Natural Selection : Darwin 's And The Whys Of Adaptation And Speciation Essay

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.

The results of the allele frequency changes in the five different trials are all in close range of one another. The trials 1 and 5 being the same at .85 and were the highest, trial 4 was the lowest at .70, and the two middle results were trial 2 at .75 and trial 3 at .80. In a population size of 1000, the difference in the green and albino alligator’s pigments will inevitably affect the fitness. The green alligator is the dominant big “A” allele, while the

Natural selection is the process in which heritable traits that make it more likely for organisms to survive and successfully reproduce become more common in a population over successive generations. Each of us individuals is specifically shaped and formed by our own genetic pattern. We inherit this pattern half from are mother and half from are father. The cause of this is the proximate cause that led it’s phenotype to ultimate causes. Much of we know today about evolution derives from the late great pioneer, Charles Darwin. Charles Darwin was an english naturalist that even from an early age was very interested in outdoor pursuits. Early in his prep career his father tried sending him to the University of Edinburg to pursue his medical

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“If no such variations exist, the population rapidly goes extinct because it cannot adapt to a changing environment” (O’Neil, 1998-2013). Scientists call this reproductive success. “Within a specific environment context, one genotype will be better than another genotype in survival or reproduction for certain reasons having to do with the way its particular features relate to the environment or relate to other organisms within the population” (Futuyma, 2000-2014). The theory of evolution is explicable through various kinds of scientific research.

Charles Darwin begins his book, On The Origin of Species, by outlying the idea of variation under domestication. Darwin opens by saying that species that are domesticated are much more different from one another than species observed in the wild (Darwin, p. 7). The major point Darwin is trying to get across in the first chapter of his book is the idea that variation is a direct result of the inheritance from parent to offspring. This is a new idea being generated because many scientists before Darwin believed that variation was a result of environmental conditions. On page 11 of chapter one, Darwin does seem to revert to previous ideology when he provided the example of ducks with strong wings for flight in wild ducks, but stronger legs for

Charles Darwin's theory of evolution centres on the idea that species compete to survive, and favorable characteristics are passed on from one generation to the next. Darwin said that evolution took place by a process of natural selection or survival of the fittest. This meant that the animals and plants best suited to their surroundings survived and were able to pass on their genes to their offspring. The ones that weren't best suited died off and didn't get the chance to reproduce.

Adaptationism is the belief that the traits seen in organisms are the results of evolution by natural selection. There are different forms of adaptationism and many different definitions as to what an adaptation is, with some believing it is impossible to test a hypothesis about an adaptation at all. This essay will look at a) how to define adaptation b) different forms of adaptationism and c) consider the different methods of testing whether a phenotype is an adaptation.

In “Lecture 2B- What is Evolution? Darwin’s Theory of Natural Selection” the traits or characteristics that he talks about are ones that are the features of “design”. The traits must be heritable features, have a functional fit for the specie, as well as make it a worth wile characteristic advancement for the species survival and growth.

Many scientists believe variations are caused by environmental factors, such as food availability, weather and more; and that species evolve when environmental conditions change to increase the species survival. Darwin censures this idea; he believed that the main cause of variation is due to reproduction (Chapter I). Darwin suggested that parents pass down specific characteristics to their offspring, and those variations are continued on in the following generations. The problem with Darwin’s theory of reproduction is that Darwin did not comprehend how or why some characteristics are perennial and how others are not. Darwin’s inferences on variations also conflict with the idea that God created species independently, which was widely understood by many people in a time where religion was prominent (Chapter II).

When Charles Darwin first developed his theory of Natural selection, he discovered that “Individuals in populations vary their “heritable” traits” (Leicht and McAllister, 2006. p. 157). And that “if a particular inherited trait confers a higher likelihood of survival and reproduction, individuals with that trait will leave more offspring than other individuals in the population” (Leicht and McAllister, 2006. p.157). With this in mind, during project 3 we took pooled data of the entire class in order to analyze extracted DNA to evaluate the genetic variation between the genes TAS2R38 and PV92. The gene TAS2R38 is located on chromosome seven, while PV92 is located on chromosome sixteen. TAS2R38 encodes a protein that is responsible for some people being able to taste bitter things like Phenylthiocarbamide paper also known as “PTC paper” (Wooding, 2006). Unlike the TAS2R38 gene, PV92 “does not encode a protein” (Leicht and McAllister, 2006). It, instead, is an Alu element and uses primers to insert itself in PCR products in order to determine whether or not it is present (Batzer et al., 1994). Since the TAS2R38 and PV92 genes are well known to be easily distinguishable using gel electrophoresis for PCR products, we used them because neither loci will express any fixation or any loss of an allele in small populations (Leicht and McAllister, 2006).

Some reasons why beaks were thought to be so useful for testing Darwin’s theory of natural selection was because it seemed that the more favorable variations in their beaks will be passed down. Another reason was because there were more variations in the beaks depending what the finches ate so he could study a variety of beaks.

Darwin and Evolution are inextricably linked in the minds of most people who have had the opportunity to study them in basic biology. However, Darwin's theories of selection and survival of the fittest have been applied to moral, economic, political, and other cultural aspects of society. Dennett briefly touched on some of the political and social ramifications of Darwin's theories in the final chapter of Darwin's Dangerous Idea. Other philosophers and thinkers have also adapted Darwin's evolutionary ideas, in order to apply them in a societal or cultural context. One great example of this adaptation of the biological concept of evolution, is the appearance of Social Darwinism during the 19th century.

Biological evolution is the name for the changes in gene frequency in a population of a species from generation to generation. Evolution offers explanation to why species genetically change over years and the diversity of life on Earth. Although it is generally accepted by the scientific community, Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution has been studied and debated for several decades. In 1859, Darwin published On The Origin of Species, which introduced the idea of evolutionary thought which he supported with evidence of one type of evolutionary mechanism, natural selection. Some of the main mechanisms of evolution are natural selection, mutation, and genetic drift. The idea that all life on Earth shares a common ancestor has been around for

Before the theory of evolution was a widespread theory in the world of science, Greek and Roman philosophers had their own theories about how life came to its present state and where it was going from there. One theory at the time was that all organisms are reflections of a “perfect” form and were coming closer to it all the time, although this was the less accepted theory even though it was closer to the truth proven hundreds of years after, while another was that all things were simply places on Earth in their present form, common to modern day Creationism. Even after this, Darwin was not the first to try explain evolution, he just provided convincing proof and published his ideas. The publishing of Darwin’s Theory of Evolution was