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The Academy's Evolution Site

Biology is one of the most important concepts in biology. The Academies have been for a long time involved in helping those interested in science comprehend the theory of evolution and how it influences every area of scientific inquiry.

This site provides students, teachers and general readers with a variety of learning resources on evolution. It contains key video clips from NOVA and WGBH produced science programs on DVD.

Tree of Life

The Tree of Life is an ancient symbol that symbolizes the interconnectedness of all life. It is used in many religions and cultures as a symbol of unity and love. It has many practical applications in addition to providing a framework to understand the evolution of species and how they react to changing environmental conditions.

Early approaches to depicting the biological world focused on separating organisms into distinct categories that were distinguished by their physical and metabolic characteristics1. These methods, which relied on sampling of different parts of living organisms or sequences of short fragments of their DNA, significantly increased the variety that could be represented in a tree of life2. These trees are mostly populated by eukaryotes and bacteria are largely underrepresented3,4.

By avoiding the necessity for direct experimentation and observation genetic techniques have made it possible to represent the Tree of Life in a much more accurate way. We can create trees using molecular methods, such as the small-subunit ribosomal gene.

Despite the dramatic growth of the Tree of Life through genome sequencing, a large amount of biodiversity is waiting to be discovered. This is especially true of microorganisms, which can be difficult to cultivate and are typically only represented in a single sample5. A recent study of all genomes that are known has created a rough draft of the Tree of Life, including many bacteria and archaea that have not been isolated and their diversity is not fully understood6.

This expanded Tree of Life is particularly useful in assessing the diversity of an area, helping to determine if specific habitats require protection. The information can be used in a range of ways, from identifying new treatments to fight disease to enhancing crop yields. This information is also extremely beneficial for conservation efforts. It helps biologists discover areas that are most likely to have cryptic species, which could have important metabolic functions, and could be susceptible to the effects of human activity. While funds to protect biodiversity are essential, ultimately the best way to protect the world's biodiversity is for more people living in developing countries to be equipped with the knowledge to take action locally to encourage conservation from within.

Phylogeny

A phylogeny (also known as an evolutionary tree) shows the relationships between species. Scientists can create a phylogenetic chart that shows the evolutionary relationship of taxonomic groups using molecular data and morphological similarities or differences. Phylogeny is essential in understanding evolution, biodiversity and genetics.

A basic phylogenetic tree (see Figure PageIndex 10 Finds the connections between organisms with similar traits and evolved from a common ancestor. These shared traits could be either homologous or analogous. Homologous traits are identical in their underlying evolutionary path, while analogous traits look like they do, but don't have the identical origins. Scientists put similar traits into a grouping known as a clade. For example, all of the species in a clade share the characteristic of having amniotic egg and evolved from a common ancestor that had these eggs. The clades are then linked to create a phylogenetic tree to identify organisms that have the closest relationship to.

For a more detailed and accurate phylogenetic tree scientists make use of molecular data from DNA or RNA to identify the relationships among organisms. This data is more precise than morphological data and gives evidence of the evolutionary history of an individual or group. Researchers can use Molecular Data to estimate the evolutionary age of living organisms and discover how many organisms share a common ancestor.

The phylogenetic relationships between species can be affected by a variety of factors, including phenotypic flexibility, an aspect of behavior that alters in response to unique environmental conditions. This can cause a trait to appear more like a species another, clouding the phylogenetic signal. This problem can be mitigated by using cladistics, which is a a combination of analogous and homologous features in the tree.

Additionally, phylogenetics can help predict the time and pace of speciation. This information can help conservation biologists make decisions about which species they should protect from the threat of extinction. In the end, it's the preservation of phylogenetic diversity which will result in an ecologically balanced and complete ecosystem.

Evolutionary Theory

The main idea behind evolution is that organisms develop distinct characteristics over time as a result of their interactions with their environment. Many scientists have come up with theories of evolution, including the Islamic naturalist Nasir al-Din al-Tusi (1201-274), who believed that a living thing would evolve according to its own requirements, the Swedish taxonomist Carolus Linnaeus (1707-1778) who conceived the modern hierarchical system of taxonomy, as well as Jean-Baptiste Lamarck (1844-1829), who suggested that the use or absence of traits can cause changes that are passed on to the

In the 1930s and 1940s, theories from various fields, including natural selection, genetics & particulate inheritance, merged to create a modern evolutionary theory. This describes how evolution is triggered by the variations in genes within the population, and how these variations change with time due to natural selection. This model, which is known as genetic drift or mutation, gene flow, and sexual selection, is a key element of current evolutionary biology, and can be mathematically explained.

Recent discoveries in the field of evolutionary developmental biology have demonstrated that genetic variation can be introduced into a species via mutation, genetic drift, and reshuffling of genes during sexual reproduction, as well as through the movement of populations. These processes, as well as other ones like directional selection and gene erosion (changes in frequency of genotypes over time), can lead towards evolution. Evolution is defined by changes in the genome over time, as well as changes in phenotype (the expression of genotypes in individuals).

Students can better understand phylogeny by incorporating evolutionary thinking throughout all areas of biology. In a recent study conducted by Grunspan and co., it was shown that teaching students about the evidence for evolution boosted their understanding of evolution in the course of a college biology. For more information about how to teach evolution read The Evolutionary Potential in all Areas of Biology or Thinking Evolutionarily as a Framework for Infusing Evolution into Life Sciences Education.

Evolution in Action

Scientists have studied evolution through looking back in the past, analyzing fossils and comparing species. you can try this out observe living organisms. But evolution isn't a thing that happened in the past; it's an ongoing process happening today. Bacteria evolve and resist antibiotics, viruses evolve and escape new drugs and animals change their behavior to the changing environment. The changes that result are often visible.

It wasn't until the late 1980s that biologists began to realize that natural selection was at work. The key is the fact that different traits confer a different rate of survival and reproduction, and they can be passed down from one generation to another.

In the past, if one particular allele - the genetic sequence that controls coloration - was present in a group of interbreeding organisms, it could quickly become more prevalent than all other alleles. As time passes, this could mean that the number of moths that have black pigmentation in a group may increase. The same is true for many other characteristics--including morphology and behavior--that vary among populations of organisms.

It is easier to track evolution when the species, like bacteria, has a high generation turnover. Since 1988, Richard Lenski, a biologist, has been tracking twelve populations of E.coli that are descended from a single strain. Samples from each population have been collected frequently and more than 50,000 generations of E.coli have passed.

Lenski's research has revealed that mutations can alter the rate at which change occurs and the effectiveness at which a population reproduces. It also shows that evolution is slow-moving, a fact that many are unable to accept.

Another example of microevolution is that mosquito genes that confer resistance to pesticides show up more often in populations in which insecticides are utilized. This is due to pesticides causing a selective pressure which favors those with resistant genotypes.

The rapidity of evolution has led to a greater recognition of its importance particularly in a world shaped largely by human activity. This includes the effects of climate change, pollution and habitat loss, which prevents many species from adapting. Understanding evolution can help us make better decisions regarding the future of our planet and the life of its inhabitants.

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Pub: 25 Dec 2024 02:12 UTC
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