Was Darwin Wrong?

excerptg deceaseg drawg Table of Contents Introduction Who was Charles Darwin? Charles Darwin was born in 1809 in Shrewsbury, England. Origin singley, Darwin did non believe in the root word of evolution and trained to be a priest earlier studying geology and biology. In 1831, when Darwin was 22, he set travel around the domain on HMS Beagle, a naval survey ship. The jaunt lasted for 5 age during which duration the ship stopped at many a nonher(prenominal) places including the Galapagos Islands, just off the west coast of South America. Darwin examined animals and plants from anywhere he visited, taking specimens back to England and recording his observations in a diary.However he was most intrigued by the finches on the Galapagos Islands What was Darwins Theory of Natural filling? drawframe Darwin noticed that there were wide versions in the finches size, beaks and claws. He decided the beaks were designed for eating different things and concluded that the finches mus t present evolved from just hotshot species which had varyd over time. They had adapted to their surroundings. In order to let down to understand natural selection, it is important recognise how the many hundreds of thousands of living organisms argon classified.The diagram on the next page shows an drill of how we determine a species. drawframe drawrect A species bottom be outlined as a group of organisms so convertible they can embrace together to form fertile offspring. For physical exercise, a horse and a donkey can lineage to produce a mule but the mule, is sterile therefore showing a horse and a donkey atomic number 18 of different species. Within a species there atomic number 18 still differences and this variation is very important in evolution because without them, natural selection could not lapse. transformation can be either genetic, environmental or a combination of both.For example Variation ca employ by genes includes eye colour , sexual practice Var iation caused by the environment includes accent Variation caused by a combination of both includes high blood pressure, weight Nearly all variation is caused by a combination of these factors. Many people before Darwin thought near evolution and most scientists agreed that disembodied spirit on earth started from a few, simple living things. Alfred Russel Wallace and Jean Baptiste de Lamarck both had ideas about evolution, but Darwin was the first to come up with a plausible idea of how evolution happened.This is what he called Natural Selection and when he returned from his round the world trip, Darwin spent over twenty years working to prove his possible action. Wallace wrote to him postulation him for advice and together they wrote a paper about evolution. To summarize, Darwins theory is essentially Species change over time. This is back up by the fossil record. All organisms ploughs lapin a common ancestor which explains the convertibleities between organisms that are c lassified together. This is supported by evidence of vestigial organs and homologous structures ( listen page 6). evolutionary change is gradual and slow.This is also supported by the fossil record. opposite crucial conclusion Darwin made, was that there are always going to be too many of one species for each of them to survive. This is because they will always be in competition for food and space. He established that those best conform to to survive pass their genes onto their offspring, which causes their species to change over time and could lead to their extinction. drawframe drawframe drawrect drawframe drawrect drawrect drawframe drawframe drawrect plot to show the steps in natural selectionWhy the universe of discourse of a species changes over time drawframe In the in a higher place graph, the Canadian puma eats the Snowshoe lapin. No other ptyalize is so dependent on a single prey species. devil years after a rise in the snowshoe hare population, there is a rise in the lynx population. Then, the Snowshoe hare population falls. When there are too few Snowshoe hares for the lynx to survive, their population starts to fall as well. Because the predator population has now decreased, it allows time for the prey population to increase again. As there is now more than food, the predator population starts to increase again.This cycle repeats itself over and over. That is why we swear there is a clear pattern of interdependence between the cardinal populations. What Evidence did Darwin Use? Fossil Record A fossil is a dead plant, animal or other once-living thing that has been preserved for millions of years and leaves an imprint in stone. Almost all fossils are from extinct species. Darwin used fossils to prove that evolution happened. He could determine the relative age of un equivalent fossils by looking at the layers in the rock and he could see the changes in one type of fossil.For example, by collecting many fossils of one animal, he coul d see how it had evolved over time. An animal may become extinct when there is a sudden change in their habitat for example food or temperature. A new species can become either the predator or the prey of a species already living there, thus placing either species under possible threat of extinction. The extinction of a species has an act on the food chain. Limitations of the Fossil Record There are gaps in the fossil record because the conditions were not always suitable for fossils to develop.This meant that not every species was recorded as a fossil and sometimes a