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Jess Kovacs

Sarah Hughes

ENG 111

20 April 2017

Is Darwins Theory of Natural Selection and Evolution Reliable?

Charles Darwin is best known as a naturalist in his efforts in biology

(Biography.com). Making discoveries in his time back in the nineteenth century was

extraordinary and would only become more sought-after as time went on. Natural

Selection and Evolution are important theories to not only the science community, but our

world. People often question them for their contrast from the belief that God is the creator

of life. Science and religion have always had their own separate views. But are Darwins

theories reliable? Evidence of Natural Selection and Evolution surround us every day.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Furthermore, born in England in the year 1809, Charles Darwin would go down as

one of the fathers of science. In 1831, Darwin set a sail on his 5-year voyage around the

world on the HMS Beagle. According to Biology.com, His studies of specimens around

the globe led him to formulate his theory of evolution and his views on the process of

natural selection. He would later publish, The Origins of Species, which explained his

findings and his theories. Darwin passed too soon in 1882 leaving us with valuable
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information and sprouting many questions. Natural selection and Evolution are valuable

to us and the science community.

NATURAL SELECTION

According to the University of California Berkeley, Natural selection is one of

the basic mechanisms of evolution, along with mutation, migration, and genetic drift. To

better understand Natural Selection, we need to consider a few other things. Descent

with Modification is the proven fact that when two parents have children, they will look

and behave slightly different than their parents, and slightly different from each other

(YouTube: What is Natural Selection). Common Descent is the idea that everything

descends from a common ancestor. Now for natural selection. I think it is better to think

of it as survival of the fittest. Only the strongest and species most adapted to their

environment will survive and reproduce. Im going to use the example from the video,

Charles Darwin - The Theory of Natural Selection.

For example, think of white and black mice in a dessert with dark sand

surrounding. The mice that have black fur will blend in more than the white mice giving

them more of an advantage in surviving with camouflage. The white mice stand out more

to prey and will have a hard time surviving. Given time, eventually all the white mice that

stand out will be eliminated and only the dark mice will be left. It is possible for the

white mice to adapt to this dark sand environment. This can be explained through

evolution.

EVOLUTION
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As stated in the video, What is Evolution, Evolution is defined in science today as

any change in the heritable traits within a population across generations. DNA mutation

has a big impact on evolution. It can best be described as when DNA copies in

reproduction, but the new DNA strand has one or two accidental differences. Take

giraffes for example. Many people believe they have long necks from trying to stretch to

reach tall leaves in trees over thousands of years. Darwin and his theory of evolution look

at it in a different way.

Furthermore, Darwin suggests that giraffes obtained their long neck through DNA

mutation and natural selection. Giraffe's may have started off looking like horses, but

possibly one obtained a DNA mutation giving it a longer neck. With its longer neck, it

gave it an advantage of getting leaves from higher up (tall trees) giving it an advantage

over the others. Additionally, this neck wasnt like the necks we see on giraffes today that

are 6-8 feet long right away; this took thousands of years. The giraffe used in the example

that had a DNA mutation may have been born with a neck that was only about six inches

or so longer. But over thousands of years of reproduction, the giraffes that obtained the

longer neck were at more of an advantage of surviving than the ones with short necks.

Those short-necked giraffes may have adapted to, lets just say, having fur that

camouflages them (zebras). Examples of evolution like this surround us still today.

POSSIBLE FUTURE

Considering the future of evolution, nature may have some major changes ahead

of us. With the world possibly warming and climates possibly changing, animals will

have to find new ways to adapt to their surroundings for survival. In the future, thousands
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of years, it might be possible to see polar bears with fins and gills as they have adapted to

the aquatic life. The video, Did Humans Evolve from Aquatic Animals suggests

humans may even evolve in the future as well. It could be possible with all the

technology that is involved in our lives that we develop fingers that make it more

accessible to type faster. It could be possible that our eyes even adapt to bright screens by

making our pupils dilate even smaller. Who knows, we may see pigs that fly given time.

If it makes sense for the pigs to adapt to that feature, evolution will allow it. Many people

often disapprove of the idea of evolution.

RELIGION

Religion and science have always had their different view on life. We can all agree

that god was the creator of all life. While natural selection has been proven as factual,

evolution has not been because of the argument of religion. The topic that always gets

people in disagreement is where humans came from. Science suggests we evolved from

apes over thousands of years. Religion suggests God created humans and apes as

different creatures. After watching the video Evolution vs. God I could see both sides.

The argument religion had against evolution was that of god created everyone and

everything. Science suggest that everything started somewhere but can't exactly put a

finger on the starting point. And after millions of years, we have the species we do today.

Personally, I believe that yes god created life, but I also believe he created evolution so

that we can all evolve in our own ways to maintain life and happiness. One day, MAYBE

science and religion could meet in the middle to clean up this argument.
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CONCLUSION

In all, Darwin made discoveries in his time that changed the world of biology and

natural science for the better. His arguments and theories can be viewed in the everyday

world and some can even be proven factual. I believe without natural selection and

evolution, life on earth would not be as enjoyable and livable as we are accustomed to it

being. Looking at history, evolution and natural selection are reliable and factual. Darwin,

I believe should be considered the father of natural science. His findings have even

allowed us to develop animals into what we have today. Religion versus Natural selection

and evolution have their differences. But as I stated, I believe there truly is a middle

point. I am a believer that God created life with the ability to develop and evolve to meet

the needs of survival. Evolution and natural selection are in nature all around us today.

Works Cited
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Biography.com Editors. "Charles Darwin Biography." bio.com A&E Networks

Television, n.d. Web. 06 Mar. 2016.

"Charles Darwin - The Theory Of Natural Selection." YouTube. YouTube, n.d. Web. 06

Mar. 2016.

"Natural Selection." Natural Selection. University of California Berkeley, n.d. Web. 06

Mar. 2016.

"What Is Evolution?" YouTube. Stated Clearly, n.d. Web. 06 Mar. 2016.

"Did Humans Evolve From Aquatic Mammals? | Mermaids." YouTube. YouTube, n.d.

Web. 06 Mar. 2016.

"Evolution Vs. God - Review." YouTube. YouTube, n.d. Web. 06 Mar. 2016