Byron Likdisha AP Biology Essay #2
The modern synthesis incorporated Charles Darwin’s theory of natural selection and many other fields of science, including genetics, to explain evolution more accurately. When Darwin wrote “On the Origin of Species “, he only explained the first mechanism of evolution, which was natural selection. The modern theory of evolution now highlights three more important mechanisms for evolution, which are mutations, genetic drift, and gene flow. Many fields of study such as molecular biology and comparative anatomy and embryology provide evidence for the modern theory of evolution. Evolutionary relationships can be established by studying the anatomical structures of certain organisms. Organisms may have similar anatomical structures but can perform different functions. These homologous structures show that these organisms being compared have a common ancestor. Humans, cats, whales, and bats all have similar homologous limb structures. However, each limb structure performs a different function. Cats use these limbs to walk while whales use them to swim. If more organisms are closely related with each other, they will have more similar homologous structures.
Homologous traits in organisms are inherited from a common ancestor while analogous traits have evolved …show more content…
Organisms that share very similar DNA sequences are more closely related than organisms with different DNA sequences. Molecular homology tends to provide more accurate relationships about similarities between organisms. Molecular biologists develop mathematical tools and use computer software to determine molecular similarities between species. By evaluating molecular homologies, biologists have discovered that humans share a very distant common ancestor with bacteria even though we have tremendous differences in morphological
The modern synthesis incorporated Charles Darwin’s theory of natural selection and many other fields of science, including genetics, to explain evolution more accurately. When Darwin wrote “On the Origin of Species “, he only explained the first mechanism of evolution, which was natural selection. The modern theory of evolution now highlights three more important mechanisms for evolution, which are mutations, genetic drift, and gene flow. Many fields of study such as molecular biology and comparative anatomy and embryology provide evidence for the modern theory of evolution. Evolutionary relationships can be established by studying the anatomical structures of certain organisms. Organisms may have similar anatomical structures but can perform different functions. These homologous structures show that these organisms being compared have a common ancestor. Humans, cats, whales, and bats all have similar homologous limb structures. However, each limb structure performs a different function. Cats use these limbs to walk while whales use them to swim. If more organisms are closely related with each other, they will have more similar homologous structures.
Homologous traits in organisms are inherited from a common ancestor while analogous traits have evolved …show more content…
Organisms that share very similar DNA sequences are more closely related than organisms with different DNA sequences. Molecular homology tends to provide more accurate relationships about similarities between organisms. Molecular biologists develop mathematical tools and use computer software to determine molecular similarities between species. By evaluating molecular homologies, biologists have discovered that humans share a very distant common ancestor with bacteria even though we have tremendous differences in morphological