Nyse Knows Hominids!

That's right I do...


Her name is Lucy!

Photosynthetic Organisms

Photosynthetic organisms affected evolution...

1. Photosynthesis evolved and increased oxygen in the atmosphere
2. Aerobic organisms evolved; developed an aerobic form of metabolism
3. Cell nucleus formed and multicellular organisms arose

The Chicken or the Egg?

So which came first? Oh what a silly question...

Of course the first "life-form" on Earth was a single cell creature!

Natural Selection & its Mutants!

Ok, Ok... not mutants but mutations!

What is natural selection and how does the process work?

Natural selection is the process by which according to Darwin, individuals with traits that make them more fit for their local environments tend to survive and reproduce. The process works in the following way:

1. Variation. Organisms (within populations) exhibit individual variation in appearance and behavior. These variations may involve body size, hair color, facial markings, voice properties, or number of offspring. On the other hand, some traits show little to no variation among individuals—for example, number of eyes in vertebrates.
2. Inheritance. Some traits are consistently passed on from parent to offspring. Such traits are heritable, whereas other traits are strongly influenced by environmental conditions and show weak heritability.
3. High rate of population growth. Most populations have more offspring each year than local resources can support leading to a struggle for resources. Each generation experiences substantial mortality.
4. Differential survival and reproduction. Individuals possessing traits well suited for the struggle for local resources will contribute more offspring to the next generation.

How does Natural selection contribute to evolution?

• Mutations coupled with natural selection are the cause of most micro evolution
  
• The pool of alleles in a population is affected by chance events such as genetic drift and gene flow
• At least five mass extinctions have altered the course of macro evolution
  
• An evolutionary tree visually depicts relationships between species
  

To Support or Not to Support...

Evolution? That is the question...

Evidence for evolution comes from many sources. These sources include:

• Fossil record
• Patterns of embryonic development & structures
• Structural similarities proteins and DNA
• Natural selection

So with all of this supportive evidence, the question becomes, "Is there any scientific evidence against evolution?"

• Living things never arise from non-living things
• Missing links in the fossil record
• Complex systems do not evolve "bit by bit"
• The 2nd law of Thermodynamics says no!
• Mutations and probability facts are contrary to evolution