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Natural Selection Research Paper

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The Academy of Science: Natural Selection

Anthropologists are continuously exploring the far corners of the world in search of answers to how everything came to be and the process by which we as humans appeared on this planet. This is a difficult task and therefore, there are many branches of anthropology which strive to discern the pieces of the puzzle from different perspectives and approaches. Through the implementation of the scientific method, anthropologists have tested numerous hypotheses to create theories like the Theory of Evolution. First documented by Darwin, natural selection, the process by which a more fit individual survives and passes on their adaptive traits, has been discovered to play a crucial role in the evolution of …show more content…

Down on the ground there is an immense amount of biodiversity, however animals who call this layer of the rainforest their home, must adapt to living on the ground and through selective pressures develop features that protect them. For example, at the exhibit there were little orange frogs called Golden Mantella, who at first sight stood out in contrast to the brown and green environment of the forest floor. However, through further reading it seems these small creatures have been selected for orange skin because it advertises to predators that they taste bad, and therefore protects them and guarantees that their genes will be passed …show more content…

In this environment it is vital for organisms to be able to navigate across the branches and vines with agility. It is here where the arboreal Howler Monkeys spend a lot of their time. These primates are recognizable from a distance by their loud cries due to their large genetically inherited hyoid bone (hence the name “howler”) and are among the largest of the New World Monkeys. They move across the rainforest quadrupedally on the tops of branches, grasping them with two hands or with one hand and their prehensile tail which they also use to pick fruits and nuts with. Because these primates have adapted to eating leaves they possess two large sections of hindgut, the caecum and the colon (Natural History Collection: New World Monkeys). A fascinating characteristic pertaining to the howler monkey is in fact their tail, which can fully wrap around objects. Not only that but their tails also have tactile pads, like those found on the hands and feet of humans and apes, which gives them the advantage of a fifth limb. This selected trait has guaranteed their success living in the rainforest canopies because they can move agilely and escape predators (Gron, Primate

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