Why Free Evolution Will Be Your Next Big Obsession

What is Free Evolution?

Free evolution is the notion that the natural processes of living organisms can lead to their development over time. This includes the appearance and development of new species.

Numerous examples have been offered of this, such as different varieties of fish called sticklebacks that can live in salt or fresh water, and walking stick insect varieties that prefer particular host plants. These mostly reversible trait permutations however, are not able to explain fundamental changes in body plans.

Evolution by Natural Selection

The development of the myriad living organisms on Earth is a mystery that has fascinated scientists for decades. The most widely accepted explanation is that of Charles Darwin's natural selection, 에볼루션 바카라사이트 코리아 (Mdwrite writes) a process that occurs when individuals that are better adapted survive and reproduce more successfully than those that are less well-adapted. As time passes, a group of well adapted individuals grows and eventually creates a new species.

Natural selection is a process that is cyclical and involves the interaction of 3 factors including reproduction, variation and inheritance. Sexual reproduction and mutation increase genetic diversity in an animal species. Inheritance is the term used to describe the transmission of genetic traits, 에볼루션 including recessive and dominant genes to their offspring. Reproduction is the process of creating viable, fertile offspring. This can be achieved by both asexual or sexual methods.

All of these variables must be in harmony to allow natural selection to take place. If, for instance an allele of a dominant gene makes an organism reproduce and live longer than the recessive allele, then the dominant allele is more prevalent in a population. However, if the gene confers an unfavorable survival advantage or reduces fertility, it will disappear from the population. The process is self-reinforced, meaning that a species that has a beneficial trait can reproduce and survive longer than an individual with an unadaptive characteristic. The more offspring an organism can produce, the greater its fitness which is measured by its ability to reproduce and survive. Individuals with favorable traits, like having a longer neck in giraffes and bright white color patterns in male peacocks are more likely survive and produce offspring, 에볼루션 무료체험 which means they will make up the majority of the population in the future.

Natural selection only affects populations, not on individual organisms. This is a major distinction from the Lamarckian theory of evolution, which states that animals acquire traits through use or lack of use. If a giraffe extends its neck in order to catch prey and its neck gets larger, then its offspring will inherit this trait. The difference in neck size between generations will continue to grow until the giraffe is unable to breed with other giraffes.

Evolution by Genetic Drift

In genetic drift, the alleles at a gene may attain different frequencies within a population due to random events. In the end, one will attain fixation (become so widespread that it cannot be eliminated by natural selection), while the other alleles drop to lower frequencies. In the extreme it can lead to one allele dominance. The other alleles are eliminated, and heterozygosity falls to zero. In a small number of people, this could result in the complete elimination of recessive gene. This is known as the bottleneck effect and is typical of the evolutionary process that occurs whenever the number of individuals migrate to form a population.

A phenotypic 'bottleneck' can also occur when the survivors of a disaster such as an outbreak or mass hunt event are concentrated in the same area. The survivors will carry a dominant allele and thus will have the same phenotype. This situation could be caused by earthquakes, war, or even plagues. The genetically distinct population, if left susceptible to genetic drift.

Walsh Lewens, Walsh and Ariew define drift as a deviation from expected values due to differences in fitness. They cite the famous example of twins who are both genetically identical and share the same phenotype. However, one is struck by lightning and dies, while the other lives to reproduce.

This type of drift is crucial in the evolution of the species. It is not the only method of evolution. The main alternative is to use a process known as natural selection, where the phenotypic diversity of an individual is maintained through mutation and migration.

Stephens asserts that there is a significant difference between treating the phenomenon of drift as an agent or cause and treating other causes such as selection mutation and migration as forces and causes. He claims that a causal-process model of drift allows us to distinguish it from other forces and this distinction is crucial. He also argues that drift has both an orientation, i.e., it tends to eliminate heterozygosity. It also has a size that is determined by population size.

Evolution by Lamarckism

In high school, students study biology they are often introduced to the work of Jean-Baptiste Lamarck (1744 - 1829). His theory of evolution, commonly called "Lamarckism is based on the idea that simple organisms transform into more complex organisms by adopting traits that are a product of the organism's use and misuse. Lamarckism is usually illustrated with a picture of a giraffe that extends its neck further to reach higher up in the trees. This could cause giraffes to give their longer necks to their offspring, which then grow even taller.

Lamarck Lamarck, a French Zoologist, introduced a revolutionary concept in his 17 May 1802 opening lecture at the Museum of Natural History of Paris. He challenged the traditional thinking about organic transformation. According Lamarck, living organisms evolved from inanimate materials through a series gradual steps. Lamarck was not the first to suggest that this might be the case but his reputation is widely regarded as giving the subject its first general and comprehensive analysis.

The predominant story is that Charles Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection and Lamarckism fought during the 19th century. Darwinism eventually prevailed and led to the creation of what biologists now refer to as the Modern Synthesis. This theory denies that traits acquired through evolution can be inherited and instead, it argues that organisms develop through the selective action of environmental factors, like natural selection.

Although Lamarck believed in the concept of inheritance by acquired characters and his contemporaries also offered a few words about this idea but it was not a central element in any of their evolutionary theories. This is largely due to the fact that it was never tested scientifically.

However, it has been more than 200 years since Lamarck was born and in the age genomics there is a vast amount of evidence that supports the possibility of inheritance of acquired traits. This is also known as "neo Lamarckism", or more commonly epigenetic inheritance. It is a version of evolution that is just as valid as the more popular Neo-Darwinian model.

Evolution through adaptation

One of the most commonly-held misconceptions about evolution is being driven by a fight for survival. This notion is not true and overlooks other forces that drive evolution. The struggle for survival is more effectively described as a struggle to survive within a specific environment, which can involve not only other organisms, but also the physical environment.

Understanding adaptation is important to understand evolution. It is a feature that allows living organisms to survive in its environment and reproduce. It can be a physical structure like fur or feathers. Or it can be a characteristic of behavior that allows you to move to the shade during hot weather or coming out to avoid the cold at night.

The survival of an organism depends on its ability to draw energy from the environment and interact with other organisms and their physical environments. The organism must possess the right genes to create offspring, and be able to find sufficient food and resources. The organism should be able to reproduce itself at the rate that is suitable for its niche.

These factors, in conjunction with mutations and gene flow can result in an alteration in the ratio of different alleles in the gene pool of a population. This change in allele frequency can lead to the emergence of new traits, and eventually new species over time.

Many of the characteristics we admire about animals and plants are adaptations, such as lungs or gills to extract oxygen from the air, feathers or fur for insulation long legs to run away from predators and camouflage to hide. To comprehend adaptation it is essential to differentiate between physiological and behavioral traits.

Physiological traits like the thick fur and gills are physical characteristics. Behavioral adaptations are not like the tendency of animals to seek companionship or retreat into shade during hot temperatures. Additionally it is important to remember that lack of planning is not a reason to make something an adaptation. Failure to consider the implications of a choice even if it seems to be rational, could make it unadaptive.