10 Best Books On Free Evolution

What is Free Evolution?

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

This has been proven by many examples, including stickleback fish varieties that can live in salt or fresh water, and walking stick insect species that are apprehensive about particular host plants. These mostly reversible trait permutations can't, however, explain fundamental changes in body plans.

Evolution through Natural Selection

The development of the myriad of living organisms on Earth is a mystery that has fascinated scientists for centuries. Charles Darwin's natural selection theory is the best-established explanation. This process occurs when people who are more well-adapted have more success in reproduction and survival than those who are less well-adapted. Over time, a community of well adapted individuals grows and eventually creates a new species.

Natural selection is a cyclical process that is characterized by the interaction of three factors that are inheritance, variation and reproduction. Sexual reproduction and mutations increase genetic diversity in the species. Inheritance is the term used to describe the transmission of genetic characteristics, which includes recessive and dominant genes, to their offspring. Reproduction is the generation of viable, fertile offspring, which includes both asexual and sexual methods.

Natural selection is only possible when all of these factors are in balance. If, for example the dominant gene allele makes an organism reproduce and survive more than the recessive gene then the dominant allele becomes more prevalent in a group. If the allele confers a negative survival advantage or reduces the fertility of the population, it will disappear. This process is self-reinforcing, which means that the organism with an adaptive trait will survive and reproduce more quickly than those with a maladaptive feature. The more offspring an organism can produce the better its fitness which is measured by its capacity to reproduce itself and survive. People with desirable traits, like a long neck in the giraffe, or bright white color patterns on male peacocks are more likely to others to survive and reproduce which eventually leads to them becoming the majority.

Natural selection is an aspect of populations and not on individuals. This is a crucial distinction from the Lamarckian evolution theory, which states that animals acquire traits either through usage or inaction. If a giraffe extends its neck in order to catch prey and its neck gets longer, then the children will inherit this characteristic. The difference in neck size between generations will continue to increase until the giraffe is no longer able to breed with other giraffes.

Evolution by Genetic Drift

Genetic drift occurs when alleles of the same gene are randomly distributed in a population. In the end, one will attain fixation (become so widespread that it can no longer be removed through natural selection), while the other alleles drop to lower frequencies. In the extreme this, it leads to dominance of a single allele. The other alleles are eliminated, and heterozygosity falls to zero. In a small group this could result in the total elimination of recessive alleles. This scenario is called the bottleneck effect. It is typical of the evolutionary process that occurs when an enormous number of individuals move to form a group.

A phenotypic bottleneck can also occur when survivors of a disaster, such as an epidemic or a mass hunting event, are concentrated in a limited area. The remaining individuals will be largely homozygous for the dominant allele, meaning that they all share the same phenotype and consequently share the same fitness characteristics. This could be caused by a conflict, earthquake, or even a plague. The genetically distinct population, if it is left susceptible to genetic drift.

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

에볼루션 블랙잭 of drift can play a very important part in the evolution of an organism. However, it's not the only way to progress. Natural selection is the most common alternative, in which mutations and migration keep phenotypic diversity within a population.

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

Evolution through Lamarckism

In high school, students study biology they are often introduced to the work of Jean-Baptiste Lamarck (1744 - 1829). His theory of evolution is often known as "Lamarckism" and it states that simple organisms grow into more complex organisms through the inherited characteristics that result from the organism's natural actions use and misuse. Lamarckism is typically illustrated by an image of a giraffe extending its neck further to reach higher up in the trees. This causes the necks of giraffes that are longer to be passed onto their offspring who would then become taller.

Lamarck the French Zoologist, introduced a revolutionary concept in his 17 May 1802 opening lecture at the Museum of Natural History of Paris. He challenged the previous thinking on organic transformation. In his view, living things had evolved from inanimate matter through the gradual progression of events. Lamarck was not the first to suggest that this could be the case but his reputation is widely regarded as giving the subject its first general and comprehensive analysis.

The prevailing story is that Lamarckism was a rival to Charles Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection and that the two theories battled each other in the 19th century. Darwinism eventually won and led to the development of what biologists today refer to as the Modern Synthesis. The Modern Synthesis theory denies the possibility that acquired traits can be inherited and instead argues that organisms evolve by the symbiosis of environmental factors, such as natural selection.

Although Lamarck supported the notion of inheritance through acquired characters and his contemporaries paid lip-service to this notion but it was not a major feature in any of their evolutionary theorizing. This is due in part to the fact that it was never tested scientifically.

It's been more than 200 years since Lamarck was born and, in the age of genomics there is a huge amount of evidence that supports the possibility of inheritance of acquired traits. It is sometimes referred to as "neo-Lamarckism" or, more frequently epigenetic inheritance. It is a version of evolution that is just as valid as the more well-known Neo-Darwinian theory.

Evolution by Adaptation

One of the most widespread misconceptions about evolution is that it is a result of a kind of struggle for survival. This view is a misrepresentation of natural selection and ignores the other forces that drive evolution. The fight for survival can be more accurately described as a struggle to survive in a certain environment. This may be a challenge for not just other living things, but also the physical environment.

Understanding the concept of adaptation is crucial to understand evolution. The term "adaptation" refers to any specific feature that allows an organism to live and reproduce in its environment. It can be a physical structure like feathers or fur. Or it can be a behavior trait that allows you to move towards shade during hot weather or coming out to avoid the cold at night.

The survival of an organism is dependent on its ability to extract energy from the environment and to interact with other organisms and their physical environments. The organism must have the right genes to create offspring and be able find enough food and resources. The organism must also be able to reproduce itself at a rate that is optimal for its particular niche.

These factors, together with mutation and gene flow, lead to a change in the proportion of alleles (different forms of a gene) in the population's gene pool. This change in allele frequency can result in the emergence of novel traits and eventually new species as time passes.

A lot of the traits we find appealing in animals and plants are adaptations. For example, lungs or gills that extract oxygen from air feathers and fur as insulation, long legs to run away from predators and camouflage for hiding. However, a thorough understanding of adaptation requires attention to the distinction between behavioral and physiological traits.

Physiological adaptations, such as thick fur or gills are physical traits, while behavioral adaptations, like the tendency to seek out companions or to move to shade in hot weather, aren't. It is also important to remember that a lack of planning does not result in an adaptation. A failure to consider the implications of a choice, even if it appears to be logical, can make it inflexible.