EVOLUTION:
Evolution is the change in the characteristics of a living and non-living organisms over generations. The central idea of biological evolution is that all life on Earth shares a common ancestor. The Theory of Evolution allows us to analyze were everything comes from, the difference between our ancestors and common living organisms who live completely different lives. Evolution which is also called "Descent with Modification" and its mechanism "Natural Selection" were the two main ideas. Many naturalist and scientists have worked on this theory but it was Charles Darwin the one credited for it. One of the scientists who influenced Charles Darwin was his own grandfather Erasmus Darwin who believed that organisms evolved over time but he never knew how. There isn't just one way for evolution to happen and every scientist contributing in this theory has their own idea of evolution. Jean Baptiste Lamarck had his own theory of evolution, he proposed the theory of "Inheritance of Acquired Characteristics", AKA "Theory of Use-Disuse". His theory explained that if an organism uses a structure a lot then so does its ancestors and that structure will develop overtime. His example of his theory was how a Giraffe's neck is so long, he explained how a giraffe that uses its neck a lot, the next generation will develop long better necks, while a giraffe that doesn't use its neck, its ancestors will not develop long necks.
One way that helped Charles Darwin prove his theory was during is 5years voyage. In the Galapagos Islands Darwin observed 13varieties of finches that are all related but differ in beak sizes and colour. He came to the conclusion that these birds all developed from the same ancestor but were later distributed towards the islands. On the islands each bird adapted (by natural selection) to its own environment and source of food, such as those who eat seeds require wide and thick beaks while those who eat insects require small and narrow beaks. These offsprings that make them better adapted are more likely to survive (survival of the fittest). The offsprings that survive will be the ones who posses the favourable traits and mate and are able to pass down their genes to the next generation. That is natural selection. Another example of natural selection would be the peppered moths. Before the industrial revolution light coloured peppered moth blended and camouflaged with the trees and dark coloured moths were more visible for predators. After the revolution, trees got darker therefore dark coloured moths were now the dominant species and best fit for the dark tree(environment) and were best fit colour. As predators can recognize light coloured moths easier now, mating with dark coloured moths became a necessity for survival and the dark coloured moths population grew.
Evolution is divided into two basic types, Micro-evolution(small change within one species) and Macro-evolution(big change from one species to another). These types are determined by how much the DNA has changed in a organism's gene pool. Change in the gene pool can be done by Natural Selection, Mutation, Genetic Drift, Genetic Flow and Non-Random Mating. These changes determine the population of a species. There are three ways a population can change, Stabilized Selection(acts against extreme variations in population), Directional Selection(when extreme variations at one end are favoured over average) and Disruptive Selection(when both extreme variations are favoured over average). With different variations of processes for evolution macro-evolution has the biggest change, it can create a new, more developed species(speciation). As evolution shows us that we are all related, the mechanism of speciation shows us how evolution can also occur to non-related organisms. Divergent Evolution occurs when small fragment of a population inhabit new areas and evolve and adapt to their new environment such as the Galapagos Finches, they share a common DNA(ancestor). While divergent evolution shows us common DNA, Convergent Evolution shows us how unrelated species can inhabit the same environment and adapt to similar traits and characteristics, such as ducks and platypus bills, they have no common DNA(ancestors). Evolution helps us explain how organisms are connected, it shows us how variations and change of species have developed to the way it is now.
Evolution is the change in the characteristics of a living and non-living organisms over generations. The central idea of biological evolution is that all life on Earth shares a common ancestor. The Theory of Evolution allows us to analyze were everything comes from, the difference between our ancestors and common living organisms who live completely different lives. Evolution which is also called "Descent with Modification" and its mechanism "Natural Selection" were the two main ideas. Many naturalist and scientists have worked on this theory but it was Charles Darwin the one credited for it. One of the scientists who influenced Charles Darwin was his own grandfather Erasmus Darwin who believed that organisms evolved over time but he never knew how. There isn't just one way for evolution to happen and every scientist contributing in this theory has their own idea of evolution. Jean Baptiste Lamarck had his own theory of evolution, he proposed the theory of "Inheritance of Acquired Characteristics", AKA "Theory of Use-Disuse". His theory explained that if an organism uses a structure a lot then so does its ancestors and that structure will develop overtime. His example of his theory was how a Giraffe's neck is so long, he explained how a giraffe that uses its neck a lot, the next generation will develop long better necks, while a giraffe that doesn't use its neck, its ancestors will not develop long necks.
One way that helped Charles Darwin prove his theory was during is 5years voyage. In the Galapagos Islands Darwin observed 13varieties of finches that are all related but differ in beak sizes and colour. He came to the conclusion that these birds all developed from the same ancestor but were later distributed towards the islands. On the islands each bird adapted (by natural selection) to its own environment and source of food, such as those who eat seeds require wide and thick beaks while those who eat insects require small and narrow beaks. These offsprings that make them better adapted are more likely to survive (survival of the fittest). The offsprings that survive will be the ones who posses the favourable traits and mate and are able to pass down their genes to the next generation. That is natural selection. Another example of natural selection would be the peppered moths. Before the industrial revolution light coloured peppered moth blended and camouflaged with the trees and dark coloured moths were more visible for predators. After the revolution, trees got darker therefore dark coloured moths were now the dominant species and best fit for the dark tree(environment) and were best fit colour. As predators can recognize light coloured moths easier now, mating with dark coloured moths became a necessity for survival and the dark coloured moths population grew.
Evolution is divided into two basic types, Micro-evolution(small change within one species) and Macro-evolution(big change from one species to another). These types are determined by how much the DNA has changed in a organism's gene pool. Change in the gene pool can be done by Natural Selection, Mutation, Genetic Drift, Genetic Flow and Non-Random Mating. These changes determine the population of a species. There are three ways a population can change, Stabilized Selection(acts against extreme variations in population), Directional Selection(when extreme variations at one end are favoured over average) and Disruptive Selection(when both extreme variations are favoured over average). With different variations of processes for evolution macro-evolution has the biggest change, it can create a new, more developed species(speciation). As evolution shows us that we are all related, the mechanism of speciation shows us how evolution can also occur to non-related organisms. Divergent Evolution occurs when small fragment of a population inhabit new areas and evolve and adapt to their new environment such as the Galapagos Finches, they share a common DNA(ancestor). While divergent evolution shows us common DNA, Convergent Evolution shows us how unrelated species can inhabit the same environment and adapt to similar traits and characteristics, such as ducks and platypus bills, they have no common DNA(ancestors). Evolution helps us explain how organisms are connected, it shows us how variations and change of species have developed to the way it is now.