Scientific Evolution - Short Essay
Scientific Evolution
Evolution also known as biological or organic evolution is the change over time in the proportion of individual organisms differing in one or more inherited traits. A trait is a particular characteristic anatomical, biochemical or behavioral that is the result of gene environment interaction. Evolution may occur when there is variation of inherited traits within a population. The major sources of such variation are mutation, genetic recombination and gene flow. Two processes are generally distinguished as common causes of evolution. One is natural selection, a process in which there is differential survival and/or reproduction of organisms that differ in one or more inherited traits. Another cause is genetic drift, a process in which there are random changes to the proportions of two or more inherited traits within a population. A notable result of evolution is speciation, in which a single ancestral species splits and diversifies into two or more different species. Speciation is visible in anatomical, genetic and other similarities between groups of organisms, geographical distribution of related species, the fossil record and the recorded genetic changes in living organisms over many generations. Speciation stretches back over 3.5 billion years during which life has existed on earth. It is thought to occur in multiples ways such as slowly, steadily and gradually over time. The scientific study of evolution began in the mid-nineteenth century, when research into the fossil record and the diversity of living organisms convinced most scientists that species change over time. The mechanism driving these changes remained unclear until the theory of natural selection was independently proposed by Charles Darwin and Alfred Wallace in 1858. In the early 20th century, Darwinian theories of evolution were combined with genetics, paleontology, and systematic, which culminated into a union of ideas known as the modern evolutionary synthesis. The
Evolution also known as biological or organic evolution is the change over time in the proportion of individual organisms differing in one or more inherited traits. A trait is a particular characteristic anatomical, biochemical or behavioral that is the result of gene environment interaction. Evolution may occur when there is variation of inherited traits within a population. The major sources of such variation are mutation, genetic recombination and gene flow. Two processes are generally distinguished as common causes of evolution. One is natural selection, a process in which there is differential survival and/or reproduction of organisms that differ in one or more inherited traits. Another cause is genetic drift, a process in which there are random changes to the proportions of two or more inherited traits within a population. A notable result of evolution is speciation, in which a single ancestral species splits and diversifies into two or more different species. Speciation is visible in anatomical, genetic and other similarities between groups of organisms, geographical distribution of related species, the fossil record and the recorded genetic changes in living organisms over many generations. Speciation stretches back over 3.5 billion years during which life has existed on earth. It is thought to occur in multiples ways such as slowly, steadily and gradually over time. The scientific study of evolution began in the mid-nineteenth century, when research into the fossil record and the diversity of living organisms convinced most scientists that species change over time. The mechanism driving these changes remained unclear until the theory of natural selection was independently proposed by Charles Darwin and Alfred Wallace in 1858. In the early 20th century, Darwinian theories of evolution were combined with genetics, paleontology, and systematic, which culminated into a union of ideas known as the modern evolutionary synthesis. The