can evolution be observed directly?
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Ernst Mayr observed, "The basic theory of evolution has been confirmed so completely that most modern biologists consider evolution simply a fact.
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Microevolution happens on a small scale (within a single population), while macroevolution happens on a scale that transcends the boundaries of a single species. Despite their differences, evolution at both of these levels relies on the same, established mechanisms of evolutionary change: mutation.
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Embryology and Theory of Evolution Embryology supports the theory that organisms have a common ancestor (in accordance to theory of evolution). The theory of evolution explains that not every feature of an ancestor's embryo is shown in its descendants. That explains why embryos develop into different species over time.
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Time is only a reflection of change. From change, our brains construct a sense of time as if it were flowing. As he puts it, all the "evidence we have for time is encoded in static configurations, which we see or experience subjectively, all of them fitting together to make time seem linear."
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Convergent evolution shows how species have evolved separately but have similar (analogous) structures. Divergent evolution demonstrates how species can have common (homologous) anatomical structures which have evolved for different purposes.
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Evolution is the process by which populations of organisms change over generations. Genetic variations underlie these changes. Genetic variations can arise from gene mutations or from genetic recombination (a normal process in which genetic material is rearranged as a cell is getting ready to divide).
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All genomic changes in such a model are the result of mutation and genetic drift; natural selection does not determine which position changes are accepted and which changes are rejected. Natural selection is only present via secondary relationships such as the use of a model phylogeny that corresponds to real data.
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In an early theory of evolution, Jean Baptiste Larmarck (1744-1829) proposed that species evolve when individuals adapt to their environment and transmit those acquired traits to their offspring. ... However, some evidence suggests that acquired traits can be inherited.
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Teaching about evolution has another important function. Because some people see evolution as conflicting with widely held beliefs, the teaching of evolution offers educators a superb opportunity to illuminate the nature of science and to differentiate science from other forms of human endeavor and understanding.
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The theory of evolution by natural selection, first formulated in Darwin's book "On the Origin of Species" in 1859, is the process by which organisms change over time as a result of changes in heritable physical or behavioral traits.
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Microevolution, as the name suggests, is evolutionary change on a small scale, such as evolution or selection occurring on a single gene or a few genes in a single population over a short period of time. ... Macroevolution, in contrast, is evolutionary change on a large scale that happens over a longer period of time.
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Embryology, the study of the development of the anatomy of an organism to its adult form, provides evidence for evolution as embryo formation in widely-divergent groups of organisms tends to be conserved. ... Another form of evidence of evolution is the convergence of form in organisms that share similar environments.
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New York, NY (December 2, 2011) — Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) researchers have found the first direct evidence that an acquired trait can be inherited without any DNA involvement. The findings suggest that Lamarck, whose theory of evolution was eclipsed by Darwin's, may not have been entirely wrong.
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TL;DR: The drawback of natural selection is that it is blind, and cannot see into the future. Therefore, it will never be perfect.
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Evolution is a gradual change in the inherited traits of a population over many generations. Natural selection is a mechanism where the members of a population best suited to their environment have the best chance of surviving to pass on their genes.
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Evolution is a combination of descent with modification and natural selection. Descent with modification is the evolutionary mechanism that produces change in the genetic code of living organisms.
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Isn't evolution just a theory that remains unproven? ... A scientific theory stands until proven wrong -- it is never proven correct. The Darwinian theory of evolution has withstood the test of time and thousands of scientific experiments; nothing has disproved it since Darwin first proposed it more than 150 years ago.