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Evolution…Whatz Up Wit Dat? Evolution is change. Galaxies, languages, and political systems all evolve. Biological evolution- change in the properties of populations of organisms that transcend (are bigger than) the lifetime of a single individual. Individual organisms do not evolve…they can change…that’s different. Species evolve. Applying Natural Selection 1. 2. Discuss the relationship among genetics, natural selection, and evolution. Construct a scenario wherein a population of organisms (any type you want) is acted upon by natural selection. Be sure to discuss all four mechanisms. Yeah…I know it’s hard; you’re gonna have to actually think. Evolutionary Changes are…changes in populations that are inheritable through passing of genetic material from one generation to the next. Can be minor or BIG. Everything from slight changes in the amounts of different alleles within a population, all the way up to… …changes that led from the earliest life forms to worms, fish, lions, and tulips. Evolution is simply species changing. Sometimes its gradual (GRADUALISM). Sometimes its fast (PUNCTUATED EQUILIBRIUM). It is always GENETIC! The mechanism of evolution is natural selection (cause and effect...right?). Natural selection causes species to evolve (just like tectonic activity causes continental drift). Who Is This Darwin Dude? Well, he was a naturalist who made some cool observations (remember those) in 1831 while visiting the Galapagos Islands (off the western coast of South America…Ecuador to be specific). He saw that certain flora (plants) and fauna (animals) in the islands were slightly different than those on the mainland. Examples: Finch beaks, Tortoise shell shapes, He hypothesized that geographic separation had prompted these critters to change over time as a response to the environment in which they lived. How? Well…Natural Selection…which we’ve discussed (Overproduction, Variation, Competition, & Selection). He didn’t know about genetics…Mendel took care of that piece of information in the 1840’s. We now have modern evolution. Darwin…did he act alone? Well…he did but there was another dude acting alone at the same time…Alfred Russel (don’t call me Russell) Wallace. Wallace was an admirer of Darwin and texted him to say that he figured out the whole natural selection thing. And then Darwin was all like…oh no you didn’t Yes…he did! More Darwin Stuff So anywaze…Darwin and Wallace presented their findings on the same day at the same meeting. Darwin wrote a book though (1859): On the Origin of the Species by Means of Natural Selection…so he got the cred.