What is an evolutionary pattern?
466354
It's a pattern that shows how something has evolved over many thousands of years, or even millions.
310797
Evolution is a theory developed by Charles Darwin to explain the creation of life. \n\nHe believed that man originated from a single-celled organism that combined with another single-celled organism to create the first dual-celled organism.
478754
You can say that but simply change in environment isn't responsible. Evolution is combined result of various processes such as struggle for existence, hereditary variations, and most importantly gene mutations which are sudden changes in Base sequence in DNA
234173
None is EVOLVED.  Evolving means adapting and changing.  Methane and Carbon Dioxide are EXPELLED when we fart.
642511
Evolution is a scientific theory that explains the origin of the diversity of species (note that it does not, and is not intended to explain the origin of life). The basic idea of evolution is that mutations result in genetic diversity in a population, and consequently different traits, and different selective pressures favor certain traits over others. In a diverse population, some individuals are better suited to the environment than others, and the individuals that are better suited are more likely to survive to reproduce and thus pass their genes on to the next generation. Consequently, the next generation will have more of the "good" genes and fewer of the "bad" genes than the generation before it. Because the environment is constantly changing, the definition of "good" and "bad" genes is also constantly changing. Something that used to be an advantage can become a disadvantage, and vice versa. More often, however, neutral traits will become either good or bad. Changes in environment can include not only changes in weather or resources, but also competition from other species.\n\nAs the environmental pressures change, the population of organisms changes with it. Over time, the little changes start to add up, and eventually the population will be so different from the ancestral state that it will be considered a different species. The diversity of species results from splitting of populations. If a population is separated by some geographical or reproductive barrier, the two subpopulations will likely evolve in different ways, to become two separate species. Eventually the two species may be reunited, but they will no longer be able to interbreed. Instead, they will compete with each other, and likely diverge even more.\n\nThe theory of evolution is supported by considerable scientific evidence, and is accepted by the vast majority of the scientific community. It is the ONLY scientific theory currently in existence that explains the diversity of species. Some people claim that "intelligent design" is an alternative theory for the origin of species. However, intelligent design is not a theory in the scientific sense. It is not supported by scientific evidence and can never be tested experimentally (not because we don't have the tools yet, but because it is theoretically impossible). Intelligent design provides an alternative to science, not an alternative scientific theory.\n\nScience is not about finding a single piece of evidence to conclusively prove a theory. It's about constructing theories to fit the existing evidence and gathering new evidence that supports or refutes existing theories. Evolution is supported by a preponderance of evidence. While no one point conclusively proves it, when all the evidence is considered in the context of existing scientific knowledge evolution is a well substantiated theory. Intelligent design is not.  What follows are brief explanations of some of the evidence that supports the theory of evolution.\n\n1. Vestigial structures\n\nOne example of a vestigial structure in humans is the appendix. It has no function. Removing it is harmful only in so far as any surgery is associated with certain risks (so I wouldn't have it removed just for fun, but it's because of the surgery not the absence of the appendix). An appendix is found in several mammals. In humans it is small and has no known function. In rabbits and many other herbivores it is large and is used in the digestion of cellulose.\n\nAnother example of a vestigial structure is the hipbones of snakes. Snakes evolved from quadrupeds, and some species still retain not on pelvises, but tiny protrusions of bone in a location that corresponds to the location of the legs in other quadrupeds.\n\n2. Microevolution can be observed in both a controlled laboratory setting and in nature.\n\nCreationists will tell you that microevolution does not prove macroevolution.  This is true.
876341
---EVOLUTION---\n\n中文（简体） (Chinese (Simplified))\n进化,  进展 , 发展\n\n中文（繁體） (Chinese (Traditional))\nn. - 進化, 進展, 發展
413080
Your understanding of the evolutionary process is flawed. Evolution means "change in hereditary features over time".  We do not develop structures in order to adapt to our environment.  Rather, through subtle or obvious genetic variation in offspring, those offspring who are most successful in the current environment will live to maturity to reproduce and pass on their genes.  For example, if the environment of polar bears becomes warmer, so that areas of the land have soil showing, a baby born with a slightly mottled coat might have better luck at camouflage -- better luck at hunting -- stronger chance of breeding and passing on the mottled coat genes.  Over many, many years, there would be a shift away from genes for all-white coats towards more genes for mottled coats.  So -- since watching TV does not affect survival and production of successful offspring, we would not expect one type of eyeball to be better suited than another.
