Charles Darwin, associated with Cambridge University, revolutionized science with his theories of evolution. His ideas birthed new ways of understanding how species came to be. According to Darwin, the key driving force behind evolution is natural selection, which occurs under environmental pressures leading to speciation. Natural selection allows a population to adapt to changes in environmental conditions. Natural selection also explains how one species may evolve into another through the process of speciation. This is done when the four aspects of natural selection, survival of the fittest, reproduction, genetic variation, and over population, are affected by environmental changes. species produce more offspring that can survive; populations …show more content…
Predation, competition for food and water, competition for space, weather, natural disasters, and disease are all examples of environmental pressures that could bring about the natural selection of traits.
Reproduction is one of the aspects of natural selection. It is the process by which genes and characteristics are passed down from one generation to the next generation. In this way, characteristics are inherited from both parents by the offspring. During the prophase 1 of reproduction, chromosome composition is altered when in the stages of crossing over. Sperm fertilises eggs randomly so the results of reproduction are up to random chance. Sexual reproduction is also the cause of genetic variation, which will be thoroughly explained in a latter paragraph. Accept independent assortment during meiosis from AHL.
Genetic Variation exists between members of one species, which means that some individuals are better suited for survival than others. Individuals that are better suited to changes in the environment survive and pass on their genes for surviving. The sources of variation are: Mutations allows for the mergence of new alleles. Meiosis enables the production of a variety of gametes with random chromosome composition. Sexual reproduction has to do with fertilisation and male
Along with growth and survival, reproduction is one of the primary things that organisms do. Reproduction is the process by which new organisms are produced from existing organisms (Barlow, 2014). Reproduction is not only important for the survival of an individual but the survival of every population
Variation is a difference of characteristics such as structure, form, function, colour and size when compared to others of the same species within a specific environment. Variation can occur through mutation, the recombination between chromosomes and migration, of which usually happens due to environmental or genetic factors. Variation permits the survival of species in a changing environment and ensures protection from exposure to diseases or environmental disasters. Those who possess variation in species ensures that when their environment changes the individuals will have the variation that will allow them to survive while those who do not possess the variation will die out. This is natural selection and goes hand in hand alongside variation.
Some examples of this hinted in the article are selection, genes, and environmental factors. Selection is the inheritance of survival, genes create variation, and geographic barriers is explained in the
Natural Selection Introduction: Natural Selection is the ability to survive and reproduce in a given environment. It is known due to evolution that has occurred over time and how mutation, migration, and genetic drift have changed. There is a variation in traits in animals, for example some birds have bigger beaks that can be used to feed on worms and bugs that are way underneath the river and lakes. Also there is a differential reproduction that occurs because not all animals can reproduce the same amount and there is a limit that the environment can support over time.
This process is when there's an intentional reproduction of individuals with favorable
It is because of sexual selection that we see such a great variety amongst different organisms. A male and female organism are more likely to have different favorable traits than one another. Females choice has a very profound effect on genetically based male traits because they are limited to their reproductive output and must also face both the physical and emotional consequences after birth. They want to ensure that the male that they are investing in is of high quality (Miller, n.d.). Males are considered to be the more competitive sex because they must engage in male-male competition.
Charles Darwin became famous for his theory of natural selection. This theory suggests that a change in heritability traits takes place in a population over time. This is due to random mutations that occur in the genome of an individual organism, and offspring can inherit these mutations. This was defined as the key to evolution, this is because random mutations arise in the genome of an individual. Until the 19th century, the prevailing view in western societies was that differences between individuals of species were uninteresting departures from their platonic ideals of created kinds.
The environment in which a population lives in selects which traits are desirable or not and that reflects on the members reproduction fitness. For example, an elephant may be born with a longer neck. This allows the elephant to reach higher branches and to consume more food, thus the long necked elephants will reproduce more than the short necked elephants. Eventually the elephants with long necks will out number thepreviously dominant short necked elephants (Stanford,Allen, and Anton 18).
Evolution is the natural result of natural selection. As the environment changes, the life within it will also change in order
Natural Selection is the long gradual process in which Biological traits either become more or less common in a population as a function of the effect of inherited traits on the differential reproductive success of organisms interacting with their environment. In Darwin’s work The Origin of Species he also mentioned evidence for the Theory of Evolution from his voyage around the world on The H.M.S. Beagle. The Origin of Species is probably the most influential work on evolutionary biology. The Origin of Species will help prove my thesis because it introduces the ideas that we base on evolutionary biology today.
It is talked about today that Darwin discovered the theory of evolution. Darwin's theory of evolution stated that individuals within a species vary from one another, variation is in some part heritable so that variant forms have offsprings that resemble them, and that different variants leave different number of offspring. Darwin then proceeded to elaborate on the mechanism of evolution by suggesting that in the universal struggle for life, nature "selects" those individuals who are best suited (fittest) for the struggle, and these individuals in turn reproduce more than those who are less fit, thus changing the composition of the population. In addition to natural selection, Darwin also suggested that species also evolve through the complementary process of sexual selection. According to Darwin, in sexual selection, one gender of a species develops a
Depending on the conditions of the environment, the organisms may pass down selected traits to their offspring. These selected traits will allow for the next generation to better adapt and survive longer ["Natural Selection and Speciation - Biology."]. One example of evolution through the process of natural selection is that of the Viceroy butterfly. The Viceroy butterflies were facing extinction a little more than 100 years ago due to their inability to protect themselves or hide from their predators; mainly birds.
1. Overpopulation of organisms in the same area – a species produces too many of the same organisms with the same functional needs. This means that most of these organisms rarely meet adulthood. 2. Genetic variations – this is where the offspring’s traits are slightly different to one another giving some a better chance of survival than others.
Two common types of sexual selection are male to male competition, and female choice. Male to male is when the males fight ‘win the right’ to reproduce with the females. Female choice is when the females choose the most formidable male to produce offspring with. (http://www.nyu.edu/projects/fitch/courses/evolution/html/sexual_selection.html) With female choice the males must find some way to be more ‘attractive’ to the females. The female looks for a favorable trait that shows sings of survival for her offspring to have. The female’s eggs are valuable so she must choose wisely.
Even though Charles Darwin wrote about these processes over 150 years ago, there is still many people that do not believe in the theory of evolution. In relation to Evolution, natural selection is believe to be one of the major aspects that causes it and is honestly quite important. This is the process of adaptation and variation; it helps animals change to their varying environments. By allowing small and sometimes odd variations of a trait into the mix, the species can grow to have noticeable changes that can benefit that animal species.