Erin Brodwin Analysis

Explaining Evolution Evolution has always been a relevant topic, whether being explained in learning environments or thoroughly investigated by scientists, why is it so important? Evolution tells the story of how humans, as well as other species, came to be. The articles “12 Examples of Evolution Today” by Erin Brodwin and “A Possible Break in One of Evolution’s Biggest Mysteries” by Peter Brannen are both compelling with the information they provide, and contain insights into the world of evolution. Brannen’s article is specifically focused on the whale and studying the barnacles on their bodies to gain more knowledge on the story of their evolution, whereas Brodwin’s article is broader and shares information on different species that evolved and adapted in a short amount of time. Brodwin and Brannen’s articles are similar in the way that they provide information on evolution, however these two articles differ in credibility and Brodwin’s article lacks many details that Brannen goes above and beyond to describe in his article. Altogether, Brodwin and Brannen share many similarities in their articles. Brodwin, in “12 Examples of Evolution Today”, stresses just how evolution is happening today, all around. Her article reveals various examples of different species and how humans are impacting them, causing many different adaptations to happen. Brannen, in his article, “A Possible Break in One of Evolution’s Biggest Mysteries”, discusses how whale evolution is still somewhat of a mystery today and the different strategies being used to learn more about them, such as the barnacles attached to a whale’s body. Brodwin’s article is similar to Brannen’s in how they share the different species that people are studying today to examine their journey of evolution. Another similarity between the two articles is how they draw attention to humans impacting evolution. Brodwin talks about how using different pesticides, hunting different animals and building new homes in rural areas where wildlife flourishes, all play a part in triggering different adaptations within different species. In Brannen’s article, he expresses how the future of the whales is unknown, particularly with how the ocean temperatures are rising and warming. He states in his article that: Today human society is a geological force in its own right, and it’s an open question what its ultimate influence will be on the long evolutionary story of whales. The ocean is warming faster than it did even 56 million years ago, while ice sheets are poised for a collapse on time scales only seen at the end of the ice ages. (Brannen). Overall, both of these articles do contain many resemblances to each other, and their main topic of evolution is similar. However, Brannen’s article has many differences to that of Brodwin’s, and his article is sufficiently more thorough than Brodwin’s. …show more content…
Brodwin presents short summaries of different species (such as the coy-wolf and how humans have driven coyotes east and the wolves north, where they bred to create a top predator) and how they are changing in today’s world. She does not provide adequate information in all the factors that could have affected these animals and their evolution. The article does not include any outside quotes to further a reader’s understanding of each different species adaptations. Brannen, on the other hand, delves into studies being done on the whale and how scientists attempting to learn more about them and their mysterious pasts and includes multiple quotations from the scientists to strengthen the credibility of his article and provide outside sources to back up his own words. Another difference is how Brodwin focuses specifically on how humans have shaped a lot of different evolutions, and she expresses this in the article’s introduction: …By shaping landscapes, dumping …show more content…
“A Possible Break in One of Evolution’s Biggest Mysteries” by Peter Brannen is a sublime piece of writing and he does very well at expressing how whale evolution is seen today and the lengths that scientists are going to improve their understanding. While “12 Examples of Evolution Happening Today” is an enjoyable read and a good beginning to show the different kinds of adaptations and evolution changes that are happening to various species, it does not completely explain each example and does not include outside sources or citations for the data used. Brannen’s article is exceedingly more comprehensive in the topic of whale evolution, and is altogether a more authentic article than Brodwin’s