The idea of evolution was introduced by Charles Darwin, and explains how animals change over time. The theory states that every organism on the Earth originated from a common ancestor and then, through the process of natural selection, how those animals branched off to become different organisms. Scholars use this theory to explain how animals that live on Earth change over time. However, scientists find it difficult to use this theory to explain some events that occurred in the geologic time period, such as the Cambrian Explosion. The Cambrian explosion was a macro-evolutionary event that happened during the late Ediacaran and early Cambrian period. It introduced a number of phyla on the Earth, and significantly affected the animal …show more content…
When a mass extinction takes place, the dominant species of that time get removed, enabling other organisms to use the resources they once did. This means that the extinction of the Ediacaran animals could have left a pathway for the newly-made Cambrian species. Unfortunately, there are problems that arise when examining this theory. The extinction of the Ediacaran period does not explain the polyphyletic nature or the lengthy duration of the Cambrian Explosion (Xingliang Zhang, 2014). Another theory scholars believe could have led to the rapid appearance of polyphyletic organisms in the Cambrian could have occurred from the mineral and salinity content of the water. The salt concentration that is present in the water controls and limits the amount of biologic activity, since the saltier an area is, the fewer animals can live there. Less animals are able to survive in places that have high salt concentration due to the process of osmosis, which dehydrates the animals making them unable to survive in those environments. From looking at ocean salinity modeling, which was developed by observing maximum and minima values of present day evaporates, scholars have concluded that there was a significant salinity decline from the Neoproterozoic to the Cambrian. The decline in salinity seen in this time period, may have had an
<b>Introduction</b><br>Think of a world which existed 290 million years ago. As you look out over the terane in front of you, you think that you are on an alien planet. You see volcanoes spewing ash and lava. Beside them is the ocean which is swarming with many different species of echinoderms, bryozoans and brachiopods. As you look down onto the sea floor you are amazed at the countless number of starfish and urchins. Some animals leave you can't even describe and you have no idea even what phylum they belong to. This is a world at its height in diversity of oceanic species. Millions of wonderous species existed at this time in the ocean and most of them will never appear again in earth's history. In the geologic time scale, a million
Gould’s thought that the ecosystem no longer has the room for any organism since the Cambrian explosion was tested by Valentine. The hypothesis argues that (evolution in Cambrian organisms could take bigger leaps, including phylum-level leaps, while later on it would be more constrained, making only modest jumps, up to the class level. ) The hypothesis is proven difficult to be tested because (primordial genomes
During the Late Devonian period approximately 375 to 360 million years ago, a major extinction of marine life dramatically decreased biodiversity. Researchers state that of the five separate major global mass extinctions, there were only three truly significant mass extinctions on a global level that resulted in a critical drop in diversity: the end-Ordovician, end-Permian, and end-Cretaceous (Bambach et al., 2004). The other two— late Frasnian and end Triassic— do not follow the sequence of remarkable extinction patterns because it is not confirmed that extinction was the primary cause of the decrease in diversity. Nonetheless, for organisms in the marine fossil record, an increase in biodiversity typically precedes extinction, while speciation— the formation of new species as a process of evolution— occurs due to many niches being emptied at once. Increased extinction rates are generally accompanied by increased origination rates which produce new species. This biological evolution is due to competition and predation, interactions that affect species’ population size, density, and geographic range (Alroy, 2008). To conclude, the late Devonian period in which Stigall focused her research witnessed low global biodiversity and, through evidence supported by others’ research, it was subsequently followed by high
Knowledge of relationships between animals may allow us to deduce the answer: the two main branches of the animal tree are protostomes and deuterostomes, while the trunk of the tree includes sponges and cnidarians. The first appearance of these protostome and deuterostome groups is arguably in the Cambrian period – while arguments have been made for an earlier bilaterian, for instance the 555 million year old Kimberella, they are not persuasive – for reasons discussed later in this essay. We can assert that whatever was shared by two or more groups was likely to have been present in their last common ancestor. In this case, all members have bilateral organization in their life stages. Thus, the theory of the common ancestor of bilaterians – Urbilateria – arose (De Robertis & Sasai,
(1987), the Precambrian-Cambrian boundary is located in-between Ediacaran Fauna, which is found somewhere between 620-700 million years ago and trilobites, such as the fallotospid group. This creates a period ranging between 30-50 million years in which we can define the Precambrian-Cambrian boundary, making it difficult to determine an accurate timeframe (Morris, 1987). Biomineralization is seen as another key indicator of the Precambrian-Cambrian boundary, this has recently been identified as occurring around 570 million years ago. Kerr (1993) addresses the recent understanding of the Cambrian explosion, which is believed to have occurred simultaneously with the presence of hard skeletal parts. Globally, it is seen that Ediacaran Fauna has been well preserved despite being soft bodied. This has given a good understanding on metazoan evolution (Morris, 1987). Evolution rates of metazoan started to become evaluated with higher precision geochronology. Ultimately, this resulted in a better understanding of Ediacaran Fauna, leading to the belief that the lack of Ediacaran Fauna during the Cambrian, compared to its presence in the Precambrian was due to its continuous evolution, rather than the sudden disappearance due to an event (Bowring and Erwin,
The war on drugs has proven to be a long standing complex issue in today's society. Decades after Regan declared America's stand on the drug epidemic, this subject is still a topic of conversation amongst the government, local and federal, along with concerned citizens. America has made little to no progress in decreasing drug addiction and distribution in communities and has yet to find a solution on how to stop drug pollution. Many years later, with still or solution, one may ask, is this indeed a judicial issue? Or it is a legislative problem? Why has the government been ineffective 30 years later? Has there been any progress since the beginning stages? What is it going to take to conquer this
The Cambrian period lasted 53 million years and consisted of mostly shallow oceans covering the continents. Skeletons grew in life forms and new life forms exploded across the shallow seas. Shortly after this time, the Earth underwent its first mass extinction.
