Add An All-Inclusive List Of Evolution Site Dos And Don'ts
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The Berkeley Evolution Site
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Teachers and students who browse the Berkeley site will find a wealth of resources to help them understand and teach evolution. The resources are arranged into different learning paths such as "What did T. rex taste like?"
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Charles Darwin's theory on natural selection describes how species that are better equipped to adapt to changes in their environment survive over time and those who do not become extinct. This process of evolution in biology is the basis of science.
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What is Evolution?
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The term "evolution" could have a variety of meanings that are not scientific. For example, it can mean "progress" and "descent with modifications." Scientifically, it refers to a process of changing the characteristics of organisms (or species) over time. In biological terms the change is due to natural selection and genetic drift.
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Evolution is one of the fundamental tenets of modern biology. It is a theory that has been confirmed by a myriad of scientific tests. Evolution doesn't deal with God's presence or spiritual beliefs in the same way as other scientific theories such as the Copernican or germ theory of diseases.
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Early evolutionists, such as Jean-Baptiste Lamarck and Erasmus Darwin (Charles's grandfather) believed that certain physical characteristics were predetermined to change in a step-wise way, over time. They referred to this as the "Ladder of Nature" or the scala naturae. Charles Lyell first used this term in 1833 in his Principles of Geology.
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Darwin published his theory of evolution in his book On the Origin of Species published in the early 1800s. It claims that different species of organisms have an ancestry that can be determined through fossils and other lines of evidence. This is the current understanding of evolution that is supported by numerous research lines in science, including molecular genetics.
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While scientists don't know exactly how organisms developed but they are certain that the evolution of life on earth is a result of natural selection and genetic drift. Individuals with advantageous traits are more likely to survive and reproduce, and they transmit their genes to the next generation. In time this leads to an accumulation of changes to the gene pool that gradually create new species and types.
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Some scientists employ the term evolution in reference to large-scale changes, like the formation of a species from an ancestral one. Certain scientists, such as population geneticists, define evolution in a more broad sense by talking about the net change in the frequency of alleles across generations. Both definitions are valid and acceptable, however some scientists believe that allele-frequency definitions do not include important aspects of evolutionary process.
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Origins of Life
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One of the most crucial steps in evolution is the development of life. The emergence of life happens when living systems begin to develop at a microscopic level, like within individual cells.
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The origins of life are an important topic in a variety of disciplines that include biology and the field of chemistry. The origin of life is a topic of great interest in science because it is a challenge to the theory of evolution. It is often referred to as "the mystery of life" or "abiogenesis."
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The notion that life could emerge from non-living things was called "spontaneous generation" or "spontaneous evolutionary". This was a popular belief before Louis Pasteur's tests proved that the development of living organisms was not achievable through a natural process.
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Many scientists still believe it is possible to make the transition from nonliving substances to living. However, the conditions needed are extremely difficult to reproduce in a laboratory. Researchers interested in the origins and development of life are also eager to understand the physical properties of the early Earth as well as other planets.
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In addition, the development of life is dependent on a sequence of very complex chemical reactions that can't be predicted from the fundamental physical laws on their own. These include the reading and re-reading of complex molecules, like DNA or RNA, to create proteins that perform a specific function. These chemical reactions can be compared to a chicken-and egg problem: the emergence and development of DNA/RNA, a protein-based cell machinery, is essential for the beginning of life. But, without life, the chemistry required to make it possible does appear to work.
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Abiogenesis research requires collaboration between scientists from different fields. This includes prebiotic scientists, astrobiologists, and planet scientists.
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Evolutionary Changes
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The word evolution is usually used to describe the cumulative changes in the genetic characteristics of an entire population over time. These changes may result from adaptation to environmental pressures as described in the entry on Darwinism (see the entry on Charles Darwin for background) or natural selection.
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This is a method that increases the frequency of genes which confer an advantage in survival over others, resulting in an ongoing change in the appearance of a particular population. The specific mechanisms responsible for these changes in evolutionary process include mutation or [evolutionkr.Kr](https://evolutionkr.kr/) reshuffling genes during sexual reproduction, as well as gene flow between populations.
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Natural selection is the process that makes beneficial mutations more frequent. All organisms undergo changes and reshuffles of genes. As previously mentioned, those who possess the desirable characteristic have a higher reproduction rate than those who do not. This differential in the number of offspring that are produced over a long period of time can result in a gradual change in the average number of beneficial traits in a group.
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A good example of this is the increase in the size of the beaks on different species of finches in the Galapagos Islands, which have evolved different shaped beaks to allow them to more easily access food in their new habitat. These changes in the shape and form of organisms can also be a catalyst for the creation of new species.
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Most of the changes that occur are caused by one mutation, but occasionally several will happen at the same time. The majority of these changes could be neutral or even harmful however, a small percentage can have a beneficial impact on survival and reproduce, increasing their frequency over time. Natural selection is a process that can produce the accumulating change over time that eventually leads to a new species.
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Some people confuse the idea of evolution with the idea that traits inherited can be altered by conscious choice or by use and abuse, a notion known as soft inheritance. This is a misinterpretation of the nature of evolution and of the actual biological processes that trigger it. It is more precise to say that evolution is a two-step, separate process that involves the forces of natural selection and mutation.
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Origins of Humans
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Humans today (Homo sapiens) evolved from primates - a species of mammals that also includes chimpanzees and gorillas and bonobos. Our ancestral ancestors were walking on two legs, as shown by the oldest fossils. Genetic and biological similarities suggest that we are closely related to the chimpanzees. In actual fact our closest relatives are chimpanzees from the Pan genus. This includes pygmy as well as bonobos. The last common ancestor of modern humans and chimpanzees was born between 8 and 6 million years ago.
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As time has passed humans have developed a number of characteristics, including bipedalism and the use of fire. They also developed advanced tools. It is only in the past 100,000 years or so that the majority of the important characteristics that differentiate us from other species have developed. They include language, a large brain, the capacity to create and utilize complex tools, as well as the diversity of our culture.
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Evolution happens when genetic changes allow individuals of a population to better adapt to their environment. Natural selection is the mechanism that drives this change. Certain characteristics are more desirable than others. Those with the better adaptations are more likely to pass their genes to the next generation. This is the way all species evolve and is the basis for the theory of evolution.
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Scientists refer to it as the "law of Natural Selection." The law states that species which have a common ancestor are more likely to develop similar traits over time. This is because those characteristics make it easier for them to survive and reproduce in their environments.
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Every organism has the DNA molecule, which contains the information necessary to direct their growth. The DNA molecule is made up of base pairs that are spirally arranged around phosphate molecules and sugar molecules. The sequence of bases found in each strand determines the phenotype - the distinctive appearance and behavior of a person. A variety of changes and reshuffling of genetic material (known as alleles) during sexual reproduction cause variation in a group.
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Fossils from the earliest human species Homo erectus, and Homo neanderthalensis have been found in Africa, Asia and Europe. These fossils, despite some differences in their appearance all support the idea of the origins of modern humans in Africa. The evidence from fossils and genetics suggests that the first humans left Africa and moved to Asia and Europe.
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