species would occur that had no link to a previous one. Also, because evolution happens over a long period of time and often in sudden bursts, (these bursts could be up to 10,000 years apart) evidence of smaller changes were not recorded. Vestigial variety meat A vestigial organ is one that has little or no use now, but was well essential in its ancestors exactly like our appendix. By looking at vestigial organs in youthful species and seeing if older species had used that organ, Darwin could determine how a species had changed over time. homological Structures Darwin also compared homologous structures which are body parts that structurally similar in related species. If two or more different species choose homologous structures, it shows that they have come from the same origin. For example, gorillas and homo-sapiens both have similar body features (hand, skulls ) illustrating that the two species have the same ancestors. Was Darwins theory genuine at the time? Darwins theory was widely rejected at the time because many people were creationists. This means they believe the creation degree in the bible i. e. ll life was created in six days. Darwins theory of evolution challenged this view, but because there were gaps in the fossil record, it was hardto trace the changes in a species and convincing people, therefore was very difficult. Also, the age of the earth was estimated by using t he Bible to be about 6000 years old, but this did not seem long enough for evolution to have taken place. Finally, although Darwin knew true features were passed on from generation to generation, he could not explain why (see later). What other theories were there? Lamarcks theory Lamarck had a different theory.He believed that by striving to fit into their surroundings, the animals bodies changed. According to his theory, the giraffe developed its long neck by stretching it to reach the leaves on trees. mistakable to other scientists he explained that life started with simple living things. However, he believed that at each generation, they became more complicated. His theory did not take account of the single celled life that still existed on Earth. Lamarck could see the changes in a species, but tried to explain it in a different way because he was afraid that people would not support the idea of natural selection.Mendels theory George Mendel was born in 1822. Because he was po or, he joined a monastery, but also studied at the University of Vienna where he learned to carry out scientific experiments. At the monastery he learned how to breed plants and one of his jobs was to create better varieties. He was very interested in how features were passed on from one generation to the next and he decided to pass over different pea plants to see what would happen. He crossed red floral plants with white and the resulting plants were all red. He then bred these plants together and this experiment returned broadly speaking red but some white.Mendel concluded that there must be different versions of the same genes. What evidence has been obtained since Darwin? Peppered Moths Kettlewell studies of the 1950s During the industrial revolution, carbon (soot) coat trees in a dark colour. The once dominant and well mask pale moths (typica) were now being replaced by the rarer darker moths (carbonaria). These moths pass overd grow in numbers and by 1895 they represent ed 98% of all moths in Manchester. Naturalists at this time suggested this was a result of the industrial activity on the local anaesthetic landscape and that the darker moths had a survival advantage.They had become so well camouflage on trees they had stopped being eaten by birds, whereas the paler, typica species had now become clearly visible. The general population had changed from the pale coloured moth, to the darker coloured moth and this was another example of natural selection. In 1998, a scientist called Michael Majerus re-examined Kettlewells studies and concluded that the colour change in the moths is an example of natural selection, but predation by birds is only one factor not the sole factor.DNA (Deoxyribonucleic Acid) and Genetics Francis Crick, a scientist from Cambridge announced in 1953, he and James Watson had found the secret of life the structure of D. N. A. D. N. A. is the material inside the nucleus of cells and carries the information of how organisms d evelop. It is copied when new cells are made, but can be damaged or changed, usually resulting in the death of the cell. Genes are passed on from parents to offspring ensuring that the most successful individuals survive. Variation is caused because of differences in genes.Bacterial antibiotic resistance Sometimes a mutation in D. N. A. can be beneficial for the bacteria. For example bacteria can become resistant to antibiotics and this gives them an added advantage over non-resistant bacteria. Why I think that new evidence will continue support Darwins theory I think that new evidence will continue to support Darwins theory for a number of reasons Advances in applied science mean newer ways of discovering the past will become available As species evolve further, scientists will have etter records to get information from Now scientists hit the hay what they are looking for which provides evidence of evolution Overall, I agree with the scientific belief today that natural selectio n is the mechanism which leads to adaption and diversity whilst genetic science provide the mechanics for traits to be inherited Bibliography