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Evolution :natural selection essay
Evolution :natural selection essay
An essay on charles darwin's theory
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The topic of natural selection is one that has always caught my interest. I was pleased to learn about it in class and have decided to use it as the topic for this biology exploration paper. As stated by the Essential Biology book natural selection is a process in which organisms with certain inherited traits are more likely to survive and reproduce than are the individuals with other traits. Of course if I am going to talk about natural selection I must talk a little bit about Charles Darwin. Charles Darwin was a scientist and made several observations as he traveled around the world. A few observations that he made were that there was a great diversity of life, that there were similarities in organisms that allowed for classification into groups, and that that species were suited for their environments. From these observations he came up with a theory for the origin of species called evolution or as he called it "decent with modification." He gives a model for evolution in his book The Origin of Species that looks like a tree, everything begins at one point but later on it begins ...
Darwin did not come up with his theory out of nowhere. Like anyone else who has made discoveries, he was influenced by others. For quite a long time before Darwin, people didn't look beyond the Biblical creation story. Such things as fossils, primitive stone tools and visible layers in rock were said to have been placed on earth by God. There wasn't a great deal of work done on what we now call evolution, until the age of exploration began. Around that time people noticed that there were different types of humans in different parts of the world. There were several attempts to classify the various types of humans, but such classifications were generally extremely ethnocentric, and included ideas that have been proved incorrect. For a time people believed that creatures like Dr. Moreau's Beast People could and did exist in the world; explorers told fantastic tales of humans with the heads of dogs, or mermaids, or islands populated by only humans of only one gender. In the seventeenth century John Ray coined the term "species," but he believed that none of the species had changed since the day of creation. Linnaeus, who invented the system of binomial nomenclature used today to classify different species, was also a creationist.
In 1859, Charles Darwin, a geologist published ‘The Origin of species.’ This book was published in a society where the idea of a descent with change or evolution was not a controversial topic. Darwin used the data from his experiments on nature to convince everybody that his theory of Natural selection was correct.
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
He realized that snake embryos had bumps where there should be legs. Which mean they probably evolved from a creature with legs. He noticed that whale embryos had teeth, but adult whales did not have teeth. The most shocking of his embryotic studies involved human embryos. He noted that the human embryos as slits around the neck, the same in fish. The difference is that in fish the develop into gills, and in human the become the bones of the inner ear. This showed that humans must be descended from fish. This led him to the conclusion that all species were somehow connected. He theorized that beginning with a common ancestor, species had changed dramatically over generations. Some species may add new body features, or lose them. He called this descent with
Charles Darwin’s theory of natural selection explains the general laws by which any given species transforms into other varieties and species. Darwin extends the application of his theory to the entire hierarchy of classification and states that all forms of life have descended from one incredibly remote ancestor. The process of natural selection entails the divergence of character of specific varieties and the subsequent classification of once-related living forms as distinct entities on one or many levels of classification. The process occurs as a species varies slightly over the course of numerous generations. Through inheritance, natural selection preserves each variation that proves advantageous to that species in its present circumstances of living, which include its interaction with closely related species in the “struggle for existence” (Darwin 62).
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...
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
Evolutionary Psychology is the theoretical approach to psychology that explains useful mental and psychological traits such as perception, memory, language, and human behavior. Evolutionary psychology started a revolution of new ideas being articulated and being built on top of one another like stairs. It is incredible to think that this is a relatively new science in our history as humans. Evolutionary psychology started with a basic idea of simple organisms and has combined into the study of human nature.
Charles Darwin also showed how new species were created on the acts of evolution. It is easily explained by having big differences from the effect of natural selection, which were considered to be new species. So back in the beginning, before the effects of evolution had occurred there was just one specie, which evolved to make the species that we know today. So somehow all species are somewhat connected. The basis of what Darwin was proving was that life on Earth is simply the result of billions of years of adaptation to the changing environments. That is why certain species can only live in certain climates. This can be explained with the color of your skin, or the growing of plants.
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).
Charles Darwin in his book, On the Origin of Species, presents us with a theory of natural selection. This theory is his attempt at an explanation on how the world and its' species came to be the way that we know them now. Darwin writes on how through a process of millions of years, through the effects of man and the effects of nature, species have had an ongoing trial and error experiment. It is through these trials that the natural world has developed beneficial anomalies that at times seem too great to be the work of chance.
Darwin, Charles. "Natural Selection." The Norton Mix. Editor Katie Hannah. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2010. 55-62.
When he arrived back in England, he wrote up his findings as part of the Captain narrative. Darwin started working on his own theory after coming back from the trip. He observed that species had the same characteristics all over the world, this led him to believe that species slowly evolved from their ancestors. In 1859 Charles Darwin published his work in his book On the Origin of Species. Darwin’s finches On Darwin’s trip around the world he found something very interesting on the Galapagos Islands.
"It may be said that natural selection is daily and hourly scrutinizing, throughout the world, every variation, even the slightest; rejecting that which is bad, preserving and adding up all that is good" wrote Charles Darwin in chapter 4:Natural Selection.
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.