Evolutionary Trees Research Paper

Biological Evolution is the idea that all organisms that live on earth have a common ascendant.

Common Ancestor – an organism or species that is the ancestor of 2 or more organisms/species.

Evolution rarely follows a straight line from species to species. Instead, evolution is more like a growing tree. This tree is called a phylogenetic tree, phylo meaning race, and genetic meaning genes and heredity. As this tree continues to thrive, more branches begin to grow and other branches begin to die. Once a branch dies, no new branches can grow from it because the branch represents a species and when a species dies, the species cannot evolve into subspecies. Due to this, species do change over time because species compete for limited resources, new adaptations can be passed to the next generation, and the environment changes all the time. These are all proven by numerous types of evidence that are found over a period of time.

The main claims of evolution are that all species are connected, species change, and that genes of different species are not identical due to mutations. PBS’s film, What Darwin Never Knew, explains that “all species are connected and they change through Darwin’s ‘descent with modification’ theory” (What Darwin Never Knew). The species are connected, yet varying through mutations. “Mutations are a critical ingredient in the recipe for evolution. Without mutation, everything would stay constant, generation after generation. Mutation generates variation, differences between individuals” (What Darwin Never Knew). In different species, most of the DNA is similar, with the exception of one different sequence. The mutations can cause changes between species, causing variation. Overall, it

Charles Darwin was an English naturalist, geologist, and biologist who lived from 1809 to 1882. Darwin is most famously known for his contribution to evolutions. He published a book known as The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection. This book emphasizes two theories known as descent with modification and natural selection. Descent with modification is a common ancestry between organisms. Natural selection is the process where organisms slowly change to be better adapted to their environment. Traits that lead an organism to have success in its lifetime are passed down to the next generation. Taits not well suited for their environment usually lead an organism to death before the organism can reproduce. Once an organism dies it genes die with it. In order for changes in the organism's phenotype to occur, an organism's genotype must be changed. This can occur by genetic mutation. Mutations are changes in an organism's DNA. A single nucleotide change can have a large effect on an organism's appearance. Gene flow which is any movement of genes from one population to another is a large source of genetic variation. Both mutations and gene flow can cause

In an attempt to find a correct phylogenetic tree, our group has found that Phylogenetic tree C shows a significant lineage. After researching, Phylogenetic Tree C seems to be an accurate depiction of hominid evolution. It shows a clear line of lineage that begins with the common ancestor A. Afarensis. To explain how the hominids connected in the lineage, our group decided to compare the skulls’ cranium width and length of braincase. We concluded that over millions of years, the width of the cranium of the hominids have increased, along with the length of braincases. Our explanation matched up with tree C respectively. The order of the width of craniums recorded are: A. Afarensis (80 mm), A. Boisei (80 mm), A. Africanus (85 mm), H. Habilis (98 mm), H. Erectus (108 mm), H. Heidelbergensis (122 mm), H. Neanderthalensis (128 mm), and H. Sapien

Evolution is how a species changes over time due to natural selection. There are many pieces of evidence proving evolution and that we all came from a common descendant. One piece of evidence of evolution is fossil records. Fossil records are remains of live fossilized in rocks, wood, bones, or frozen in ice or trapped in plant resin. Fossil records show evidence of evolution because some fossil recrods look reallt similar to some animals alive today, which means that they slighly evolved to survive in the new enviroments that mother nature introduced them.

Evolution is the process of a gradual change in a species over time. Results take place from a change in the genetic material of an organism, being passed on from one generation to the next. Darwin proposed that evolution takes place through natural selection. Throughout many generations, the adjustment of genes is occurring based on factors that’ll help species survive. Organisms with specific, active & valuable traits are most fit to survive in an environment that changes. From there, those traits are passed on to their offspring, giving them the advantages to a higher survival rate.

Locate an "old" evolutionary tree—that is one that was created without the help of molecular biology. (A pre-1995 text book is one good place to find a non-molecular biology evolutionary tree.) Generate a hypothesis for whether or not you think the tree built by protein sequence comparison will match those relationships outlined in this "old" tree. Why did you generate this hypothesis? Back up your reasoning!

Evolution in terms of biology is defined as decent with modification and can be explained by the rise in diversity from generation to generation based on changes in the gene frequency. When changes occur in an individual’s genome, known as mutations, they give the individual different characteristics that can have a negative, positive, or neutral effect. If the mutation better adapts the individual to the environment, that mutation can be passed onto a new generation. If the mutation weakens the individual to the environment, that mutation will not be able to withstand multiple generations through progeny. This mimics Darwin’s theory of natural selection, which states that the individuals best fit to the environment have a higher survival and reproductive rate. Over time, these mutations contribute to genetic variation within species (yourgenome).

Similar characteristics due to relatedness from a common ancestor are known as homologies or homoplastic/homologous traits. Homologies can be revealed by comparing the anatomies of different living things, looking at cellular similarities and differences, studying embryological development, and studying vestigial structures within individual organisms (Understanding Evolution, 2008). Homologous traits are traits that are derived by evolution from a common ancestor. Homologous proteins might share a common ancestor, however they may not have the exact same function for the trait. Although organisms may have homologous traits, the use of these traits may differ due to evolution. This leads into biochemical homologies. These are metabolic pathways and/or genetic mechanisms that may have been present in a single celled ancestor and have evolved into similar structures on a bigger scale in a common ancestor down the road (Southan,

2011). Different organisms can evolve in similar ways even if they are not similar by descent from a common ancestor and this is known as homoplasy (Hawks, J. 2005).

Sherman and Holmes (1985) defined kin recognition as the differential treatment of conspecifics as a function of their genetic relatedness, and Holmes and Sherman (1982) listed four mechanisms of kin recognition that are expected to operate over a wide range of animal taxa and in diverse social and ecological contexts. These mechanisms are (a) spatial distribution, (b) association, (c) phenotypic matching, and (d) recognition of alleles (Hanggi and Schusterman, 1990). Spatial distribution refers to the ability of an organism to adjust their behavior in order to be successful in their immediate environment; this applies dramatically to the Pinnipeds since their environment consists of both terrestrial and marine locations. The remaining three

Our guest speaker, Mr. Renoll focused on charles darwin and the theory of evolution. Charles was always interested in naturalism which led him to the voyage of Beagle. After the voyage of Beagle he came back with a lot of information, samples and spent the next 10 years studying them. He wrote a book that was revolutionary, it changed the way people thought about life, and was later the accepted scientific explanation to the scientific community, to why we have so much diversity on earth.

Evolution refers to change over time as species modifies and separate to produce several offspring species.