Preview

Natural Selection Paper

Better Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1518 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Natural Selection Paper
Natural Selection Paper Natural selection is considered one of the most important processes for a variety of species and the environment which allows the fittest organisms to produce offspring. To prevent a species from extinction, it is necessary for them to adapt to the surrounding environment. The species which have the ability to adapt to new surroundings will be able to pass their genes through reproduction. Within the process of natural selection, it is possible for the original genetic make-up of a species to become altered. The team will report on the different processes of basic mechanisms of evolution, how natural selection results in biodiversity and why biodiversity is important to continued evolution. The sources of genetic variation such as mutations and sexual recombination will also be reviewed.
Mechanisms of Evolution
It is said that biology “came of age” when Charles Darwin published “On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection”. In this book Darwin expressed his concept on the mechanism of evolution: natural selection. He felt that a population could change over generations if organisms that have certain heritable traits left more offspring than other organisms in that population. The result of this is evolutionary adaptation is where populations increase in traits that are suited to the environment. Evolution is when the genetic makeup of a population changes over time to adapt to its environment. Darwin found evidence of natural selection when he sailed from Great Britain along the South American coastline in 1831. He noticed various adaptations in the organisms inhabiting South America. He realized that the plants and animals were distinctly different from the organisms in Europe. Upon examination of different fossils on the South American continent he observed that the fossils were different from the modern species and yet there was still a resemblance between the fossils and the modern organisms. In his book The Origin



References: Alters, Sandra, 2004, Biology Understanding Life, 3e, Jones and Bartlett Publishers Sudbury, Massachusetts Campbell, N.A., Reece, J.B., Simon, E.J., 2007, Essential Biology with Physiology, 2e, Pearson Education, Inc. San Francisco, CA Campbell, N.A., Reece, J.B., Simon, E.J., 2004, Essential Biology with Physiology, 1e, Pearson Education, Inc. San Francisco, CA DARC, 2008, retrieved August 8, 2008 from; http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080716121355.htm Lederberg, J. 1967. Lederberg Replies. Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, June, Vol. 23 Issue 6, pp. 60-61.

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Better Essays

    Martini, F. H., Nath, J. L. (2009) Fundamentals of Anatomy and Physiology. 8th ed. San Francisco: Pearson Education, Inc.…

    • 1636 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    Martini, F. H., Nath, J. L., & Bartholomew, E. F. (2012). Anatomy & Physiology. ( 9th ed., pp. 386-400). San Francisco, CA: Pearson Education, Inc.…

    • 1755 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    This hands-on laboratory exercise is a highly simplified model that attempts to simulate evolution by means of natural selection. Predators will act as agents of selection on their prey, a species whose members vary in color. We will assume that color is an inherited trait. Small squares of paper will represent the prey, which will be spread out of a piece of printed colored fabric that will serve as the habitat. The predators (you) will prey upon the population, with the surviving members reproducing and passing along the genes for color.…

    • 776 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Sci 230 Week 1

    • 426 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Evolution by natural selection: This theory came about as a result of Charles Darwin trying to find an explanation for “why there are so many different living beings on earth?” (Pruitt, N. L., & Underwood, L. S. (2006). His theory contains two parts, the first part states that species change over generations. The second part states that what causes this change is natural selection.…

    • 426 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Essay #1Four contributions Charles Darwin contributed to the field of evolutionary biology were: non-constancy of species, branching evolution, occurrence of gradual change in species, and natural selection. Each of his contribution became the foundation of evolutionary biology and can be seen in the wild very commonly. Non-constancy can be observed though variation in the offspring. For example, different sized beaks in finches display variation in the species and therefore, non-constancy. This can cause change in the gene pool of a species over time. Many evidence of branching evolution can be seen in the anatomy of different species like homologies and vestigial structures. In whales, the hip bones are similar to humans which indicates the common ancestry between the two species. Gradual change is displayed by the fossil records of many species. Older fossil records have some small differences from the newer fossil records which can be used to prove gradual change in species over time. These changes occur due to mutation and are picked out by the natural selection. These mutations accumulate over time and cause the species to look drastically different after many decades. Natural Selection picks out individuals better suited for the environment and allows them to reproduce and pass on their gene while unsuited individuals die without passing on their gene. Natural selection occurs every time a predator feeds on the weakest, slowest, worst camaflouged, or most un-adapted prey. This allows the gene pool of the species to evolve and shed off undesired genes.…

