Evolution Report

854 Words2 Pages

The prevailing declination of the Tasmanian devil’s population can be accounted to the dissemination of the malignant disease known as Devil-Facial-Tumour-Disease (DFTD) which is spread through biting each other. The reproductive trends within Tasmanian Devils have had to adopt survival techniques such as early reproduction due to selective pressures which are precipitating the chance of death within the population. Both Charles Darwin and Jean-Baptiste Lamarck have proposed theories of evolution which can be pertained towards the endangerment of the devils however, Darwin’s theory conveys the concept better.
Tasmanian devils are endangered animals found within Tasmania and were previously present in mainland Australia before their extinction 400 years ago before European settlement. The cause can be recognised as dingoes as the Tasmanian devil was part of their diet but since the Bass Strait separated mainland Australia from Tasmania, dingoes could not exterminate the population there. They remained protected in Tasmania until the Europeans classified them as a threat to crops and payed bounty for their eradication. It was not until 1941 that the government instituted legislations for the protection of the marsupial so that it would not become extinct. In 1996, a chance mutation within the somatic cells of the Tasmanian devil caused a disease known as DFTD which formerly appear as small lesions around the mouth which then develop into large tumours around the facial region and other parts of the body. DFTD cannot be detected by the immune system of the devil as the genetic composition of it is similar to other cells within its body and so therefore, defence mechanisms are not applied against it. Infected animals die within the fi...

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...isease and it is only through many stages of reproduction and extermination that a completely resistant population can be formed. The disease itself has evolved through numerous gradual mutations enabling it to become transmissible and transfer to a new host once its previous host is dead.

Both Lamarck and Darwin have contributed theories to evolution but Darwin’s theories of natural selection and survival of the fittest correlate better with the evolution of the Tasmanian devils and their reproductive trends. As the Tasmanian devils struggles with DFTD, it has adopted evolutionary measures such as earlier reproduction causing the possible birth of more litter and the devils with immunity can reproduce to make the fittest survive. Therefore, Charles Darwin’s theory is more suited towards the evolution of Tasmanian Devils and the change in their reproductive trends.

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