With natural selection its major driving mechanism, evolution is the change over time in the makeup of genetics of a population. Supported by evidence from many scientific methods, Charles Darwin, in On the Origin of Species, asserts that inheritable variations occur in individuals in a population. In the process known as natural selection, due to competition for limited resources, individuals with more favorable characteristics or phenotypes are more likely to survive and better reproduce, therefore passing traits to forthcoming generations.
Natural disasters and human induced events as well as random environmental changes can result in alteration in the gene pools of populations, in addition to the process of natural selection. Smaller populations …show more content…
An evolutionary tree represents evolutionary relationships between a set of organisms, called taxa. The tips of the phylogeny represent groups of descended species or organisms and the nodes on the tree show the common ancestors of those descendants. Two descendants that branch from the same node are known sister groups, each other's closest relatives. By measuring and representing similarities between organisms, evolutionary trees and cladograms can be made from morphological relatedness of DNA and protein sequence similarities, and from existing or extinct species. Phylogenetic trees and cladograms are constantly being revised, based on the biological information used, new computational and mathematical ideas, and modern emerging knowledge.
C) LIFE CONTINUES TO EVOLVE WITHIN A CHANGING …show more content…
Emergent diseases, chemical resistance, such as mutations for the resistance to antibiotics, and observed directional phenotypic change all provide evidence for biological evolution. One of the most common examples which provides evidence for biological evolution is the case of the Galapagos finches. From his visit to the Galapagos Islands, Charles Darwin discovered many finch species that varied from island to island, through a process of adaptive radiation, which provided evidence for him to develop his theory of natural selection. Presently, there are about 13 species of finches that have developed on the Galapagos Islands, each having a different niche each different island. All of the species evolved from one ancestral species, which colonized the islands only a few million years ago. These finches are considered the world's quickest evolving vertebrates because their appearance and behavior has quickly adapted to this geographically isolated and rapidly changing
Natural disasters and human induced events as well as random environmental changes can result in alteration in the gene pools of populations, in addition to the process of natural selection. Smaller populations …show more content…
An evolutionary tree represents evolutionary relationships between a set of organisms, called taxa. The tips of the phylogeny represent groups of descended species or organisms and the nodes on the tree show the common ancestors of those descendants. Two descendants that branch from the same node are known sister groups, each other's closest relatives. By measuring and representing similarities between organisms, evolutionary trees and cladograms can be made from morphological relatedness of DNA and protein sequence similarities, and from existing or extinct species. Phylogenetic trees and cladograms are constantly being revised, based on the biological information used, new computational and mathematical ideas, and modern emerging knowledge.
C) LIFE CONTINUES TO EVOLVE WITHIN A CHANGING …show more content…
Emergent diseases, chemical resistance, such as mutations for the resistance to antibiotics, and observed directional phenotypic change all provide evidence for biological evolution. One of the most common examples which provides evidence for biological evolution is the case of the Galapagos finches. From his visit to the Galapagos Islands, Charles Darwin discovered many finch species that varied from island to island, through a process of adaptive radiation, which provided evidence for him to develop his theory of natural selection. Presently, there are about 13 species of finches that have developed on the Galapagos Islands, each having a different niche each different island. All of the species evolved from one ancestral species, which colonized the islands only a few million years ago. These finches are considered the world's quickest evolving vertebrates because their appearance and behavior has quickly adapted to this geographically isolated and rapidly changing