Evolution Theory

Evolution Theory

Assignment One

Part One

Charles Darwin was influenced by various individuals in his age to develop the theory of evolution by natural selection. Georges Cuvier is among the people who are recognized to be in the age of Darwin and contributed much in influencing the evolution theory. Cuvier provided evidence that most creatures, such as dinosaurs, were extinct at that time. He proposed that after a series of disasters, new animals of the same species appear (Evolution Library, 2020). The work of extinctions by Cuvier was used in the natural selection theory. Jean-Baptist Lamarck also influenced the work of Darwin. He argued that simple forms existed consistently from the dead matter, and as time passed, the creatures developed in complexity. Although the idea was not embraced by Darwin initially, he embraced the concept in the theory of natural selection later. Charles Lyell influenced Darwin by providing the concept of geological transformations that was affecting the earth through the evidence of marine encrustation and temple columns. Thomas Malthus provided a theory of the struggle for existence which describes how people transforms for them to adapt to the situation like diseases and famine. This theory influenced Darwin in the development of the theory of natural selection.

Part Two

Charles Lyell did influence not only the work of Charles Darwin but also provided information on how geology was changing over time. He argues that the development of crusts in the earth happens through minute transformations over time. He explains that the nature of the planet has been developed consistently throughout. The use of marine encrustation and temple columns proved that the sea level changed. Alfred Russel Wallace, in his writing “the tendency of varieties to depart indefinitely from the original type,” explains the biological transformation that occurs in animals for adaptations (Evolution Library, 2020). He argued that when a species of an animal is adaptive to an environment, the animal will reproduce and increase in number, but the less adaptive animals will reduce in number.

Part Three

There is various evidence that Charles Darwin used to come up with the theory of natural selection. The artificial selection that explains that evolution involves genetic transformations in every generation of a species. For example, dog and pigeon breeding proved that genetics was involved in the evolution after changing breeds over time. Biogeography suggests that the distribution of creatures is affected by geographical factors. For example, Darwin observed that 13 different species of flinches occupied different environments in Galapagos Island (Open Learn from Open University, 2008). Fossil evidence showed that there existed species of animals that did not live by that time, but they had similar characteristics with various animals, for example, the comparison of a glyptodont, which was extinct to the modern armadillo. Comparative anatomy also revealed that there are differences and similarities in the structures of the body in some species. For example, there is a similarity in the forelimbs of all the mammals, which suggests they have a common ancestry.

Assignment Two

Part One

Tay-Sachs disease is a disease of significance in the revelation of genetics. It involves the destruction of nerve cells. According to the video “cracking the code of life,” the disease is apparent in the infancy stage of life.  The condition is inherited through autosomal recessive patterns, which means there are mutations in each copy of the gene in the cells (Evolution Revolution, 2020). An individual becomes autosomal recessive due to the presence of one copy of the mutated gene in each parent. Mutation in the Hexa-gene leads to the occurrence of the disease. According to the video, genetic drift is helpful in the separation of the allele in this disease.

Part Two

Human race genetics have been presented through different arguments via genetic patenting. According to the video “cracking the code,” human beings have been shown to have similar genes as the ones in the animals (Evolution Revolution, 2020). The footage shows researches that have been done about the human genes and the genetic makeup of animals like nematode worm, fruit fly, and mouse. The study presents the understanding of social genetic makeup as linked to the theory of evolution by Charles Darwin. Notably, the topic of evolution and genetics is now a principle part of biology. I have learned that the theory of evolution by Darwin plays an excellent role in biology. The presence of similar genes in humans and various animals prove his concept of common ancestry and transmutation.

References

Evolution Library: Topic Page. (2020). Retrieved 26 March 2020, from https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/evolution/library/02/index.html

Evolution: Evolution Revolution. (2020). Retrieved 26 March 2020, from https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/evolution/religion/revolution/ed_pop.html

Open Learn from Open University. (2008). Galapagos: The Finches [Video].