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Charles Darwin's theory of evolution by
Charles Darwin's theory of evolution by
Charles Darwin's theory of evolution by
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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.
The species by which the term and theory of adaptive radiation came to be known is the finches’ discovered by Charles Darwin. It is the process whereby different species emerge from one ancestor. If there is one species dominating in an environment then there will be an overuse of the resources so the individuals in the population will begin competing for them. This can result in the decrease of the population. In order to avoid dying off of individuals, the organisms radiate to different areas within the environment. They adapt to their new environments which in turn makes them into new species. This ties...
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...n Gene during the Adaptive Radiation of East African Great Lakes Cichlid Fishes. Molecular Biology and Evolution, 19 (10), 1807–1811.
Takahashi, T. and Koblmuller, S. 2011: The Adaptive Radiation of Cichlid Fish in Lake Tanganyika:
A Morphological Perspective. International Journal of Evolutionary Biology. 1-14.
Tohru Sugawara, Yohey, and Norihiro Miyagi, R., Terai, Y., Aibara, M., Sugawara, T., Imai, H., Tachida, H., Mzighani, S. I., Okitsu , T., Wada, A. and Okada, N. 2012: Correlation between nuptial colors and visual sensitivities tuned by opsins leads to species richness in sympatric Lake Victoria Cichlid fishes. Molecular Biology and Evolution, 29(11), 3281–3296.
Wilson, 2001. Adaptive Radiation. Retrieved from (http://learning.ukzn.ac.za/file.php/31915/Adaptive_Rad.pdf) Accessed on 28 March 2014.
The Rainbow trout, belonging to the family Salmonidae, Class Actinopterygii (ray finned fish), inhabitscold streams, rivers and lakes in North America. Ones living in lakes have silver scales apart from those on their back which are dark green. They are covered in dark spots that usually go no further than the lateral line. The lateral line is a line of sense organs found on the side of the Rainbow trout. It is used to detect vibrations (and therefore movement) in the water surrounding it. A pinkish red band often runs the length of the lateral line. The shape of the Rainbow trout is a characteristic shape not uncommon from that of salmon. (Guidekenairriver.com)
Darwin: A Norton Critical Edition, Second Edition ; ed. by Philip Appleman; copyright 1979, 1970 by W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.
"Fluorescence in Situ Hybridization (FISH) Fact Sheet." National Human Genome Research Institute. 15 Nov. 2007. National Institutes of Health. .
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...
Evolution became extremely popular since the publication of Charles Darwin’s theory in his infamous book, The Origin of Species: By Means of Natural Selection or The Preservation of...
Hughes, N.F., 1999. Fish ecology course, School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences, University of Alaska Fairbanks.
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.
Another interesting fact about Lake Baikal is that more than 1,700 species of animals and plants live in the body of water. Of the 1,700 species, approximately two-thirds of those animals are unique to Lake Baikal. In other words, nearly sixty-six percent of Lake Baikal’s animals cannot be found in any other body of water in the world (Saving Lake Baikal). Species found in Lake Baikal include arctic grayling, Baikal sturgeon, and freshwater seal. Due to the huge selection and uniqueness of species in the lake many people do not know of or do not see numerous species that exist in our world. 1,700 different species in one lake is...
The concept of transitional species is an important and complex notion in evolutionary biology. To begin with, there is no such thing as transitional species since all living things were always evolving in the past, not stopping at one stage or another, and they will continue to evolve in the future. In terms of evolutionary biology, we use the concept of transitional species as a way to dim ambiguity. Much like the use of the Linnean taxonomic system of species, we come up with concepts like transitional species to organize and classify species in order to understand their evolutionary roots and how those species changed through life’s history to become what they are today. “In the same way that the concept of species can be provisionally meaningful to describe organisms at a single point in time, the concept of transitional species can be provisionally meaningful to describe organisms over a length of time, usually quite a long time, such as hundreds of thousands or millions of years” (111). Though it can be difficult to distinguish what can be considered an ancestral species from another, the fossil record can show us how species change through time as they develop ways to adapt to stresses found in their environments. “In the modern sense, organisms or fossils that show intermediate stages between ancestral and that of the current state are referred to as transitional species” (222). The concept of transitional species is, in essence, fairly straight forward. This paper will outline the concept of transitional (or sometimes termed intermediate) species and the latter’s role in evolutionary biology, as well as go in depth about several common transitional species: Tiktaalik, an animal at the cusp between life in the water and ...
Charles Darwin theory of evolution states that species come and go through time; while they exist, they change (Montgomery, 2009). This theory suggested that with time different environmental factors forces, biological beings and other entities to change to survi...
Description: These fishes are characterized by their bright yellow to orange color with three distinctive white bars across its body. They are among the most recognizable reef-dwellers. Their average length –as reported- ranges about 11 cm.
Distribution – The fathead minnow is a stream fish, able to tolerate a wide range of environmental conditions including high temperatures, low oxygen levels, and high turbidities. The species seems to be most abundant in small streams where competition wi...
Extinction, although not as pleasant a concept as the idea of adapting to ones surroundings, plays just as large a role in natural selection as anything else. As one adaptation of a species proves beneficial, and as that variation begins to propagate, the original, less advantageous variant will die off. It is the unchanged species that are in immediate conflict with the species undergoing the natural adaptation that stand to suffer...
... incredibly relevant to today world. Brine shrimps are also used as test subjects due to their incredible resilience, and are also sold as a novelty item “sea monkeys.” Unfortunately, these unique critters have become threatened in some cases as water is diverted away (for human use) from high saline environments inhabited by brine shrimp. As a result, the water becomes more saline and usually results in a rising pH which can endanger the shrimps. The information provided in these two studies shows the need, function, means, and genetic explanation for osmoregulation. As humans continue to impact the environment, changing salinity will result in changing need for osmoregulation, and as a result, future scientists will need to explore how organisms can react to the need to osmoregulate more or less and how that will impact organism populations’ survival as a whole.
...for more accurate predictions of how species will evolve and whether or not certain species will survive and what adaptations could promote or inhibit that process. There are different methods of adaptation available for animals and plants to employ in nature. Thus, exploring adaptations during our lectures would grant us better insight into what caused certain things to demonstrate specific adaptations and would aid in the explanation and expansion of convergent evolution.