Uniformitarianism

There have been many theories of evolution and how it is brought about and what it is exactly. Charles Darwin a scientist who came up with his theory of evolution and how it works. Darwin felt as though evolution to him was that it occurred through natural selection. Natural selection is the process of only traits that will survive are passed to the next generation. Species selection operates on variation provided by the largely random process of speciation and favors species that speciate at high rates or survive for long periods and therefore tend to leave many daughter species (Stanley, 1975 ). So Darwin believed that the next generations of animals or different species were created by taking only the traits of species

The theory of evolution, as set forth by Charles Darwin in 1859, stated that all plant and animal life evolved over long periods of time from simple to more complicated forms through mutation and adaptation. He also taught that only the fittest of each species would survive. He further postulated that the first living cell evolved in a "warm warm little pond" and that it took billions of years for the present diversity of living things to evolve. At the time, it was thought that the few "missing links" in the fossil record would be soon filled.(Darwin, 1927 ). Today, however, there is today a considerable body of scientific evidence that refutes this entire theory.

Uniformitarianism is a scientific clarification on how the rocks, continents and mountains in the planet are created. The material process that occurs on earth has not changed; although the objective conditions have changed radically the principle of uniformitarianism accounts for the outcome of the catastrophe or natural calamity.

The explanation that was given for this was that recent organisms only can be descendants of organisms that lived in the same area in ancient times. For example British settlers brought horses and cows into Australia so there are no native descendants of horses and cows there. Thus there are two main pieces of evidence in fossils that support Darwin’s evolution ideas; using isotope dating methods, ancient fossils contained simpler organisms and younger fossils contained more advanced organisms. Another piece of evidence in fossils is that organisms retain some feature through the generations along with obtaining new ones. For example, the fossils of the Archaeopteryx have shown that the creature had feature of a reptile (teeth, claws and jointed tail) along with ones of a bird (beak, feathers and a

Throughout history, there has been a major debate on the theory of evolution. Is it true? The term evolution has been defined many ways, and for the purpose of this paper, I will use the fourth definition from the Merriam-Webster dictionary. “Evolution is the descent with modification from preexisting species: cumulative inherited change in a population of organisms through time leading to the appearance of new forms: the process by which new species or populations of living things develop from preexisting forms through successive generations.” (Merriam-Webster, 2017) What does this mean and how could it possibly be true? In this paper, I will explain the different ideas

The fossil record is evidence of evolution. Fossils are often fingerprints of evolution. They help scientists track how species evolved

The four main categories of evidence for evolution in accordance to the BAT tutorials are: fossil records, chemical and anatomical similarities, geographic distribution of related species, and genetic changes over generations. Fossil records allow researchers to examine evolution through past species. One example is the Archaeopteryx, a million year old fossil found in southern Germany that had characteristics of both dinosaurs and birds. This fossil finding resulted as the discovery that birds had evolved from reptilian ancestors. Also, the similarities between body structures in vertebrates make for a distinct link leading to the conclusion that they must share a common ancestor or a similarity in how they came to be. Additionally, the geographic location of certain species determines their evolution patterns. In certain areas of the world, there are animals that are native to that land and cannot be found anywhere else in the world. Lastly, a species genetic alter over time in order to survive. In the case of a drastic environmental change that results in death, those that survive do so because they possess traits that allow them to survive. These are the only ones that will be likely to reproduce. Selective breeding in dogs is an example genetic changes over evolution. In these cases, dog breeders mate different breeds of dogs together in order to achieve the desired traits they want in a new breed of dog.

Dinosaurs capture the attention of children and adults alike, and many people think that they are long gone. You might be surprised to find that they are not extinct, but rather perching in your backyard. The theory that theropods evolved into birds was proposed nearly a century and a half ago and is supported by more and more modern evidence. You will find that the distinction between birds and dinosaurs will become difficult, as they have so many parallels. The similarities between birds and dinosaurs strongly suggest that birds evolved from theropod dinosaurs.

Continuing to explain this evolution the team examined various dinosaur jaw fossils. During this they found a Cretaceous bird called Sapeornis that went through the same transformation as the Limusaurus. The Sapeornis also favored modern birds and a velociraptor. For the first time these findings actually describe the evolutionary process of the beak.

The most common type of body fossils are teeth and bones because dinosaur teeth sheds off which can be transported in different environments. Bones namely tendons and a single isolated bone can be replaced which then can be preserved. Furthermore, harder parts of the body are able to be preserved because of its durability. It’s rare to find complete skeletons because they are transported to other places and other body fossils decompose or chemicals can deteriorate the fossils.

There is a lot of evidence that has gone into this theory are birds like dinosaurs? Evidence that birds evolved from carnivorous predators that ruled the ecosystems was rich and it come from contrasting lines of evidence. Originally the main source of evidence to support this scientific theory was the similar shape of bones eg. The wishbone inside the bird as a wishbone is only found in a bird. Also a variety of maniraptorans, but new discoveries have added other lines of research.

I am seeking to apply for this program because it is crucial to discuss topics that our world is currently facing such as this year’s theme, which is treating the struggles present in uniformity and the beneficial outcomes of diversity. Homogeneity is an essential factor of today’s major conflicts. People must learn that differences between us should not be the cause of attacks or segregation, they enrich us being a community and ought to be valued and respected. I, as the next generation of leaders, would like to contribute on forming a possible solution in regards to this

What uniformitarianism does mean is that even though the rates and intensities of geologic processes have varied during the past, the physical and

the concept of animal evolution was first thought by Lamarck, who hypothesised that environmental changes generate or produce animal needs and certain behaviours and parts of the animals body change through use/disuse. These changes are capable of being passed to offspring, if they benefit the species. This is shown by his giraffe theory.

James Hutton, a Scottish physician and gentlemen farmer, published his Theory of the Earth in the late 1700s, he put forth a principle that is a pillar of geology today, uniformitarianism (Lutgens & Tarbuck, 2011, pg 239). Uniformitarianism is supporting, conforming to, or derived from a