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The Berkeley Evolution Site

The Berkeley site has resources that can help students and teachers to understand and teach about evolution. The resources are organized into optional learning paths, such as "What did T. rex taste like?"

Charles Darwin's theory on natural selection describes how species who are better able to adapt biologically to changing environment survive over time and those that don't disappear. This process of biological evolution is the basis of science.

What is Evolution?

The word evolution has many nonscientific meanings, including "progress" or "descent with modification." Scientifically it is a term used to describe a changes in the traits of living organisms (or species) over time. In biological terms this change is based on natural selection and genetic drift.

Evolution is a key tenet in modern biology. It is a concept that has been verified through thousands of scientific tests. Evolution does not deal with God's presence or spiritual beliefs, unlike many other scientific theories such as the Copernican or germ theory of diseases.

Early evolutionists, like Jean-Baptiste Lamarck and Erasmus Darwin (Charles's grandfather) believed that certain physical characteristics were predetermined to change in a step-wise way, over time. This was called the "Ladder of Nature", or scala Naturae. Charles Lyell used the term to describe this idea in his Principles of Geology, first published in 1833.

In the early 1800s, Darwin formulated his theory of evolution and published it in his book On the Origin of Species. It states that all species of organisms have the same ancestry, which can be traced through fossils and other evidence. This is the current perspective on evolution, which is supported in many scientific fields, including molecular biology.

While scientists do not know the exact mechanism by which organisms evolved, they are confident that the evolution of life on earth is the result of natural selection and genetic drift. Individuals with advantageous characteristics are more likely than others to survive and reproduce. They pass on their genes to the next generation. As time passes the gene pool gradually changes and develops into new species.

Some scientists also use the term"evolution" to refer to large-scale evolutionary changes like the creation of an entirely new species from an ancestral species. Other scientists, such as population geneticists, define it more broadly by referring to an overall change in the frequency of alleles across generations. Both definitions are valid and reliable however some scientists believe that the definition of allele frequency is lacking essential aspects of the evolution process.

Origins of Life

The emergence of life is a key step in the process of evolution. This happens when living systems begin to evolve at the micro level, within individual cells, for instance.

The origin of life is an important subject in many areas such as biology and chemistry. The question of how living organisms began is of particular importance in science since it poses an enormous challenge to the theory of evolution. It is often referred to as "the mystery of life," or "abiogenesis."

The idea that life could be born from non-living objects was referred to as "spontaneous generation" or "spontaneous evolutionary". This was a popular belief before Louis Pasteur's experiments proved that the development of living organisms was not possible through an organic process.

Many scientists still believe that it is possible to go from nonliving substances to life. The conditions required to create life are difficult to replicate in a laboratory. Researchers who are interested in the evolution and origins of life are also eager to understand the physical properties of the early Earth as well as other planets.

Additionally, the evolution of life is an intricate sequence of chemical reactions that can't be predicted from basic physical laws on their own. These include the reading of long information-rich molecules (DNA or RNA) into proteins that carry out some function, and the replication of these complex molecules to create new DNA or RNA sequences. These chemical reactions are often compared with the chicken-and-egg dilemma of how life first appeared in the first place. The emergence of DNA/RNA and protein-based cell machinery is crucial for the beginning of life, however, without the development of life, the chemical reaction that is the basis for it does not appear to work.

Abiogenesis research requires collaboration among researchers from different disciplines. This includes prebiotic chemists astrobiologists, planetary scientists geophysicists, geologists, and geophysicists.

Evolutionary Changes

The word evolution is usually used to describe the accumulated changes in the genetic characteristics of a population over time. These changes may be the result of the adaptation to environmental pressures as described in Darwinism.

This process increases the frequency of genes that provide the advantage of survival for a species, resulting in an overall change in the appearance of a group. Related Homepag are triggered by mutations, reshuffling of genes in the process of sexual reproduction, and also by the flow of genes.

Natural selection is the process that makes beneficial mutations more common. All organisms undergo changes and reshuffles in their genes. This occurs because, as we've mentioned earlier those who have the advantageous trait are likely to have a higher reproductive rate than those with it. Over the course of many generations, this difference in the number of offspring produced can result in a gradual shift in the amount of desirable traits in a population.

A good example of this is the growth of the size of the beaks on different species of finches found on the Galapagos Islands, which have developed beaks with different shapes that allow them to easily access food in their new home. These changes in the shape and form of organisms could also aid in the creation of new species.

The majority of the changes that take place are caused by one mutation, but sometimes, several changes occur simultaneously. The majority of these changes are neither harmful nor even harmful to the organism, however, a small proportion of them can be beneficial to survival and reproduction, thus increasing the frequency of these changes in the population over time. Natural selection is a process that could result in the accumulation of changes over time that lead to a new species.

Some people think that evolution is a form of soft inheritance, which is the idea that traits inherited from parents can be changed by conscious choice or abuse. This is a misunderstanding of the biological processes that lead to evolution. It is more accurate to say that the process of evolution is a two-step independent process, which involves the forces of natural selection as well as mutation.

Origins of Humans

Humans of today (Homo sapiens) evolved from primates, a group of mammals that also includes chimpanzees, gorillas, and bonobos. The earliest human fossils show that our ancestors were bipeds, walkers with two legs. Genetic and biological similarities suggest that we have a close relationship with Chimpanzees. In reality we are the closest connected to chimpanzees belonging to the Pan genus, which includes pygmy chimpanzees and bonobos. The last common human ancestor and chimpanzees was born between 8 and 6 million years ago.

In the course of time humans have developed a variety of traits, including bipedalism and the use of fire. They also developed advanced tools. However, it is only in the past 100,000 years or so that the majority of the characteristics that differentiate us from other species have emerged. They include language, a large brain, the capacity to build and use sophisticated tools, and a the diversity of our culture.

Evolution occurs when genetic changes allow members of the group to better adapt to their environment. This adaptation is triggered by natural selection, a process whereby certain traits are more desirable than other traits. The better adapted are more likely to pass on their genes to the next generation. This is the process that evolves all species and is the foundation of the theory of evolution.

Scientists refer to this as the "law of natural selection." The law states species that have an ancestor in common will tend to acquire similar traits in the course of time. It is because these traits allow them to live and reproduce in their environment.

Every living thing has a DNA molecule, which is the source of information that helps control their growth and development. The DNA structure is made of base pairs which are arranged in a spiral, around sugar and phosphate molecules. The sequence of bases within each strand determines the phenotype, or the individual's characteristic appearance and behavior. Variations in changes and reshuffling of genetic material (known as alleles) during reproduction causes variation in a population.


Fossils from the earliest human species, Homo erectus and Homo neanderthalensis were discovered in Africa, Asia, and Europe. These fossils, despite some differences in their appearance, all support the idea of the origins of modern humans in Africa. The fossil evidence and genetic evidence suggest that early humans came from Africa into Asia and then Europe.

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