1000473
Microevolution is a change in a population's alleles over a period of time.\n\nIt is very difficult to detect changes that occur on the microscopic level. These changes must manifest themselves in the organisms phenotype. Since individuals do not evolve, one must keep a close eye on the individuals population to detect any change in genotypic modification. Biologists have a way to help them detect such changes; it is called the Hardy -Weinberg theorem.   This idea was developed to determine if a population was evolving. The authors of the theorem set up a series of parameters, which do not exist in nature, to be followed when determining the allele frequencies of any population. These guide lines are as follows:\nThe population must be very large in size.\nIt must be isolated from other populations. ( no gene flow)\nNo mutations.\nRandom mating.\nNo natural selection.\nAs one can see, these characteristics cannot be eliminated from nature. \n\nThere are 5 basic causes of microevolution:\n1. Genetic Drift: This represents random changes in small gene pools due to sampling errors in propagation of alleles. The bottleneck effect and founder effect are prime examples of genetic drift. In either case the number of individuals in a population is drastically reduced distorting the original allelic frequencies.\n2. Gene Flow: The movement of alleles into and out of a gene pool. Migration of an organism into different areas can cause the allelic frequencies of that population to increase. Most populations are not isolated, which is contrary to the Hardy-Weinberg Theorem.\n3. Mutations: These changes in the genome of an organism are an important source of natural selection.\n4. Nonrandom mating: Inbreeding is a popular form of nonrandom mating. Individuals will mate more frequently with close individuals than more distant ones. Assortive mating, is another form of nonrandom mating. Here the individuals will mate with partners that closely resemble themselves in certain characteristics.\n5. Natural Selection: Populations vary in the types of individuals and their reproductive success. Those individuals who leave more offspring behind than others, pass on more of their alleles and have a better success rate in dominating the population.\n\nMacroevolution can be defined simply as evolution above the species level, and its subject matter includes the origins and fates of major novelties such as tetrapod limbs and insect wings, the waxing and waning of multi-species lineages over long time-scales, and the impact of continental drift and other physical processes on the evolutionary process. \nFossils: any preserved remnant or impression left by organisms that lived in the past.\nThese remnants of the past are only meaningful in the context of macroevolution only if their vintages relative to other fossils can be determined by methods we shall now discuss.\n \nGeological Time Scale:\n \nRelative dating: Superimposition of sedimentary rocks tells the relative age of fossils. The fossils in each layer are a local sampling of the organisms that existed when that sediment was deposited. Younger strata are superimposed on the top of older ones , and the succession of fossil species is a story of macroevolution that can be read by paleobiologists.\n \nAbsolute dating: This does not mean errorless dating. The age is given in years and not in relative terms such as early , before , and after. Radioactive dating is the method often used to determine the age of the fossils and rocks . Fossils contain isotopes of elements accumulated in the organism when they were alive. Because each radioactive isotope has a fixed rate of decay, half-life, it can be used to date the species. Half-life is unaffected by pressure, temperature, or other environmental variables.\n \nExamples of half-life:\n\nPotassium 40 -- 1.3 x 109\nRubidium 87 -- 4.9 x 1010\nUranium 238 -- 4.5 x 109\nCarbon 14 -- 5.7 x 103\n \nAnother form of dating is called the "clock". Am
246000
Because of evolution and adaptation.
683440
There isn't a purpose to evolution.  It's simply what happens when you get imperfect replicators competing for limited resources.  It's like asking to purpose of current traveling through the path of least resistance.  There's no purpose there, it's just what the laws of nature dictate must happen in that circumstance.
724158
Er... the theory of evoltion?  It's just a theory though.  Lots of loop holes.  :)
1047522
They are similar in that they both study interactions between organisms and their environment (which includes other organisms), and both are concerned with adaptation and change over time.\n\nThey are different in that ecology stresses more the interactions, while evolution stresses the changes over time.  Ecology is concerned with much shorter timespans (months, years, maybe centuries) and how organisms affect and are affected by each other and their environment.  Evolution is concerned with much longer timespans (tens of thousands to millions of years) and how permanent changes appear in organisms as they encounter new or changing environments.
