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Children often play a game called telephone, where one child whispers a statement into another child's ear, and the statement is passed on to other children; at the end of the game the last child will repeat the statement that was told to him or her. The majority of the time, the statement said would be completely different than the original one. This is an example of evolution through natural selection; where somewhere along the life span of the statement, it was modified, and the modified statement was passed on to form a new statement.
Charles Darwin stated that, "individuals are the unit of selection; the struggle for existence is a matter among individuals." In this statement Darwin is referring to natural selection. Natural selection
Over the last few hundred years, more and more has been added to the world’s fossil collection, fossils from all over the world. New theories have been created and old theories have almost been proven about the evolution of man. For example, we have proof that different species of man existed with certain types of DNA sequences and instincts, some we may not have anymore, or some that other species did not have back then. Even though it is subjected to much debate, one of the most widely accepted theories however, is that Homo sapiens interbred with the slightly more primitive species of man, the Neanderthal.
These fossils are having a major impact on the scientific world’s view of human evolution and scientists may even have to rethink some present ideas about it. Because the skull of Toumai has characteristics that are very similar to those found in the Homo family, some scientists are beginning to question whether or not Australopithecus, an early member of the hominid family from about four to one million years ago and they are characterized by their fully upright posture and their small brain size, is even part of the evolution record of humans from apes. Bernard Wood, of George Washington University in Washington DC, argues that if Australopithecus has more ape-like features than the features found on an older
...nted muscles. The quadrupling of genes led to bigger animals such as elephants. The largest member of the chordate phylum that ever walked on Earth was dinosaurs. The closest animal relative to humans is great apes. Great apes can think, feel, nurture own kind, pass on social skills, mimic, and remember just like humans do. Human intelligence is greater than anything on Earth! This video enhanced my understanding on Chordates because it explains how some chordates are or are not vertebras and it showed how land animals evolved from fish. I always like to see different videos on how species originated, especially humans.
...xamples that show evolution exist. The exhibit use fossils to explain how there is an existence of similarities between the creatures who walk the earth today and who have walked the earth billions of years ago. Also how the Pangaea was divided into different continents and how plants and animals are only located in certain regions such as kangaroos, koala bears and other marsupials are only located in Australia. There are also other unique creatures located in other different parts of the globe, such as New Zealand. They also have a thirteen thousand year old human whom they found frozen in the snow that shows the world is older than 4,000 years as some other theory proclaims. I would recommend this exhibit to anyone who wants to learn the theory of evolution yet enjoy themselves with having fun with the activities, fossils, pictures and other fun teaching methods.
Natural selection is simple yet complex process that allows species adapt to its environment. Natural selection guides evolution by “sifting out” favorable traits that increase survival for the species. Natural selection is driven by reproductive success. If a species can reproduce and its offspring survive than any traits in its genotype that assisted in its survival will be passed on from generation to generation and ensure that the species will live on. Around the time the Theory of Evolution was suggested, society was very religious and very pressed on the Theory of Creation, so the publication of Darwin’s The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection caused a lot of controversy. Darwin gave the world strong evidence that natural selection and evolution played a major role in the development of the species that we see today. Of course natural selection is not the only process driving evolution. In order for natural selection to happen, the species has to have genetic variation. Genetic variation happens because of mutations and recombination of genes. Other processes that contribute are gene flow and genetic
“The scientific study of how humans developed did not begin until the 1800s in Europe. Until that time, people relied on religious explanations of how humans came into existence. Starting in the 1500s a scientific revolution began to sweep Europe. Thinkers started using scientific methods and experiments to try to better understand the world and the creatures living in it. Eventually these methods were turned to the question of human origins” (The Nature Of Human Origins, 1). Earth made it possible for species to change over time because Ancient Earth provides ability to plenty of time.The Homo Sapien a is very complex creature. The species started off very simple by living in caves and surviving with little food and then later evolved into a species that were able to do many more complex things. The first species was Sahelanthropus tchadensis They were one of the most simple humans in that time period and on. They had very small skulls compared to Homo Sapiens today and their motor skills were just the same. We have evolved and changed for the better both mentally and physically. The Evolution of Homo Sapiens started off simple, such as the Neanderthals, and now we are the most advanced species to ever walk the planet so far.
