that does the selecting.
Put simply, the theory of evolution by means of natural selection can be described as "descent with modification," said
Briana Pobiner, an anthropologist and educator at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C., who specializes in the study of human origins. The theory is sometimes described as "survival of the fittest," but that characterization can be misleading, Pobiner said. Here, "fitness" refers not to an organism's strength or athleticism but rather its ability to survive and reproduce.
Natural selection can alter a species in small ways, causing a population to change color or size over the course of several generations, according to
The Natural History Museum. When this process happens over a relatively short period of time and in a species or small group of organisms, scientists call it "
microevolution."
Archaeopteryx, shown here in this illustration, is considered the first bird-like dinosaur on record, dating to about 150 million years ago during the Jurassic period. (Image credit: Leonello Calvetti/Getty Images)
But when given enough time and accumulated changes, natural selection can create entirely new species, a process known as "macroevolution," according to Derek Turner and Joyce C. havstad in "
The Philosophy of Macroevolution." This long-term process is what turned
dinosaurs into
birds, amphibious mammals (such as an animal called
Indohyus) into whales and a common ancestor of apes and humans into the people,
chimps and gorillas we know today.
Darwin also described a form of natural selection that depends on an organism's success at attracting a mate — a process known as sexual selection, according to
Nature Education. The colorful plumage of
peacocks and the antlers of male deer are both examples of traits that evolved under this type of selection.
HOW DID WHALES EVOLVE?
One of the best examples scientists have of natural selection, is the evolution of
whales. By using Darwin's theory as a guide, and understanding how natural selection works, biologists determined that the transition of early whales from land to water occurred in a series of predictable steps.
The evolution of the blowhole, for example, might have started with random genetic changes that resulted in at least one whale having its nostrils farther back on its head, according to
Phys.org.
The whales with this adaptation would have been better suited to a marine lifestyle, since they would not have had to completely surface to breathe. Such individuals were more successful and had more offspring. In later generations, more genetic changes occurred, moving the nose farther back on the head.
Other body parts of early whales also changed. Front legs became flippers. Back legs disappeared. Their bodies became more streamlined, and they developed tail flukes to better propel themselves through water, according to the
Natural History Museum.
Even though scientists could predict what early whales should look like, for a long time they lacked the fossil evidence to back up their claim.
but believe a book wrote by ignorant goat fukkers thousands of years ago
most of us are talking to each other spread throughout the earth In real time, on a fukking supercomputer that fits in our pocket but some have the nerve to shyt on science
