Running head WHY IS EVOLUTION TRUE1Why is Evolution True 3.docx
- 1. Running head: WHY IS EVOLUTION TRUE 1 Why is Evolution True 3 Why is Evolution True Saleh Harris August 2, 2019 SCI-115SC Professor Wilder Why is Evolution True Religion is the first concept of how thing have come into existing. When you're an adult, the story of Adam and Eve make less sense compared to when you were five years old. I'll be using Jerry Coyne, Why Evolution is True to provide insight on evolution through scientific evidence. What is Evolution? Author Jerry A.Coyne opens with William Paley's watchmaker analogy as proof of God as the designer of all things. Darwin believed that evolution and natural selection started creation. Coyne defines modern evolution as life on primitive species earth evolved gradually beginning one primitive species or DNA that exist eons ago, that branched out over tie, throwing off many new and diverse species, and the mechanism for most of the evolutionary change is natural selection. (Coyne3) Six components that the theory of evolution can be broken down into are evolution, gradualism, speciation, common ancestry, natural selection, and nonselective mechanisms of evolutionary change. Evolution is the change in characteristics of a species over time that relies on the process of natural selection. Over many eons,
- 2. a species can evolve into something entirely different, and those differences on changes in the DNA, which originate as mutations. (Coyne3) Gradualism which takes many generations to produce a substantial evolutionary change, such as the evolution of birds from reptiles. (Coyne4) Speciation is the evolution of different groups that can't interbreed that is, groups that can't exchange genes. Species split because of populations to evolve enough differences that they are no longer able to interbreed. The vast majority of species go extinct without leaving any descendants. (Coyne7) Common ancestry is DNA sequences or fossils evidence that finds descendants joining at their ancestors. (Coyne8) Natural selection is the design in nature by a purely materialistic process that doesn't require creation or guidance by supernatural forces. Over time, the population will gradually adjust to its environment during mutations and expand within individuals having a quality or characteristic in common, while deleterious ones are weeded out. It requires only that individuals of a species vary genetically in their ability to survive and reproduce in their environment. (Coyne10-11) Nonselective mechanisms of evolutionary change So natural selection does not yield perfection — only improvements over what came before. Its s done in small increments over time. ( Coyne13) A scientific theory is a statement that's looked at as laws, principles, or because of something known or observed. So before a theory can be thought of as being scientific, it must be testable and make valid predictions. (Conye15) Written in the Rocks Written in the Rocks shows how fossils provide evidence of evolution. The fossil formation is straightforward but requires a particular set of circumstances. The animal or plant remains have to reach water, sink to the bottom of the water, and then
- 3. get covered by sediment so that they don't decay or get scattered by scavengers. (Coyne21) Fossils that record give no evidence for the creationist believe that all species appear divinely and perfect. Instead of life forms appearing in the records in evolutionary sequence and then evolve and split. (Coyne32) Transitional forms fossils span the gap between two very different kinds of living organisms. One of the most significant fulfilled predictions of evolutionary biology is the discovery, in 2004, of a transitional form between fish and amphibians. The fossils species Tiktaalik, which tells us a lot about how vertebrates came to live on the land. (Coyne35) Tiktaalik Neil Shubin's discovery of the Tiktaalik is beneficial to evolution. It is a 375 million years old fish fossil found in Ellesmerette island in Nunavut, Canada. The Tiktaalik has scales like a fish, a neck, flathead, and small limbs like a land animal. It can be linked not us (Shubin17-30) Tiktaalik proves that our ancestors were flat-headed predatory fish that lurked in the shallow waters of streams. It is a fossil that marvelously connects fish with amphibians. This discovery was not only anticipated but predicted to occur in rocks of a certain age and a particular place. (Coyne38) Vestiges, Embryos, and Bad Design Vestige is a feature of species that adaptation in its ancestors and lost its usefulness. For example, human wisdom teeth. (Coyne57) It is vestigial not because it's functionless, but because it no longer performs the function for which it evolved. (Coyne58) Atavisms is the reappearance of an ancestral trait. An example is a horse born with extra toes, a human baby with a tail. These expressed remnants of ancestral features are called atavisms. The difference atavisms and vestigial traits are atavisms occasionally occur rather than in every individual. (Coyne64)
- 4. Embryology The study of how animals develop is Embryology. The similarities and differences in the structures of a different animal (comparative anatomy). In Darwin studies, vertebrates began development in the same way and favored an embryotic fish. As the development process continues, they form into a fish, mammal, reptile, or amphibian, but in the beginning stage, they all look alike. Bad Design Bad Design is the belief that if organisms were built from scratch by a designer; that use biological building blocks of nerves, muscles, bone, etc.. They would not have such imperfections. The perfect design would indeed be the mark of an intelligent designer or God. The Geography of Life Biogeography is the study of the natural geographic range of an organism on earth. The Biogeographic theory debunks the creationist story of Noah Ark. The post-flood location of the Ark is in Turkey near Mount Ararat. The similar forms in different places, or how does the Kangaroo get to Australia from Turkey??? (Coyne88) Conclusion In conclusion, Jerry Coyne Why Evolution Is Truewas used to provide evidence of evolution through. I used fossils, biogeography, natural selection, comparative embryology, comparative anatomy, and molecular biology to present evidence of evolution. I explain the concept of Natural Selection as the means for which evolution occurs.Philosophical, theological, and sociological reflections as well as a demonstration of a scientific understanding of evolution. References
- 5. Coyne, J. A. (2010). Why evolution is true. New York, NY: Penguin Books. Shubin, N. (2009). Your inner fish: The amazing discovery of our 375-million-year-old ancestor. London: Penguin Books.