitude with which it is
done”
Jordeson
nearly sinks in gale
Arrives
in England
Bed-ridden
& weak
Vows
to conitnue exploration
Indomitable
Keen
eyed
Sensitivity
to variation
Correlated
to boundary (physical, biological )
Why?
Wallace’s
skills develop
Carefully
notes sampling location
Provides
distribution information
Monkeys
restricted Pithecia irrorata
Major
rivers (Rio Negro, Amazon)
Are
arboreal (need continuous forest)
Poor
or fearful swimmers
Wallace
speaks of monkey’s distribution
Zoological
Society – London
Amazon is an archipelago due to rivers which form biogeographical regions
Wallace’s
destiny
If
successful Amazon collecting he becomes authoritative naturalist
But
without bringing back his Amazon collection he considers
Andean
journey
Or
off to Indonesia
His
choice of Indonesia
Attended
meetings of Zoological & Entomological Societies
British
museum’s collection of birds and insects
Trip
to Malayan Archipelago
Travel
by sponsor – Royal Geographical Society
Gibraltar
– Suez – Singapore
6
mos. Collecting on mainland
7
years on Sarawak and other islands
Lessons
well learned
Group
and tag specimens by locality/island
Send
‘em back sequentially in small lots
Sarawak
to Celebes
Celebes
differs from Sarawak
Birdwing
butterflies – Ornithoptera n.sp.
Hornbills
– 2 spp.
Babirusa
boar – Bbyrousa babyrussa – endemic
“The
Babirusa stands completely isolated, having no resemblance to the pigs
of any other part of the world.”
Travels
to Aru
Few
previous European visits
New
Guinea Papuan residents not Malaysians
1000
miles on westerly winter winds (Dec.-Jan.)
small
Celebesianboat(prau
which cannottack upwind)
necessitates
many months stay
took
courage
Wallace’s
new abode
Aru’s
island of Wamma,town of Dobbo
3
rows of small shacks
he
claims one
Has
assistants from Celebes
Wallace’s
collection on Aru
Many
butterflies
New
ornithopteran
Similar
to N. Guinean Ornithoptera Poseidon
Also
Papillio ulysses -huge
birds
–king bird of paradise
description:
“The
greater part of its plumage was of an intense cinnabar red, with a gloss
of as of spun glass. On the head the feathers became short and velvety,
and shaded into rich orange. Beneath, from the breast downwards, was pure
white, with the softness and gloss of silk, and across the breast a band
of deepmetallic green separated this color from the red of the throat.
Above each eye was a round spot of the same metallic green; the bill was
yellow and the feet and legs were of a fine cobalt blue, strikingly contrasting
with all the other parts of the body”
Wallace’s
travails
Mosquitoes
– feet ulcerations, slow healing in humid tropics, feet keep him confined
to hut.
Ants,
millipedes, centipedes, scorpions, large black spiders.
Collected
9000 specimens, 1600 species over over a few months
Wrote
“On the Natural History of the Aru Islands”
Sent
to Stevens in London
Publishedin
Annals of Natural History December
1857
Aru
connected to New Guinea &Australia (more than 100 miles away)
Cassuary
Marsupials
Birds
Shrikes,
pitas, sunbirds, kingfishers, cockatoos
Aru
dissimilar to Malay archipelago
Missing
birds
Hornbills,
broadbills, woodpeckers, trogons, puffbirds, bee-eaters
Missing
mammals (except pigs & bats)
Carnivores,
rodents, primates, ugulates
Land
connection explains similarity w/ New Guinea & Australia
Distance
so great but animal similarity striking
Aru
topography
Bisected
by three drowned river channels (east – west orientation)
“they
seem portions of true rivers”
Once
ran downhill overland from New Guinea
Special
Creation theory
Agreement
that species go extinct
Agreement
that new species appear
Disagreement
on how they appear
God
distributed new animals
Problems
with theory
God
places animals in proper habitats
But
similar habitats don’t have same fauna
New
Guinea and Borneo
Same
size, location, physical features, climate
Faunas
different
And
dissimilar habitats do have same fauna
New
Guinea & Australia
Forested
mountains vs. flat deserts & savannas
But
kangaroos are in both
Thus
Wallace says of special creation and distribution “We can hardly help concluding,
therefore, that some other law has regulated the distribution of existing
species.”
Wallace
reminds readers – “we endeavored to show that the simple law, of every
new creation being closely allied to some species already existing in the
same country, would explain all these anomalies.”
But
doesn’t know how evolution works.
Darwin
& Wallace continued
Darwin
acknowledges Wallace’s letter after Aru expedition
Consoles
Wallace at lack of notice of his work “few naturalists care for anything
beyond the mere description of species. “
Darwin
mentions Lyell’s interest in Wallace’s earlier publication
Darwin
& Lyell
Visit
to Darwin in 1856
Darwin
explains Theory of Natural Selection
Lyell
sees connection to Wallace’s “introduction of species, most allied to those
immediately precening in Time”…”now seems explained by the Natural Selection
Theory”
Lyell
urges Darwin to publish and establish priority
Darwin
– cautious man with a bold idea
Accumulated
a decade of evidence
Wants
to publish an opus that will be hard to dispute
Vexed
“if anyone were to publish my ideas before me”
Constrained
by the complexity of his argument
Wallace
– bold man with developing idea
BirdwingOrnithopterabutterflies
New
species on Aru
Intermediate
in number of spots on hindwing Ornithoptera poseidon vs. O. priamus
Special
creation states permanence of species and transience of varieties
Wallace
believes species and varieties intergrade
If
so why would God bother to make each species? – “that fact is one of the
strongest arguments against the independent creation of species, for why
should a special act of creation be required to call into existence an
organism differing only in degree from another which has been produced
by existing laws?”
Wallace’s
collections enable him to see these patterns.
Wallace
claims to have nailed down Theory of Natural Selection
Right
after Sarawak paper (published in Annals in 1855)
Remembers
Malthus’s treatise on population growth and checks
Assumes
“survival of the fittest” influences population’s characteristics.
Wallace
tells Darwin about his “theory”
“On
the Tendency of Variety to Depart Indefinitely from the Original Type”
cautious
about its reception by scientists
sent
to Darwin first
Darwin
forwards it to Lyell – but when?
Ready
to submit it to publication
Lyell
and Joseph Hooker rescue Darwin
Both
author’s ideas should be delivered to the Linnaen Society simultaneously.
Darwin’s
deceptions?
Sat
on Wallace’s manuscript for a month before sending it to Lyell?
Told
Wallace he hadn’t asked for Lyell to broker the agreement, but mentioned
to Lyell that he felt dishonorable in offering a brief treatise on selection
after having received Wallace’s letter. Lyell encourages him to publish
Darwin’s
copies of Wallace’s letters and Lyell’s and Hooker’s are missing
The
co-authorship
July
1 1858 Linnean Society meeting
Darwin’s
and Wallace’s ideas presented
No
immediate response
Darwin
stayed at home (Down, England)
Wallace
somewhere in New Guinea and ignorant of the meeting.