Speak "Yes" To These 5 Free Evolution Tips

What is Free Evolution?

evolutionkr  is the idea that the natural processes that organisms go through can cause them to develop over time. This includes the appearance and growth of new species.

Numerous examples have been offered of this, including various kinds of stickleback fish that can live in salt or fresh water, as well as walking stick insect varieties that prefer particular host plants. These reversible traits do not explain the fundamental changes in basic body plans.

Evolution by Natural Selection

Scientists have been fascinated by the development of all living creatures that inhabit our planet for centuries. The most widely accepted explanation is that of Charles Darwin's natural selection process, a process that is triggered when more well-adapted individuals live longer and reproduce more effectively than those who are less well-adapted. As time passes, the number of well-adapted individuals becomes larger and eventually forms a new species.

Natural selection is an ongoing process that involves the interaction of three factors: variation, inheritance and reproduction. Variation is caused by mutations and sexual reproduction, both of which increase the genetic diversity within a species. Inheritance refers to the passing of a person's genetic characteristics to his or her offspring which includes both dominant and recessive alleles. Reproduction is the generation of viable, fertile offspring, which includes both sexual and asexual methods.

Natural selection only occurs when all of these factors are in balance. For example when a dominant allele at the gene can cause an organism to live and reproduce more frequently than the recessive allele, the dominant allele will be more prevalent within the population. However, if the allele confers an unfavorable survival advantage or reduces fertility, it will disappear from the population. This process is self-reinforcing meaning that an organism with an adaptive trait will live and reproduce much more than one with a maladaptive characteristic. The more offspring an organism can produce the better its fitness which is measured by its ability to reproduce itself and survive. Individuals with favorable characteristics, like longer necks in giraffes and bright white color patterns in male peacocks are more likely be able to survive and create offspring, and thus will make up the majority of the population in the future.

Natural selection only acts on populations, not on individuals. This is a significant distinction from the Lamarckian theory of evolution, which states that animals acquire traits either through usage or inaction. For instance, if the animal's neck is lengthened by stretching to reach for prey its offspring will inherit a longer neck. The length difference between generations will persist until the neck of the giraffe becomes so long that it can no longer breed with other giraffes.

Evolution by Genetic Drift

In genetic drift, alleles of a gene could be at different frequencies in a population by chance events. In the end, one will reach fixation (become so common that it can no longer be removed by natural selection), while other alleles will fall to lower frequency. This can result in dominance at the extreme. Other alleles have been basically eliminated and heterozygosity has been reduced to a minimum. In a small population it could result in the complete elimination of recessive gene. This scenario is called a bottleneck effect, and it is typical of the kind of evolutionary process that takes place when a large amount of individuals move to form a new group.

A phenotypic 'bottleneck' can also occur when the survivors of a catastrophe like an outbreak or mass hunt event are confined to an area of a limited size. The survivors will carry an dominant allele, and will share the same phenotype. This could be caused by earthquakes, war or even plagues. Regardless of the cause the genetically distinct population that is left might be prone to genetic drift.

Walsh, Lewens and Ariew define drift as a deviation from the expected values due to differences in fitness. They provide the famous case of twins that are genetically identical and share the same phenotype, but one is struck by lightning and dies, while the other lives to reproduce.

This kind of drift can be crucial in the evolution of an entire species. However, it's not the only method to develop. The most common alternative is to use a process known as natural selection, in which phenotypic variation in a population is maintained by mutation and migration.

Stephens argues there is a vast distinction between treating drift as an agent or cause and treating other causes like selection mutation and migration as causes and forces. He claims that a causal process explanation of drift allows us to distinguish it from other forces, and this distinction is essential. He also argues that drift has both direction, i.e., it tends to eliminate heterozygosity. It also has a size which is determined by population size.

Evolution through Lamarckism

When high school students study biology, they are often introduced to the work of Jean-Baptiste Lamarck (1744 - 1829). His theory of evolution is commonly called "Lamarckism" and it asserts that simple organisms evolve into more complex organisms via the inheritance of characteristics that are a result of an organism's natural activities use and misuse. Lamarckism is typically illustrated by an image of a giraffe stretching its neck to reach higher up in the trees. This would result in giraffes passing on their longer necks to their offspring, who would then become taller.

Lamarck the French zoologist, presented an innovative idea in his opening lecture at the Museum of Natural History of Paris. He challenged the previous thinking on organic transformation. According to Lamarck, living creatures evolved from inanimate material by a series of gradual steps. Lamarck was not the first to suggest that this could be the case, but he is widely seen as being the one who gave the subject its first broad and thorough treatment.

The predominant story is that Charles Darwin's theory of natural selection and Lamarckism were competing in the 19th century. Darwinism eventually won, leading to the development of what biologists refer to as the Modern Synthesis. The theory denies that acquired characteristics can be passed down and instead argues that organisms evolve through the influence of environment factors, including Natural Selection.

Although Lamarck endorsed the idea of inheritance by acquired characters and his contemporaries spoke of this idea, it was never a major feature in any of their evolutionary theorizing. This is due in part to the fact that it was never tested scientifically.

But it is now more than 200 years since Lamarck was born and, in the age of genomics, there is a large amount of evidence that supports the heritability of acquired traits. This is often called "neo-Lamarckism" or, more commonly, epigenetic inheritance. It is a variant of evolution that is as valid as the more popular Neo-Darwinian theory.

Evolution by the process of adaptation

One of the most commonly-held misconceptions about evolution is its being driven by a struggle for survival. This view is a misrepresentation of natural selection and ignores the other forces that determine the rate of evolution. The fight for survival is more accurately described as a struggle to survive in a particular environment. This may be a challenge for not just other living things as well as the physical environment itself.

Understanding the concept of adaptation is crucial to understand evolution. Adaptation refers to any particular characteristic that allows an organism to survive and reproduce within its environment. It could be a physical feature, such as feathers or fur. It could also be a characteristic of behavior that allows you to move into the shade during hot weather or moving out to avoid the cold at night.

The ability of an organism to draw energy from its environment and interact with other organisms as well as their physical environments is essential to its survival. The organism needs to have the right genes to generate offspring, and must be able to find enough food and other resources. The organism must also be able reproduce at a rate that is optimal for its specific niche.

These factors, in conjunction with gene flow and mutations can result in a shift in the proportion of different alleles in a population’s gene pool. The change in frequency of alleles could lead to the development of new traits, and eventually new species over time.

A lot of the traits we admire in animals and plants are adaptations. For example, lungs or gills that draw oxygen from air feathers and fur for insulation long legs to run away from predators and camouflage for hiding. However, a complete understanding of adaptation requires attention to the distinction between the physiological and behavioral characteristics.

Physiological adaptations like thick fur or gills, are physical characteristics, whereas behavioral adaptations, such as the tendency to seek out friends or to move to shade in hot weather, aren't. Furthermore it is important to remember that a lack of forethought does not mean that something is an adaptation. Inability to think about the effects of a behavior even if it appears to be rational, may make it inflexible.