    • 351 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Darwin's hypothesis of Natural Selection has three tenets: 1. There requirements to a hereditary variety among the populace 2. The quality must be passed on by hereditary means from parent to posterity and 3. There must be a "differential conceptive achievement" in view of people; while those with the attribute ought to replicate and have a superior possibility of making due than those without it. Every one of the three of these stipulations must be met with the goal of advancement to happen. A balancing out heading is the point of which it supports a decline in the attributes that are outrageous and not normal by the vast majority of the populace. A directional determination is a point at which the normal characteristic changes after some…

    • 1198 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The well known ecologist Charles Darwin exhibited the hypothesis of natural selection. He went on numerous trips to the wildlife, taking after his interest of the nature and the change that happens in the nature. After examining different kinds of living organisms, he clarified Natural Selection as "preservation of favorable variations and the rejecting of injurious variations."(900). Darwin utilized relations and demonstrations to show that distinctive changes happened in the same specie, which assisted them with adapting to their environment.…

    • 714 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Evolution has remodeled how everything in biology is observed and analyzed. Darwin’s concept of evolution through natural selection has important meaning to it. This idea could be used to picture how a few small changes can build up over a period of time and make it possible to explain how something in a plant or animal developed. (Charles Darwin – English Naturalist and Philosopher –…

    • 1022 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    - Charles Darwin developed the theory of evolution by natural selection after collecting and studying many organisms on the voyage of the H.M.S. Beagle.…

    • 594 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Darwin’s theory of natural selection is not supported by the geological or fossil record, since there have been little to no remains of intermediate species found in fossils. Darwin explains this by using the imperfection of the geological record, as changes in land over time means that species will often not be preserved in a way that can be studied by scientists. He also references Charles Lyell’s Principles of Geology, which states that the earth’s surface is constantly changing, as evidenced by the degradation and deposition of landmasses. These changes happen slowly, over hundreds of millions of years, implying that life has been present of a long time, and the number of fossils found is a miniscule amount compared to all the living things…

    • 713 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    References: Audesirk, T., Audesirk, G., & Byers, B. E. (2008). Biology: Life on earth with physiology. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.…

    • 350 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Biodiversity is the variability among living organisms from all sources, including terrestrial, marine, and other aquatic ecosystems and the ecological complexes of which they are part of, this includes diversity within species, between species, and of ecosystems. Biodiversity in animals have changed over time whether it has been through genetics or adaptations from outside forces, such as ecosystems. The question that has been through multiple assumptions and have been approached many times is: How has biodiversity on Earth changed over time? The question has opened many gates to many different answers, but what does it actually mean? This statement explains how organisms have grown and made adaptations throughout their ecosystems in order…

    • 528 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Pathophysiology of COPD

    • 3701 Words
    • 13 Pages

    Seeley, R.R., Stephens, T. D., & Tate, P. (2000). Anatomy and physiology (5th ed.). USA: McGraw- Hill higher education.…

    • 3701 Words
    • 13 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Charles Darwin in 1859 published On the Origin of Species, he explained his theory of evolution. He presented evidence that would further explained his reasoning. The first Darwin looked at the fossils and looked at the geological layers. Next compared the structural of the human hand, bird wing, and a cat paw and hinted that we come from common ancestors. His finally observation was the dramatic change in domestic plants and animals by selective breeding. Darwin believed that species started to change their structure, psychology, and behavior that would help with…

    • 173 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Since the natural resources are usually limited, the reproduction results to competition for survival by utilizing the scarcely available resources. Species of organisms that posses traits that give them advantage over the others, they usually survive and pass the traits to the next generation unless the others organisms lacking the traits which do not survive the competition. Thus the process of natural selection is determined by the organism’s evolutionary fitness which shows the ability of an organism to survive and reproduce and determines the amount of genetic traits to be passed to the next…

    • 630 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays