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Essay on importance of adaptation
Adaptation introduction .essay
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EVOLUTION STUDY GUIDE o Define the following terms:
1. Evolution – a change in the number of times specific genes that codes for specific characteristics occur within an interbreeding population over a period of time.
2. Fossils – preserved remains of organisms that lived long ago, usually in sedimentary rock.
3. Acquired traits – organisms that acquire, not inherit, traits over a period of time and that cannot be passed down to the next generation.
4. Artificial selection – a breeder that selects desired traits for a species and then breeds that species to have those traits.
5. Variation – physical and genetic differences in populations of a species.
6. Adaptation – mutations that help a species or population adapt to their environment; good mutations.
7. Fitness – the traits a species or population has to help them survive in that particular environment.
8. Natural selection – a process by which some organisms (according to their traits) are the most suited to that environment; survival of the fittest. o List and describe the three observations Darwin made during his journey on the HMS Beagle.
1. Darwin saw on the Galapagos Islands that the same species differed from island to island.
2. Darwin saw that the giant tortoises were well-suited to that environment. Some of the tortoises with rounded shells ate leaves close to the ground, and others stretched their necks upwards to reach the leaves, and since their shells also tilted upwards, this allowed them to stretch their necks that high.
3. Darwin also studied the finches on the islands. At first, he thought they were all different species, but then later realized they were all the same but with some variations in their beaks’ size and shape. He also realized that their beaks we...
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...structures but come from the same lineage, and coevolution is a process in which two species effects each other’s evolution. o Classification and Phylogenic Tree
1. Classification is when scientists classify organisms in groups such as species, genus, etc. They use a Dichotomous Key to identify these organisms. In the 18th century, Carlos Linnaeus made a system of taxonomy (the ordered division and naming of organisms) that consists of a two-part scientific name called a binomial. The first part of the name is the genus. The second part of the name is special to each species within the genus. Later, the new species is then put in a phylogenic tree to see their evolutionary relationships with other species. A phylogenic tree is a hypothesis to their evolutionary relationships. There is always a common ancestor to all the species/organisms shown in a phylogenic tree.
On February 12, 1809, Charles Darwin was born. His childhood home took place in Shrewsbury, England. While he was a child, he took a liking to and collected shells, bird eggs, rocks and minerals, and insects. Him and his sister had gotten into multiple ‘debates’ about killing the insects, so he always had to find a corpse of an already dead insect, if he wished to collect. Later into his childhood, when he was only eight years old, his mother, Susanna, had passed away. This did not bother him as much until his later years, considering he was too young to understand what was going on. A year after that, his father, Dr. Robert Darwin, had settled young Darwin into Shrewsbury school. “ Darwin was a child of wealth and privilege who loved to explore nature.”
At Christ’s College, Darwin had a professor named John Stevens Henslow who in time became his mentor. After Darwin graduated Christ’s College with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1831, Henslow recommended him for a naturalist’s position aboard the HMS Beagle.The HMS Beagle was a ship that was to take a five year long trip around the world. Charles Darwin took the opportunity knowing that the up close experience with collecting natural specimen would teach and interest him greatly. Darwin uncovered many unknown thoughts about the specimens he discovered during his journey (Price, 2006). Other naturalists believed that all species either came into being at the start of the world, or were created over the course of natural history. Darwin however, noticed similarities among species all over the globe...
Natural selection is associated with the phrase “survival of the fittest.” This basically means that the fittest individuals can not only survive, but are also able to leave the most offspring. The selection of phenotypes affects the genotypes. For example, if tall pea plants are favored in the environment, then the tall pea plants would leave more offspring behind, meaning that the offspring will carry tall alleles. Phenotypes that are successful have the best adaptations (characteristics that help an individual to survive and reproduce) to their environment. These adaptation arise from the interactions with living and nonliving aspects of the environment. Some nonliving aspects of the environment are climate, water availability, and concentration of mineral sin the
What is evolution? Evolution in modern terms is fairly easy to understand. Evolution is the theory that life on earth began with a single celled organism that lived more that 3.5 billion years ago that slowly evolved into many diverse creatures over time. When you break down this theory into sections you get 6 factors: evolution, gradualism, speciation, common ancestry, natural selection and nonselective mechanisms of evolutionary change.
Descent is one of the mechanisms used for evolution. Descent are genetic traits or differences that are pasted down or that are heritable to the offspring or to future generations. By being able to understand the pasted through descent it allows for scientists to understand how organisms have
middle of paper ... ... that occurs is only that which allows for a species to adapt to its present circumstances. As the examples given here illustrate, natural selection may take on many forms and give a species better defensive, offensive, or reproductive measures in the struggle for existence, which, though it sounds dramatic and urgent, is nothing more than being able to effectively cope with the external world and reproduce. Works Cited Darwin, Charles. The Origin of Species.
This process is seen mostly in agriculture. It is because of artificial selection that we have the domesticated plants and livestock that we eat. In the case of canines, they were originally bred to become working and hunting dogs in agriculture. Later on they were bred as companion animals. The different variations of domesticated dog will be discussed later. The down fall of artificial selection is that it decreases variation in a species. Pure bred dog are highly susceptible to many different disorders and disease because of the lack of variation in their genotype. With these two processes, today we have friendly canine
Chapter two consists of Darwin continuing his studies. He talks about variation in the natural world compared to the domesticated species. He defines species variation and says that every naturalist has a different idea of the definition. He explains to the reader that linking other species together by characteristics of variation is challenging because some are so similar but vary in other ways. Environmental conditions could be effecting the variation. Climate, temperature, the separation of the animals could transform them. The species changes over time and have chi...
Charles Darwin was a scientist from the United Kingdom who was a naturalist and geologist in the early 1800s. Although, he is best known for his role in the evolution theory. Darwin decided to take part in a five-year voyage in 1831, called the Beagle, to make naval charts of South America. At the beginning of the expedition Darwin was just a young graduate, at the age of twenty-two, with only eagerness to be able to be a part of the opportunity. He had no high expectations to find the rare discoveries that he had found during his time on land on the far off continent. By the end of the excursion, Darwin had made a name for himself as a geologist and fossil collector after his journal was published, later titled The Voyage of the Beagle. His writing got him a lot of attention from multiple scientists around the world.
a. Darwin never observed natural selection in action because natural selection was a theory he stressed about for twenty years after the Beagle 's expedition.
Darwin made a five year voyage on The HMS Beagle that would change his life, and all life as a matter of fact, forever. The observations that he made in the Galapagos Islands would be the basis for his theory. The Galapagos
On the other hand, artificial selection is the exact opposite of natural selection. Artificial selection occurs when humans manually modify or manipulate certain desirable trait(s) that will appear in the offspring (Artificial Selection). Charles Darwin formed this term when he did selective breeding of animals such as pigeons, cat...
Charles Darwin began his scientific breakthroughs and upcoming theories when he began an expedition trip to the Galapagos Islands of South America. While studying there, he discovered that each island had its own type of plant and animal species. Although these plants and animals were similar in appearance, they had other characteristics that made them differ from one another and seem to not appear as similar. Darwin questioned why these plants and animals were on these islands and why they are different in ways.
Developed theory of evolution, which he came up with at the Galapagos Islands by studying the different beaks, claws, and other adapta...
Natural selection is based on the concept “survival of the fittest” where the most favourable individual best suited in the environment survive and pass on their genes for the next generation. Those individual who are less suited to the environment will die.