Thoeries Of Evolution Essay -- essays research papers fc

Thoeries of EvolutionEvolution is the process by which lively organisms originated on earthand have changed their forms to adapt to the changing environment. The earliest cognize fossil organisms are the single-celled forms resembling modern bacteriathey date from somewhat 3.4 billion years ago. Evolution has resulted insuccessive radiations of new types of organisms, many a(prenominal) of which have becomeextinct, but some of which have developed into the break fauna and flora ofthe world (Wilson 17).Evolution has been studied for nearly ii centuries. One of theearliest evolutionists was Jean Baptiste de Lamarck, who argued that thepatterns of similarity found in variant creatures arose through evolutionarymodifications of a common lineage. vividists had already established that assorted animals are adapted to different modes of life and environmentalconditions Lamarck believed that environmental changes elicited in individualanimals direct adaptive responses that could b e passed on to their publication asinheritable traits. This generalized hypothesis of evolution by acquiredcharacteristics was not tested scientifically during Lamarcks lifetime.A successful explanation of evolutionary processes was proposed byCharles Darwin. His close to famous book, On the Origin of Species by Means ofNatural Selection (1859), is a landmark in human understanding of nature.Pointing to disagreement within species, Darwin observed that while payoffinherit a resemblance to their parents, they are not identical to them. Hefurther noted that some of the differences between offspring and parents werenot due soley to the environment but were themselves very much inheritable. Animalbreeders were often able to change the characteristics of domestic animals byselecting for return those individuals with the most desirable qualities.Darwin reasoned that, in nature, individuals with qualities that made thembetter adjusted to their environments or gave them higher reprod uctivecapacities would tend to leave more offspring such individuals were said tohave higher fitness. Because more individuals are born(p) than digest to breed,constant winnowing of the less fit-a natural selection-should occur, leading toa population that is well adapted to the environment it inhabits. Whenenvironmental conditions change, po... ...le in the scant(p)term have broad tolerances, which may better enable them to survive extensivechanges. Human beings are uniquely adapted in that they cook up and use tools anddevices and invent and propogate procedures that give them extended control overtheir environments. piece are significantly changing the environment itself.The effects are most complex and cannot be predicted, and yet like thelikelihood is that evolutionary patterns in the future will reflect theinfluence of the human species(Microsoft96).Works CitedArdrey, Robert. The hunt club Hypothesis A Personal ConclusionConcerning the Evolutionary Nature of Man. young YorkAntheneum, 1976.Encarta 96. Computer Software. Microsoft, 1995.Gribbon, John and Cherfas, Jeremy. The Monkey Puzzle Reshaping theEvolutionary Tree. Philly Pantheon, 1982.Reader, John. Missing think The Hunt for Earliest Man. Boston Little,1981Schwartz, Jeffery H. The Red Ape Orang-Utans and Human Origins.San Francisco Houghton, 1987.Wilson, pecker J. The Domestication of the Human Species. OxfordYale, 1991.