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Evolution T-Rex
all about
evolution
 
Biological evolution is any genetic change in a population that is inherited over several generations. These changes may be small or large, noticeable or not so noticeable. The theory of evolution explains how all of life's diversity and various species evolved from a single common ancestor that existed about 3.7 billion years ago.

99.85% of all scientists
in the relevant fields of earth and life sciences
agree that biological
            evolution is a fact
Evolution is a fact AND a theory.
In science a "theory" is an explanation of how/why something happened or works. Just as the theory of gravity explains how/why gravity occurs, the theory of evolution explains how/why evolution occurs.
Why It's Important
Science and science-based technologies have transformed modern life. They have led to major improvements in living standards, public welfare, health, and security. They have changed how we view the universe and how we think about ourselves in relation to the world around us. Biological evolution is one of the most important ideas of modern science. It is supported by abundant evidence from many different fields of scientific investigation. Evolution underlies the modern biological sciences, including the biomedical sciences, and has applications in many other scientific and engineering disciplines. Because evolution has and will continue to serve as a critical foundation of the biomedical and life sciences, helping students learn about and understand the scientific evidence, mechanisms, and implications of evolution are fundamental to education and to an improved quality of living.
How evolution works
How Evolution Works
DNA
Life's Blueprints
DNA is the building blocks of life. Each bar on the twisted ladder of DNA is called a "base pair" and consists of 2 of the 4 bases; Adenine, Thymine, Guanine, & Cytosine. A pattern of base pairs is called a gene and the complete collection of these patterns is called the genome.

All embryos start off as a nearly identical cluster of cells and the genome dictates how an organism is constructed during its development. The slightest changes in the genome results in a change of the structure. By tampering with the Antennapedia Gene in a fruit fly the fly can grow legs out of its head in place of antennas, instead of where legs normally form. The removal of the "Eyeless Gene" will cause a fruit fly to be born without eyes. That gene which tells a fly's embryo to "add eyes" is the exact same gene in other creatures. In an experiment the Eyeless Gene of a fruit fly embryo has been replaced with the Eyeless Gene from a mouse's DNA and the fruit fly was still able to grow compound eyes. The fruit fly grew normal fruit fly eyes using a gene from a mouse.
copy errors
Genetic Mutations
During reproduction the parent's DNA is copied and that copy is given to the offspring so the offspring's cells have a set of blue prints to base the bodies development on. Our DNA blueprints is a copy of our parents DNA blueprints, but not a perfect copy. Errors occur in the copying process leaving slight changes known as "mutations." These mutations result in blueprints that are slightly different. Such mutations range in size from a single base pair to a large segment of a chromosome. Most of these changes, but not all, are so slight that they have no effect on appearance or bodily functions and go completely unnoticed. The mutations in the new DNA blueprints are passed on generation to generation but with additional mutations occurring every time a copy is made and passed on. As generations pass these changes add up causing the current DNA to differ more and more each generation from the ancestral set of DNA. 		genetic mutations
DNA genome and mutations
Natural Selection
The designing of life
 
Life looks designed because it is designed
BUT not by a conscious designer.

Life's complexity is NOT the result of random chance. Evolution is not random, although unique traits are generated randomly by mutations in DNA the selection of what traits get passed on is not random. The complexity of life is designed by a selection process called Natural Selection which weeds out harmful mutations and maintains beneficial ones. Nature can be brutal and only the DNA of those who survive and reproduce gets passed on and built upon. 95-99% of all species that have lived on earth were weeded out by nature and has gone extinct. After enough filtering Natural Selection produces results that appear utterly impossible at a first glance.

Since nature is not a conscious force evolution is not goal orientated. There is no foresight and no targeted outcome. Because of this, evolution is not necessarily progressive and the improving of one trait may lead to the hindering of another. The ability to walk upright came at the cost of an altered birth canal that, before modern medicine, made giving birth result in the death of 1 out of every 5 women. Since the gain was great than the loss when our ancestors first walked upright Natural Selection treated it as a favorable improvement.
Sexual Selection Evolution
Sexual Selection
Why would Natural Selection favor genes for brightly colored feathers that predators could spot a mile away? The answer is sex. Brightly colored birds are all male and female birds prefer males with bright colors and flashy tails. Thus having brightly colored feathers increases a male bird's changes of having sex and passing on his genes.
How evolution works →
← Not how evolution works
Life does not evolve towards a certain goal or design. Simply the ones who are best adapted to the ever changing demands of nature are the ones who will pass on their traits.

NOTE: Giraffes evolved long necks, which are used in foreplay, because of Sexual Selection.
Koalas and Kangaroos
Isolation: Koalas and kangaroos both live in Australia, which has been isolated from the rest of the world for billions of years. This long-term isolation has resulted in species existing there that are very different from those found everywhere else in the world.
Isolation
Isolation is a key factor in species evolution. Organisms of the same species can separated gradually, like when mountains & deserts or continents split apart, or quickly when blown to a different place by a storm or tsunami. When organisms become isolated the two isolated groups are not able to reproduce together (obviously), so variations and mutations that occur in one group are not necessarily found in the other group. The longer the groups are isolated, the more different they become and eventually become different species. Moreover, if there is a change in the environment of one group it does not necessarily occur in the environment of the other. So they will evolve and adapt differently. The finches and other organisms that Darwin found on the Galapagos Islands are examples that demonstrate the effect that environmental change and isolation can have on a species.
   
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