What is Free Evolution?

Free evolution is the notion that natural processes can cause organisms to develop over time. This includes the appearance and growth of new species.

This has been proven by numerous examples, including stickleback fish varieties that can thrive in fresh or saltwater and walking stick insect varieties that have a preference for specific host plants. These reversible traits cannot explain fundamental changes to basic body plans.

Evolution through Natural Selection

The evolution of the myriad living organisms on Earth is a mystery that has intrigued scientists for centuries. The most widely accepted explanation is Charles Darwin's natural selection process, a process that is triggered when more well-adapted individuals live longer and reproduce more effectively than those that are less well adapted. As time passes, a group of well-adapted individuals increases and eventually becomes a new species.

Natural selection is a process that is cyclical and involves the interaction of three factors including reproduction, variation and inheritance. Variation is caused by mutation and sexual reproduction both of which increase the genetic diversity of an animal species. Inheritance refers to the passing of a person's genetic characteristics to his or her offspring, which includes both recessive and dominant alleles. Reproduction is the process of producing fertile, viable offspring. This can be achieved via sexual or asexual methods.

Natural selection is only possible when all of these factors are in equilibrium. For example the case where the dominant allele of the gene causes an organism to survive and reproduce more often than the recessive one, the dominant allele will be more common within the population. However, if the gene confers an unfavorable survival advantage or decreases fertility, it will be eliminated from the population. The process is self reinforcing meaning that an organism that has an adaptive trait will live and reproduce far more effectively than those with a maladaptive feature. The more offspring that an organism has the more fit it is, which is measured by its ability to reproduce itself and live. People with desirable characteristics, like a longer neck in giraffes or bright white color patterns in male peacocks are more likely survive and have offspring, and thus will become the majority of the population over time.

Natural selection only affects populations, not individuals. This is a significant distinction from the Lamarckian theory of evolution which claims that animals acquire characteristics through use or disuse. If a giraffe expands its neck to reach prey, and the neck becomes larger, then its offspring will inherit this trait. The difference in neck size between generations will continue to increase until the giraffe is no longer able to breed with other giraffes.

Evolution through Genetic Drift

Genetic drift occurs when alleles of the same gene are randomly distributed in a population. At some point, one will attain fixation (become so common that it cannot be eliminated by natural selection), while the other alleles drop to lower frequency. In the extreme, this leads to a single allele dominance. The other alleles are virtually eliminated and heterozygosity decreased to zero. In a small population it could lead to the total elimination of recessive alleles. This is known as a bottleneck effect and it is typical of evolutionary process that occurs when a large amount of individuals move to form a new group.

A phenotypic bottleneck may occur when the survivors of a disaster like an epidemic or a massive hunting event, are condensed in a limited area. The survivors will carry an dominant allele, and will share the same phenotype. This could be caused by war, earthquakes, or even plagues. The genetically distinct population, if it remains susceptible to genetic drift.

Walsh Lewens, Walsh, and Ariew define drift as a deviation from the expected value due to differences in fitness. They provide a well-known instance of twins who are genetically identical, share identical phenotypes but one is struck by lightning and dies, whereas the other lives and reproduces.

This kind of drift could play a crucial part in the evolution of an organism. It is not the only method of evolution. Natural selection is the primary alternative, where mutations and migration keep the phenotypic diversity of the population.

Stephens claims that there is a vast difference between treating the phenomenon of drift as a force or cause, and treating other causes such as migration and selection mutation as causes and forces. He argues that a causal process explanation of drift permits us to differentiate it from the other forces, and that this distinction is vital. He also claims that drift has a direction: that is it tends to reduce heterozygosity. He also claims that it also has a magnitude, that is determined by the size of the population.

Evolution through Lamarckism

In high school, students study biology, they are often introduced to the work of Jean-Baptiste Lamarck (1744 - 1829). His theory of evolution, also referred to as "Lamarckism, states that simple organisms transform into more complex organisms by adopting traits that result from an organism's use and disuse. Lamarckism is typically illustrated with a picture of a giraffe that extends its neck longer to reach higher up in the trees. https://fernandez-george-2.hubstack.net/is-technology-making-evolution-baccarat-better-or-worse would result in giraffes passing on their longer necks to offspring, which then become taller.

Lamarck was a French Zoologist. In his opening lecture for his course on invertebrate zoology held at the Museum of Natural History in Paris on 17 May 1802, he introduced an original idea that fundamentally challenged previous thinking about organic transformation. In his opinion living things evolved from inanimate matter via a series of gradual steps. Lamarck wasn't the only one to suggest this but he was thought of as the first to offer the subject a thorough and general explanation.

The predominant story is that Charles Darwin's theory of natural selection and Lamarckism were rivals in the 19th century. Darwinism eventually prevailed and led to the creation of what biologists refer to as the Modern Synthesis. This theory denies acquired characteristics are passed down from generation to generation and instead argues organisms evolve by the selective action of environment factors, including Natural Selection.

Although Lamarck endorsed the idea of inheritance through acquired characters, and his contemporaries also spoke of this idea but it was not a central element in any of their theories about evolution. This is partly due to the fact that it was never validated scientifically.

It's been more than 200 years since Lamarck was born and, in the age of genomics there is a vast amount of evidence to support the heritability of acquired characteristics. This is sometimes called "neo-Lamarckism" or, more frequently epigenetic inheritance. This is a variant that is just as valid as the popular Neodarwinian model.

Evolution by adaptation



One of the most commonly-held misconceptions about evolution is being driven by a struggle for survival. This notion is not true and overlooks other forces that drive evolution. The fight for survival can be more accurately described as a struggle to survive within a specific environment, which may include not just other organisms, but as well the physical environment.

To understand how evolution operates it is beneficial to think about what adaptation is. The term "adaptation" refers to any characteristic that allows a living thing to live in its environment and reproduce. It could be a physical feature, like fur or feathers. It could also be a trait of behavior, like moving into the shade during hot weather, or escaping the cold at night.

https://www.openlearning.com/u/langhoffhanson-souwm5/blog/TenEvolutionBaccaratSiteMythsThatArenTAlwaysTrue of an organism is dependent on its ability to obtain energy from the environment and to interact with other organisms and their physical environments. The organism must have the right genes to produce offspring and to be able to access sufficient food and resources. Moreover, the organism must be capable of reproducing at a high rate within its niche.

These factors, together with gene flow and mutations, can lead to changes in the proportion of different alleles within the population's gene pool. Over time, this change in allele frequency can result in the development of new traits and ultimately new species.

A lot of the traits we appreciate in plants and animals are adaptations. For instance, lungs or gills that draw oxygen from air feathers and fur for insulation, long legs to run away from predators, and camouflage to hide. To comprehend adaptation it is crucial to distinguish between behavioral and physiological traits.

https://niebuhr-lam-2.technetbloggers.de/how-to-know-if-youre-prepared-for-evolution-free-baccarat like large gills and thick fur are physical characteristics. Behavior adaptations aren't, such as the tendency of animals to seek companionship or move into the shade during hot temperatures. Furthermore, it is important to note that lack of planning is not a reason to make something an adaptation. In fact, failing to think about the implications of a behavior can make it unadaptable despite the fact that it may appear to be sensible or even necessary.