Ever since the beginning of time, natural selection has shaped our world. Natural selection, (also known as evolution), is the process of living organisms adapting and changing to survive in their natural environment. Many of the species that we know today have been involved in the process of evolution. Species don’t evolve like a flip of a switch, but are constantly evolving over a long period of time. As Darwin states, “Evolution occurs every 5,000 years”. There are several types of evolution which cause species to evolve. Some of the many reasons are: geographic isolation, divergent evolution, coevolution, and artificial selection.
Geographic Isolation is the process of a same species being isolated by a geographic barrier. For an example of geographic isolation, a scientist named Diane Dodd conducted an experiment involving fruit flies (evolution.berkeley.edu) Diane took a single species of fruit fly, and put them in two separate tanks. In each tank she placed a different food source, maltose in one, and starch in the other. Once the flies in each tank began to mate and produce several generations of offspring, she put the two groups of flies in a single tank. After waiting a couple days, the flies in both tanks would not mate with each other, and only mate with the the flies who ate the same type of food they ate during the isolation period. This is an example of geographic isolation, which can lead to new species being produced. Divergent evolution is the process by which two interbreeding species develop two offspring with different traits that diverge from the parents. …show more content…
Once these two species develop and mate, their children will most likely express the same traits as their parents, this is an example of natural selection. The divergence of traits from the parents happens completely randomly through genetic mutations. One of the greatest examples of divergent evolution is the modern dog. The modern dog is one of scientists greatest mysteries. Did the common dog develop from one wolf, or may different types of wolves? Darwin states he does not believe the common dog comes from a single ancestor “I do not believe, as we shall presently see, that all our dogs have descended from any one wild species” Rather, he suggested that domestic dogs 'descended from several wild species’. (Charles Darwin, 1859) Coevolution is the idea of the environment and species adapting together. For instance when many plants evolved to produce nectar, hummingbirds also had to adapt in order to get food and survive. “Coevolution often happens in species that have symbiotic relationships. Examples include flowering plants and their pollinators” (Douglas Palmer, 2009) Coevolution can happen in bigger ways such as the relationship between flower and bird, but can also occur at microscopic levels, such as amino acids in a protein. Another interesting idea is the endosymbiont theory. “The endosymbiont theory proposes that current day mitochondria and chloroplasts were once free-living unicellular individuals.” (http://biomed.brown.edu/) Coevolution helped to shape a large part of modern nature. Earth as we know it would not be the same without it. Another type of evolution is the idea of artificial selection. Artificial selection is the when humans get to decide what organisms get to reproduce. One example that is most common is the farming industry. Some farmers and breeders allow only their plants with desirable characteristics to
Geographic Isolation is the process of a same species being isolated by a geographic barrier. For an example of geographic isolation, a scientist named Diane Dodd conducted an experiment involving fruit flies (evolution.berkeley.edu) Diane took a single species of fruit fly, and put them in two separate tanks. In each tank she placed a different food source, maltose in one, and starch in the other. Once the flies in each tank began to mate and produce several generations of offspring, she put the two groups of flies in a single tank. After waiting a couple days, the flies in both tanks would not mate with each other, and only mate with the the flies who ate the same type of food they ate during the isolation period. This is an example of geographic isolation, which can lead to new species being produced. Divergent evolution is the process by which two interbreeding species develop two offspring with different traits that diverge from the parents. …show more content…
Once these two species develop and mate, their children will most likely express the same traits as their parents, this is an example of natural selection. The divergence of traits from the parents happens completely randomly through genetic mutations. One of the greatest examples of divergent evolution is the modern dog. The modern dog is one of scientists greatest mysteries. Did the common dog develop from one wolf, or may different types of wolves? Darwin states he does not believe the common dog comes from a single ancestor “I do not believe, as we shall presently see, that all our dogs have descended from any one wild species” Rather, he suggested that domestic dogs 'descended from several wild species’. (Charles Darwin, 1859) Coevolution is the idea of the environment and species adapting together. For instance when many plants evolved to produce nectar, hummingbirds also had to adapt in order to get food and survive. “Coevolution often happens in species that have symbiotic relationships. Examples include flowering plants and their pollinators” (Douglas Palmer, 2009) Coevolution can happen in bigger ways such as the relationship between flower and bird, but can also occur at microscopic levels, such as amino acids in a protein. Another interesting idea is the endosymbiont theory. “The endosymbiont theory proposes that current day mitochondria and chloroplasts were once free-living unicellular individuals.” (http://biomed.brown.edu/) Coevolution helped to shape a large part of modern nature. Earth as we know it would not be the same without it. Another type of evolution is the idea of artificial selection. Artificial selection is the when humans get to decide what organisms get to reproduce. One example that is most common is the farming industry. Some farmers and breeders allow only their plants with desirable characteristics to