Evolution is the theory that over time a species will slowly develop new characteristics and eventually become an entirely new species. Based off of fossils that have been found, studied, and tested, scientists have been able to create what they call a fossil record. In the fossil record there is evidence of minor changes in creatures and those changes taking millions of years, overtime these changes amounted to a point where the creatures were completely different, this proves that evolution is true. The changes started with a creature called a chordate which was essentially a very primitive fish. Over time some of these fish located to shallow areas of water, to adapt to the shallow water the fish developed very primitive versions of arms,
Charles Darwin has five parts to his theory of natural selection, firstly the “Geometric increase” which claims that “all living things reproduce in great numbers”, meaning that species may survive but not all will survive because, the resources used for survival for instance ,food will not be enough for all living things. “The struggle for existence” because there is a limited number of resources and can only sustain some and not all, not all living things will survive, however the question lies in which living being will survive?. “Variation” is the third part of natural selection which claims that within those living things there are variations within them that will determine whic...
There are multiple strong pieces about the evidence of evolution, but there is one piece that happens to be the most convincing. One strong piece of evidence that is the most convincing is comparative anatomy because it proves that multiple animals have a common ancestor. Comparative anatomy shows multiple homologous structured with similar parts that make them capable of having similar ancestors. The rib cage of a human and monkey is just one reason why comparative anatomy is convincing. The rib cages of humans and monkeys are vastly similar which means they have similar ancestors. A human rib cage is longer and wider than a monkey, but has the same structure as it. This is convincing to me because if monkeys have the same build as humans
...he process of evolution after a lot of stages of evolution and this might not even be the last stage. Past species have also left records of their history. Fossils along with comparative anatomy of present-day organisms contribute to morphological record. By comparing the anatomies of modern and extinct species paleontologists can tell the relationship between them.
Many scientists in the past, such as Aristotle and Plato, believed that there were no changes in populations; however, other scientists, such as Darwin and Wallace, arose and argued that species inherit heritable traits from common ancestors and environmental forces drives out certain heritable traits that makes the species better suited to survive or be more “fit” for that environment. Therefore, species do change over a period of time and they were able to support their theory by showing that evolution does occur. There were four basic mechanisms of evolution in their theory: mutation, migration, genetic drift, and natural selection. Natural selection is the gradual process by which heritable traits that makes it more likely for an organism to survive and successfully reproduce increases, whereas there is a decline in those who do have those beneficial heritable traits (Natural Selection). For example, there is a decrease in rain which causes a drought in the finches’ environment. The seeds in the finches’ environment would not be soft enough for the smaller and weaker beak finches to break; therefore, they cannot compete with the larger and stronger beak finches for food. The larger and stronger beak finches has a heritable trait that helps them survive and reproduce better than others for that particular environment which makes them categorized under natural selection (Freeman, 2002).
Darwin writes on how a species will adapt to its environment given enough time. When an animal gains a genetic edge over its competitors, be they of the same species or of another genus altogether, the animal has increased its chance of either procreation or adaptation. When this animal has this beneficial variance, the advantage becomes his and because of this, the trait is then passed on to the animals offspring.
2004 Has the Comination of Genetic and Fossil Evidence Solved the Riddle of Modern Humans?, Evolutionary Anthropology 13: 145-159.
Throughout the long winding road that is human evolution; many species have helped shape who we are today. There was the early Australopithecus africanus which began to walk bipedally-upright with two feet and the Homo habilis which drastically developed the construction of handmade tools. But there is one species who is to be credited for the most critical advancements in human evolution; Homo erectus. Not only did Homo erectus advance us the most biologically, but also the most geographically.
Without evolution, and the constant ever changing environment, the complexity of living organisms would not be as it is. Evolution is defined as a process that results in heritable changes in a population spread over many generations (8).Scientists believe in the theory of evolution. This belief is based on scientific evidence that corroborates the theory of evolution. In Figure 1 the pictures of the skulls depict the sequence of the evolution of Homo-sapiens. As the figure shows, man has evolved from our common ancestor that is shared by homo-sapiens. The change of diet of homo-sapiens over time has thought to contribute to the change in jaw structure and overall skull shape.