The theory of evolution sets forth an explanation of how all of the living species on Earth came to be. The theory as we know it today, written by Charles Darwin, states that all the living species of today – humans included – evolved over time; we can see evidence of their evolution in the fossils of now-extinct species. In his book Origin of Species, published in 1859, Charles Darwin wrote that species evolve over time through a mechanism known as “natural selection.” Basically, each species is born with a multitude of traits, some more favorable to survival than others. Because some traits encourage survival more so than others, the animals equipped with those traits tend to breed more than the animals that lack those traits. Over time, more and more offspring are born with these favorable traits and less are born without them; thus, the species evolves. In his 1871 book, The Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex, Darwin surmised that where humans are concerned, natural selection helped humans evolve in addition to a concept known as “sex selection.” Similar to natural selection, sex selection is the process by
There have been many theories of evolution and how it is brought about and what it is exactly. Charles Darwin a scientist who came up with his theory of evolution and how it works. Darwin felt as though evolution to him was that it occurred through natural selection. Natural selection is the process of only traits that will survive are passed to the next generation. Species selection operates on variation provided by the largely random process of speciation and favors species that speciate at high rates or survive for long periods and therefore tend to leave many daughter species (Stanley, 1975 ). So Darwin believed that the next generations of animals or different species were created by taking only the traits of species
While creationism is seemingly a very hopeful explanation for the creation of animal phyla by a supernatural force or being, this overlooks the potential of preservation bias and true triggers causing this explosion. Earth’s forces created the events of the Cambrian era. From glaciation, to change in oxygen, to distinct ecological interactions, there are true explanations we can observe from our planet’s history.
Evolution, -“Change over time. Applied most frequently to the development of living organisms according to the principles of natural selection, as identified by Charles Darwin in the nineteenth century (Big History Project).” The idea of evolution is thought of to be going on for nearly 4 billion years. Some people think that the competition between animals is the factor that drives evolution. Evolution is a weird thing that leads to being a leader in the food chain but is caused in a catastrophic way. Extinction drives evolution in many ways, some being the pure and lucky survivalist. Extinction drives evolution because when a species goes extinct another rises, survival of the fittest, and adapting to the environment faster than others.
Charles Robert Darwin has had the greatest influence on the world by proving the evolution of living things. Charles Darwin had first noticed the similarities of plants and animals when he took a five-year cruise on the H.M.S. Beagle, which was available to him through a friend from school. During the cruise Charles Darwin started becoming interested with the similarities between the plants and animals that were similar on different islands with similar climates, so he decided to study them more closely.
A simple inquiry on a search engine can reveal millions of results regarding social stereotypes. How prevalent is stereotyping in today’s society? Extremely. The formation of stereotypes impact perceptions of individuals as well as ourselves.
Most families think that their moody teen is just in a phase that all adolescents go through. Puberty, that time when an individual goes from a child to a teen. It marks a time of physical changes, but for many teens may also mark the start of something that will stay with them for many years; depression. Depression effects an estimated 19 million Americans, making it one of the most prevalent mental illnesses in the United States (Hell, 2015). The National Institute of Mental Health (2016) found around 12.5% of all American adolescence (ages 12-17) experienced at least one depressive episode in 2015. I am among that 12.5%. I was diagnosed with depression and anxiety in 2015 after experiencing depressive symptoms for almost five years. For five years, I had experienced increases of depressive episodes until I knew I needed to make a change, and that decision was one of the best I have ever made. Through my experience, my family, friends, and I learned what can cause, advance, and help cope with depression.
Biological evolution is the name for the changes in gene frequency in a population of a species from generation to generation. Evolution offers explanation to why species genetically change over years and the diversity of life on Earth. Although it is generally accepted by the scientific community, Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution has been studied and debated for several decades. In 1859, Darwin published On The Origin of Species, which introduced the idea of evolutionary thought which he supported with evidence of one type of evolutionary mechanism, natural selection. Some of the main mechanisms of evolution are natural selection, mutation, and genetic drift. The idea that all life on Earth shares a common ancestor has been around for