How To Create An Awesome Instagram Video About Evolution Site

The Academy's Evolution Site

Biology is one of the most fundamental concepts in biology. The Academies are committed to helping those interested in science to comprehend the evolution theory and how it is incorporated throughout all fields of scientific research.

This site provides a wide range of tools for students, teachers and general readers of evolution. It includes the most important video clips from NOVA and WGBH's science programs on DVD.

Tree of Life

The Tree of Life is an ancient symbol of the interconnectedness of all life. It is seen in a variety of cultures and spiritual beliefs as symbolizing unity and love. It has many practical applications as well, such as providing a framework to understand the history of species and how they respond to changes in environmental conditions.

Early attempts to represent the biological world were founded on categorizing organisms on their physical and metabolic characteristics. These methods, which rely on the sampling of different parts of living organisms, or sequences of short fragments of their DNA, significantly expanded the diversity that could be represented in a tree of life2. However the trees are mostly composed of eukaryotes; bacterial diversity is still largely unrepresented3,4.

Genetic techniques have greatly expanded our ability to depict the Tree of Life by circumventing the requirement for direct observation and experimentation. Particularly, molecular techniques allow us to construct trees by using sequenced markers, such as the small subunit of ribosomal RNA gene.

Despite the massive growth of the Tree of Life through genome sequencing, a lot of biodiversity awaits discovery. This is particularly the case for microorganisms which are difficult to cultivate, and are usually found in a single specimen5. A recent analysis of all genomes has produced an unfinished draft of the Tree of Life. This includes a large number of archaea, bacteria, and other organisms that haven't yet been isolated, or whose diversity has not been fully understood6.

This expanded Tree of Life can be used to assess the biodiversity of a specific region and determine if certain habitats need special protection. This information can be used in a range of ways, from identifying the most effective treatments to fight disease to improving crops. This information is also extremely useful to conservation efforts. It can aid biologists in identifying areas most likely to have cryptic species, which may have important metabolic functions, and could be susceptible to changes caused by humans. Although funds to safeguard biodiversity are vital, ultimately the best way to protect the world's biodiversity is for more people living in developing countries to be empowered with the knowledge to act locally in order to promote conservation from within.

homepage  (also known as an evolutionary tree) shows the relationships between different organisms. By using molecular information as well as morphological similarities and distinctions or ontogeny (the process of the development of an organism) scientists can create a phylogenetic tree that illustrates the evolution of taxonomic groups. The concept of phylogeny is fundamental to understanding biodiversity, evolution and genetics.

A basic phylogenetic tree (see Figure PageIndex 10 Identifies the relationships between organisms that have similar traits and have evolved from an ancestor with common traits. These shared traits could be homologous, or analogous. Homologous traits share their underlying evolutionary path, while analogous traits look like they do, but don't have the same origins. Scientists combine similar traits into a grouping referred to as a Clade. All members of a clade share a characteristic, like amniotic egg production. They all came from an ancestor that had these eggs. A phylogenetic tree is then built by connecting the clades to determine the organisms who are the closest to each other.

For a more detailed and precise phylogenetic tree scientists make use of molecular data from DNA or RNA to establish the relationships between organisms. This information is more precise than the morphological data and gives evidence of the evolutionary background of an organism or group. The use of molecular data lets researchers determine the number of species who share an ancestor common to them and estimate their evolutionary age.

Phylogenetic relationships can be affected by a number of factors that include the phenotypic plasticity. This is a type behavior that alters due to particular environmental conditions. This can cause a particular trait to appear more similar in one species than another, clouding the phylogenetic signal. This issue can be cured by using cladistics. This is a method that incorporates a combination of homologous and analogous traits in the tree.

Additionally, phylogenetics can help determine the duration and rate at which speciation takes place. This information can aid conservation biologists in making choices about which species to protect from extinction. In the end, it is the conservation of phylogenetic variety that will result in an ecosystem that is balanced and complete.

Evolutionary Theory

The main idea behind evolution is that organisms develop distinct characteristics over time as a result of their interactions with their surroundings. Many scientists have developed theories of evolution, such as the Islamic naturalist Nasir al-Din al-Tusi (1201-274), who believed that a living thing would evolve according to its own requirements and needs, the Swedish taxonomist Carolus Linnaeus (1707-1778) who developed the modern hierarchical taxonomy as well as Jean-Baptiste Lamarck (1844-1829), who believed that the usage or non-use of traits can cause changes that can be passed on to future generations.

In the 1930s & 1940s, ideas from different areas, including natural selection, genetics & particulate inheritance, came together to create a modern theorizing of evolution. This describes how evolution is triggered by the variation of genes in the population, and how these variants change over time as a result of natural selection. This model, which includes mutations, genetic drift in gene flow, and sexual selection can be mathematically described mathematically.

Recent developments in evolutionary developmental biology have revealed how variation can be introduced to a species by mutations, genetic drift and reshuffling of genes during sexual reproduction, and even migration between populations. These processes, as well as other ones like directional selection and gene erosion (changes to the frequency of genotypes over time) can result in evolution. Evolution is defined as changes in the genome over time as well as changes in phenotype (the expression of genotypes in an individual).

Incorporating evolutionary thinking into all areas of biology education can improve students' understanding of phylogeny and evolutionary. A recent study conducted by Grunspan and colleagues, for example revealed that teaching students about the evidence that supports evolution helped students accept the concept of evolution in a college-level biology course. To learn more about how to teach about evolution, please look up The Evolutionary Potential in all Areas of Biology and Thinking Evolutionarily: A Framework for Infusing the Concept of Evolution into Life Sciences Education.

Evolution in Action

Scientists have studied evolution through looking back in the past, analyzing fossils and comparing species. They also study living organisms. Evolution is not a distant event, but an ongoing process. Bacteria transform and resist antibiotics, viruses evolve and elude new medications, and animals adapt their behavior in response to the changing environment. The results are often evident.

It wasn't until late 1980s that biologists began to realize that natural selection was also in action. The key to this is that different traits can confer a different rate of survival as well as reproduction, and may be passed down from generation to generation.

In the past when one particular allele - the genetic sequence that controls coloration - was present in a group of interbreeding organisms, it could rapidly become more common than the other alleles. Over time, that would mean the number of black moths within the population could increase. The same is true for many other characteristics--including morphology and behavior--that vary among populations of organisms.

It is easier to track evolution when the species, like bacteria, has a high generation turnover. Since 1988 the biologist Richard Lenski has been tracking twelve populations of E. coli that descended from a single strain; samples of each population are taken regularly, and over fifty thousand generations have passed.

Lenski's work has demonstrated that mutations can drastically alter the rate at which a population reproduces--and so the rate at which it changes. It also shows evolution takes time, which is difficult for some to accept.

Microevolution can also be seen in the fact that mosquito genes that confer resistance to pesticides are more common in populations where insecticides are used. This is because the use of pesticides creates a pressure that favors those with resistant genotypes.

The rapidity of evolution has led to a greater recognition of its importance, especially in a world that is largely shaped by human activity. This includes climate change, pollution, and habitat loss that prevents many species from adapting. Understanding evolution will help us make better decisions regarding the future of our planet, and the life of its inhabitants.