How Free Evolution Altered My Life For The Better

What is Free Evolution?

Free evolution is the notion that natural processes can cause organisms to develop over time. This includes the creation of new species as well as the transformation of the appearance of existing ones.

Numerous examples have been offered of this, such as different kinds of stickleback fish that can live in fresh or salt water and walking stick insect varieties that prefer particular host plants. These are mostly reversible traits however, are not able to be the reason for fundamental changes in body plans.

Evolution by Natural Selection

The development of the myriad living organisms on Earth is an enigma that has fascinated scientists for decades. Charles Darwin's natural selection is the most well-known explanation. This is because those who are better adapted survive and reproduce more than those who are less well-adapted. As time passes, the number of individuals who are well-adapted grows and eventually forms an entirely new species.

Natural selection is a process that is cyclical and involves the interaction of three factors that are: reproduction, variation and inheritance. Variation is caused by mutations and sexual reproduction both of which increase the genetic diversity within a species. Inheritance is the term used to describe the transmission of genetic traits, including recessive and dominant genes and their offspring. Reproduction is the process of creating viable, fertile offspring. This can be done by both asexual or sexual methods.

All of these elements have to be in equilibrium for natural selection to occur. For example the case where the dominant allele of a gene can cause an organism to live and reproduce more often than the recessive one, the dominant allele will become more common within the population. However, if the gene confers a disadvantage in survival or reduces fertility, it will be eliminated from the population. This process is self-reinforcing, which means that an organism with an adaptive characteristic will live and reproduce much more than one with a maladaptive characteristic. The more fit an organism is as measured by its capacity to reproduce and survive, is the greater number of offspring it produces. People with good traits, like the long neck of giraffes, or bright white patterns on male peacocks, are more likely than others to live and reproduce, which will eventually lead to them becoming the majority.

Natural selection is an aspect of populations and not on individuals. This is a significant distinction from the Lamarckian evolution theory which holds that animals acquire traits due to usage or inaction. If a giraffe extends its neck to reach prey, and the neck becomes larger, then its offspring will inherit this characteristic. The differences in neck size between generations will continue to grow until the giraffe is unable to reproduce with other giraffes.

Evolution through Genetic Drift

In genetic drift, alleles within a gene can attain different frequencies in a population due to random events. At some point, only one of them will be fixed (become common enough that it can no longer be eliminated through natural selection) and the other alleles will diminish in frequency. In extreme cases it can lead to one allele dominance. The other alleles have been virtually eliminated and heterozygosity been reduced to zero. In a small population, this could result in the complete elimination of the recessive gene. This is called a bottleneck effect, and it is typical of evolutionary process that occurs when a large number of individuals move to form a new population.

A phenotypic 'bottleneck' can also occur when the survivors of a catastrophe such as an outbreak or mass hunt event are concentrated in the same area. The survivors will carry an allele that is dominant and will share the same phenotype. This situation might be caused by a war, earthquake or even a disease. The genetically distinct population, if it is left, could be susceptible to genetic drift.

Walsh Lewens, Walsh, and Ariew define drift as a deviation from the expected value 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 is able to reproduce.

This type of drift can play a crucial role in the evolution of an organism. However, it is not the only way to progress.  에볼루션 코리아  is the most common alternative, where mutations and migrations maintain the phenotypic diversity in the population.

Stephens claims that there is a major difference between treating drift as a force, or an underlying cause, and considering other causes of evolution such as selection, mutation and migration as forces or causes. He argues that a causal process account of drift allows us to distinguish it from other forces, and this distinction is essential. He further argues that drift has a direction: that is it tends to reduce heterozygosity. He also claims that it also has a size, which is determined by the size of population.

Evolution by Lamarckism

Biology students in high school are often introduced to Jean-Baptiste Lamarck's (1744-1829) work. His theory of evolution is often called "Lamarckism" and it asserts that simple organisms evolve into more complex organisms via the inherited characteristics which result from an organism's natural activities, use and disuse. Lamarckism is usually illustrated with the image of a giraffe extending its neck to reach the higher branches in the trees. This would cause giraffes to give their longer necks to their offspring, who would then become taller.

Lamarck, a French Zoologist from France, presented an idea that was revolutionary in his opening lecture at the Museum of Natural History of Paris. He challenged the previous thinking on organic transformation. In his opinion living things evolved from inanimate matter through the gradual progression of events. Lamarck wasn't the first to make this claim however he was widely considered to be the first to give the subject a comprehensive and general overview.

The dominant story is that Charles Darwin's theory of natural selection and Lamarckism were competing in the 19th Century. Darwinism ultimately won which led to what biologists refer to as the Modern Synthesis. The theory denies that acquired characteristics are passed down from generation to generation and instead argues organisms evolve by the selective action of environment factors, such as Natural Selection.

Although Lamarck supported the notion of inheritance through acquired characters and his contemporaries also offered a few words about this idea, it was never a central element in any of their evolutionary theories. This is partly because it was never tested scientifically.

However, it has been more than 200 years since Lamarck was born and in the age of genomics there is a huge body of evidence supporting the possibility of inheritance of acquired traits. This is sometimes referred to as "neo-Lamarckism" or, more often, epigenetic inheritance. This is a variant that is as reliable as the popular neodarwinian model.

Evolution by the process of adaptation

One of the most widespread misconceptions about evolution is that it is driven by a sort of struggle to survive. In fact, this view is a misrepresentation of natural selection and ignores the other forces that are driving evolution. The fight for survival can be more effectively described as a struggle to survive within a particular environment, which could include not just other organisms but as well the physical environment.

To understand how evolution operates it is beneficial to think about what adaptation is. The term "adaptation" refers to any specific feature that allows an organism to live and reproduce within its environment. It could be a physiological structure, such as fur or feathers, or a behavioral trait such as a tendency to move to the shade during hot weather or coming out at night to avoid the cold.

The capacity of a living thing to extract energy from its surroundings and interact with other organisms and their physical environment, is crucial to its survival. The organism needs to have the right genes to generate offspring, and must be able to locate enough food and other resources. In addition, the organism should be able to reproduce itself at an optimal rate within its environment.

These elements, in conjunction with gene flow and mutation, lead to an alteration in the percentage of alleles (different varieties of a particular gene) in the population's gene pool. The change in frequency of alleles can result in the emergence of new traits, and eventually new species as time passes.

Many of the characteristics we admire in animals and plants are adaptations. For instance the lungs or gills which extract oxygen from air feathers and fur as insulation and long legs to get away from predators and camouflage to conceal. However, a thorough understanding of adaptation requires a keen eye to the distinction between behavioral and physiological traits.

Physiological adaptations, like thick fur or gills, are physical traits, whereas behavioral adaptations, like the desire to find companions or to move into the shade in hot weather, aren't. Additionally, it is important to remember that a lack of forethought does not mean that something is an adaptation. Inability to think about the effects of a behavior even if it appears to be logical, can cause it to be unadaptive.