355402
evolution is a slow moving process. too slow to observe within a lifespan or possibly even a few generations. it could take tens or hundreds of thousands of years for it to happen.
111422
Come on, you've got to do SOME leg work here.  Those are huge subject areas.  Where would we start?\n\nOK, Darwin: Natural selection acts on random variation.\n\nLamark: Acquired characteristics can be passed on to the next generation.
1131190
Adaptation is evolution.\n\nWe refer to the adjustments in the fit between organisms and the environment as evolutionary adaptation, or simply adaptation. Adaptation is the root concept that grew into Darwin’s theory of natural selection. Natural selection is the mechanism that explains how things change; adaptation explains why they do. \n\nAdaptation is based on the concept that populations of organisms change over time as a result of natural selection. Adaptive evolution is driven by increased survivorship and/or increased reproductive success. This happens when a collection of individuals in a population gain an advantage because of special traits that they share in common.
1169172
Babies are proof evolution is a fact.\n\nBabies evolve from minerals, liquids, vegetation and oxygen (gases) through natural processes.\n\nBabies are not created, they evolve.
204527
Evolution is a scientific theory that explains the origin of the diversity of species (note that it does not, and is not intended to explain the origin of life). The basic idea of evolution is that mutations result in genetic diversity in a population, and consequently different traits, and different selective pressures favor certain traits over others. In a diverse population, some individuals are better suited to the environment than others, and the individuals that are better suited are more likely to survive to reproduce and thus pass their genes on to the next generation. Consequently, the next generation will have more of the "good" genes and fewer of the "bad" genes than the generation before it. Because the environment is constantly changing, the definition of "good" and "bad" genes is also constantly changing. Something that used to be an advantage can become a disadvantage, and vice versa. More often, however, neutral traits will become either good or bad. Changes in environment can include not only changes in weather or resources, but also competition from other species.\n\nAs the environmental pressures change, the population of organisms changes with it. Over time, the little changes start to add up, and eventually the population will be so different from the ancestral state that it will be considered a different species. The diversity of species results from splitting of populations. If a population is separated by some geographical or reproductive barrier, the two subpopulations will likely evolve in different ways, to become two separate species. Eventually the two species may be reunited, but they will no longer be able to interbreed. Instead, they will compete with each other, and likely diverge even more.\n\nAnd, for those who say that evolution does not occur:\n\nScience is not about finding a single piece of evidence to conclusively prove a theory. It's about constructing theories to fit the existing evidence and gathering new evidence that supports or refutes existing theories. Evolution is supported by a preponderance of evidence. While no one point conclusively proves it, when all the evidence is considered in the context of existing scientific knowledge evolution is a well substantiated theory. Intelligent design is not.  What follows are brief explanations of some of the evidence that supports the theory of evolution.\n\n1. Vestigial structures\n\nOne example of a vestigial structure in humans is the appendix. It has no function. Removing it is harmful only in so far as any surgery is associated with certain risks (so I wouldn't have it removed just for fun, but it's because of the surgery not the absence of the appendix). An appendix is found in several mammals. In humans it is small and has no known function. In rabbits and many other herbivores it is large and is used in the digestion of cellulose.\n\nAnother example of a vestigial structure is the hipbones of snakes. Snakes evolved from quadrupeds, and some species still retain not on pelvises, but tiny protrusions of bone in a location that corresponds to the location of the legs in other quadrupeds.\n\n2. Microevolution can be observed in both a controlled laboratory setting and in nature.\n\nCreationists will tell you that microevolution does not prove macroevolution.  This is true.  However, it does provide evidence that macroevolution may be possible. Taken in the context of the other evidence for evolution, microevolution provides a mechanism by which macroevolution could occur. On its own, it doesn't prove that macroevolution occurs, but it does suggest that it is possible.\n\n3. The fossil record.\n\nAlthough the fossil record does not provide a “complete” record as fossils form only under certain conditions, it does show a gradual change in the morphology of species as well as numerous extinct species.  There are a number of methods used to date fossils, and the time period from