Evolution And Evolution: The Importance Of Evolution

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Evolution is a simple yet complicated process to explain there are many different factors that contribute to evolution. But what is evolution and why is it something that so debated? Why is it so important for people to not only know what it is but understand the importance of it in today’s world? Evolution is simply a change or mutation in the genetic material over generations. Evolution is often a subject that’s misunderstood and misinterpreted in its very definition. If you were to ask someone “what is evolution” many people will reply “survival of the fittest.” Evolution isn’t the search for a perfect organism it’s the assurance that favorable traits that enable that organism to reproduce and thrive are passed down to future generations so they can survive in their environment. On that note, what exactly is “survival of the fittest” and why is always associated with evolution? First of all “survival of the fittest” was coined by Charles Darwin one of the scientist that first studied evolution. The difference between evolution and “survival of the fittest” is that “survival of the fittest” is driven by natural selection (Andrew, 2014). Natural selection is one of the …show more content…

Jean Baptiste Lamarck was one of them; Lamarck argued that species were not created as they were in the current form at the start of time (Andrew, 2014). He believed in “transmutation” and the idea of “use and disuse.” (Smocovitis, 2005) This is the idea that whichever characteristic species didn’t use they lost and only kept the ones that they found useful. He believed in the idea of inheritance of acquired characteristics (Smocovitis, 2005). This is the basic concept of evolution. Georges Cuvier was a paleontologist that demonstrated the difference between fossils and extant creatures. He proved through his study that there were animals that were similar to current ones, but where slightly different (Smocovitis,

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