Prutha Gajakas- Evolution

     I have learned that during breakout rooms or when just listening, I recognize an important aspect that I had left out of my understanding. I feel like I usually only get a part of a question but get the other part in class listening to the discussion. A general change in my understanding is the extent of how all the concepts are intertwined with each other.  For example, we know that natural selection is the basis of evolution. With that, we can identify how the environment impacts species and contributes to fitness, and how that can lead to mutations. That connects to how we briefly talked about adaptation in enzymes during Tuesday’s lecture. Whether a notion is macroscopic or microscopic, we can connect its core ideas with one another.      Going back to my first definition of evolution, I would say I understood the main basis of species changing in relation to adapting to their needs. The main part that I missed was the presence of heritabili...

       I think that mutation rates can evolve in the sense that different mutations contribute to changing the structure of DNA. The presence of either disease or resource availability can cause mutation rates to increase. If a species does not have the proper resources for their fitness, then they may experience higher mortality rates. This relates to Darwin’s second and third postulate. Depending on the specific alleles inherited by an organism, they may have a lower chance of survival; if that same gene is present amongst other members, then the mutation rate can evolve.      A species with a low mutation rate would be more stable because there are less chances of a change occurring that could impact the survival. I guess lower mutation rates can relate to less diversity, because there are less chances of “messing up” and less new risks introduced. High mutation rates would be present in an environment that is under lots of change. Whether it is i...

       One major component of evolution is heritability. It is the ratio of variation based on individual phenotypes which will later be passed on to the offspring. Natural selection is just the mechanism behind evolution that is impacted by differing factors such as resource availability, competition, and reproduction. In some changes, the product of natural selection can be evolution, but heritability must be present. The differences amongst the phenotypes must be observable. If there is a trait that gets favored based on the principles of natural selection and it does not become heritable, then it would not be considered evolution. It is possible that an organism has adapted to a factor for only a certain amount of time.      For example, let’s consider the activity of hibernation. During hibernation, animals decrease their heart rate and slow down metabolism to conserve energy for the cold winter. This is a temporary state based on a change in th...

       I would describe fitness as the capability for organisms to pass on particular genotypes to their offspring; it measures both survival and reproduction. Generally, as fitness increases so does the chance for the offspring to live longer. Fitness is relative and can be based on specific situations/circumstances. One item that plays a role in fitness in the environment of the organism. The environment can impact which alleles are best fit for survival. Natural selection also plays a role, as it results in varying reproductive and survival frequencies.      For my example, I will compare red foxes. I would take into consideration which foxes reproduce, and how many offspring each has. This would account for an aspect of fitness which has to do with mating and reproducing. The second main thing to consider would be their coat coloring. Even though red is the most common, they have some variation in their coats such as dark brown, black, or even li...

I chose to look further into common ancestry, because I feel that it is an important part of evolution that incorporates other aspects such as the fossil record and DNA.   A common misconception is that humans are direct descendants of monkeys. I learned in past classes that homologous structures are directly associated with common ancestors, because the structures were inherited from these ancestors. Homologous structures share anatomical structures between animals. After reading an article from Khan Academy in which he explains how the branching tree depicts how common ancestors can be traced, I learned that the order of the evolution of specific characteristics can be observed. Over the course of multiple generations, we can find one common ancestor. Homologous structures play a role in connecting species together. These structures share similar morphological features even if they are different in their function.   The article mentions how “it’s unlikely that such similar...