“I have called this principle, by which each slight variation, if useful, is preserved, by the term of Natural Selection.” - Charles Darwin. Natural selection is one of the most incredible feats of nature. Through this process, the traits of a species that are best suited for its environment become dominant in the species. Since the beginning of time, people have questioned why animals seem to be so well suited to their environment. Many people quickly assumed the seemingly perfect animals must be a result of some intelligent design. However, these people did not consider that the characteristics of these species could have occurred naturally. Natural selection occurs when organisms with more desirable characteristics survive to maturity and …show more content…
Three-spined sticklebacks live in various oceans, lakes, and streams of the Northern Hemisphere. While all sticklebacks live in water, freshwater and saltwater sticklebacks have evolved with different traits. In the saline ocean, sticklebacks have 30 armor plates that cover their entire body. However, sticklebacks that live in freshwater have only a few armor plates that only cover certain parts of their body. Since different predators live in freshwater and saltwater, the two types of three-spined sticklebacks evolved in different ways to protect themselves. In the ocean, the armor prevents the sticklebacks from being swallowed by larger fish. However, freshwater sticklebacks are hunted by insects instead of fish. They do not need armor to protect themselves, they just need to be fast in order to get away from insects. A mutation of the Ectodysplasin gene appears to be responsible for changes in body armor in many freshwater stickleback populations. Since armor was often overly bulky for freshwater sticklebacks, fish with the armor would be too slow and be eaten, while the Ectodysplasin gene was being passed on again and again. The three-spined sticklebacks prove that specific traits are more frequent in a population because the traits increase an individual’s likelihood of passing on their
The four-pointed forkbird has the best suited evolutionary fitness. By the end of the activity, there were only two two-pointed forkbirds, one one-pointed forkbirds, and seventeen four-pointed forkbirds. This shows that four-pointed forkbirds have a better chance of surviving and passing on their traits.
Biological evolution is a change in the characteristics of living organisms over generations (Scott, 2017). A basic mechanism of evolution, the genetic drift, and mutation is natural selection. According to Darwin's theory of evolution, natural selection is a process in nature in which only the organisms best adapted to their environmental surroundings have a higher chance of surviving and transmitting their genetic characters in increasing numbers to succeeding generations while those less adapted tend to be eliminated. There has been many experimental research projects that relate to the topic of natural selection and evolution.
Mivart’s argument should not be taken at face-value with out considering the objections he addressed. The first objection raised is how there are different forms to acquire “high-reaching traits”. To give one example, an elephant can use its extended trunk in order to gather food. The author counters this objection by mentioning how the Ungulata has none of the available “high-reaching traits” (i.e. no long nose, no climbing abilities). Another objection to consider is how there are different modes of self-preservation for certain animals. For instance, mussels and porcupines possess vivid colors, yet they have other active defense mechanisms (i.e. hard shells and spikes, respectively) to ensure their survival. The author addresses this statemen...
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
Evolution in general, is a hard concept to grasp. There are multiple factors that effect the outcome a species, for example: genetics, nurture, nature, and the environment all play an important role. It was once said that species do not survive due to the fact that they are the strongest or the most intelligent, but because that species is the most responsive to change.
An earthquake landed at 9.2 on the Richter scale and the second highest ever recorded initiated a geological uplift of four to five meters (13-16 feet) and captured the fish in newly formed ponds on islands in the Gulf of Alaska, south of Anchorage in 1964. This natural disaster stranded seawater-native fish in new formed freshwater ponds on three different islands. In just decades, the three spine stickleback went through changes in their genes causing their external traits to alter such as, their eyes, shape, color, bone structure and body armor to survive in fresh water after the destructive force. The genome itself is being rapidly reshaped. Stickleback fish can adapt on this time scale because the species as a whole has evolved, over millions
Darwin has two theories on the key principles of theory of evolution. One is the natural selection, a species that attains characteristics that are adapted to their environments (Darwin, Charles). The other one is survival of the fittest, which is when an individual best adapts to their environment survive to reproduce, and their genes are passed to later generat...
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...
Darwin describes natural selection as daily and that natural selection happens everywhere in the world. Whatever is weak is diminished and the good variations are kept for the next generations.
With the studies that Charles Darwin obtained he published his first work, “The Origin of Species.” In this book he explained how for millions of years animals, and plants have evolved to better help their existence. Darwin reasoned that these living things had gradually changed over time to help themselves. The changes that he found seemed to have been during the process of reproduction. The traits which would help them survive became a dominant trait, while the weaker traits became recessive. A good example of what Darwin was trying to explain is shown in giraffes. Long-necked giraffes could reach the food on the trees, while the short-necked giraffes couldn’t. Since long necks helped the giraffes eat, short-necked giraffes died off from hunger. Because of this long-necks became a dominant trait in giraffes. This is what Charles Darwin would later call natural selection.
Natural selection is basically keeping the more desired traits while, slowing dying off the ones that are not need. So say for example the animals that are from the mainland their hair are short due to extreme climate. The animal on the island that has much cooler temperatures, the hair would be longer.
According to Darwin and his theory on evolution, organisms are presented with nature’s challenge of environmental change. Those that possess the characteristics of adapting to such challenges are successful in leaving their genes behind and ensuring that their lineage will continue. It is natural selection, where nature can perform tiny to mass sporadic experiments on its organisms, and the results can be interesting from extinction to significant changes within a species.
In nature, when an environment begins to favor a specific trait, the organisms without that trait begin to die out quite rapidly, and the organisms with said trait thrive. This is called a selective environment, and is the driving force behind evolution. This process usually takes a very long time, often centuries in larger ecosystems;, however, in the small, densely occupied biosphere of the human body, it can happen in days.
Charles Darwin, the father of evolution theories, stated that the intelligence or the strength of specie does not guarantee its survival and the continuation of its genetic line. The individual in a species with the suitable genetic material will continue to exist if sudden changes that require adaptation quickly bloom. These traits, which are not necessarily desirable, allow the individuals that contain them to live on and will be passed on from generation to generation. He describes these individuals as being ‘responsive to change’ because he sees them as the most sensitive to disturbances. So that they adapt quickly or prepare themselves to do so. This is a fragment of the definition and explanation of evolution that Darwin and many other academics were very much interested in. Evolution is a long, important process containing many components or fragments like adaptive radiation. This paper aims to outline the process of adaptive radiation and link it to evolution giving examples of instances where radiation was successful. Not failing to include the modern species distribution and the historical cause of the distribution.
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.