Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Biological Themes and stuff
So I'm taking this a completely different direction. Coyne doesn't necessarily reflect this idea verbatim in his texts, but the eight biological themes are universal and he of course references them from time to time, whether intending to or not. My question is this. In your opinion, which of the eight biological themes can be best used to prove evolution is true? Use all of your knowledge of each theme as best you can (we've written enough JAEs haven't we?) and Mr. Coyne's whole book as a reference. (And good luck trying to prove evolution is true by using the evolution theme but if you can it will impress me.)
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Though I believe the strongest argument for evolution is created by unifying all themes into a organized manner, I believe that the theme Continuity and Change is the primary theme that can argue for evolution. Regardless of what organism, as long as it's living, all organisms contain DNA to code for protein and process many biological functions that organisms need to do to survive. The prerequisites for the evolutionary theory are covered by this theme such as the fact that for a species to survive, it must pass on its DNA through an offspring for the species to survive. Also, the idea of natural selection is explained through the "change" component in that only the organisms with the "fitter" genotypes will survive.
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ReplyDeleteI agree with Andrew and also believe that the theme that proves evolution is true the most would be ‘Continuity and Change.’ However, I, unlike Andrew, interpret Continuity and Change as what is happening with an organism’s environment. Different factors contributing to the environment were covered in the first unit we studied: ecology. According to the Campbell text, ecologists focus on abiotic and biotic factors when studying an environment. Biotic, or living factors are all of the organisms in an environment (1151). This includes populations of species cohabitating. In a given biosphere, all of the organisms must find a way to cohabitate, or else members of species will die. Predation is bound to occur in a given biosphere, and this is an example of how biotic factors affect species distribution. Abiotic, or nonliving factors include: temperature, water, salinity, sunlight, and rocks/soil (1154). Both abiotic and biotic factors “influence the distribution and abundance of organisms” (1151). What we learned in our first unit was the main factor effecting evolution. Environmental factors (abiotic + biotic factors) dictate where organisms live.
ReplyDeleteOrganisms will either, as Ms. I always says, “adapt, migrate, or die.” Those that can adapt will alter their ecological role in a particular niche. Those organisms that migrate will have to find a new niche in a new environment. The way the environment deals with Continuity and Change is that environments fluctuate, or change. Natural disasters could happen at any moment, altering the number of organisms in a given species. On the other hand, environments could also remain constant, or unchanging for any duration of time. Organisms depend on the Continuity and Change of their environments in order for survival. Continuity and Change dictates which organisms are able to survive and reproduce, or which organisms do not display selective fitness, and shouldn’t survive and reproduce.
Even Coyne discusses the importance of environment/location on evolution in Chapter 4: The Geography of Life. The entire chapter focuses on the role of location in species diversity and natural selection. Coyne mentions how “Darwin proposed his own theory. The distributions of species, he claimed, were explained not by creation, but by evolution. If plants and animals had ways of dispersing over large distances and could evolve into new species after they dispersed, then this—combined with some ancient shifts in the earth, like the periods of glacial expansion—could explain many peculiarities of biogeography that had puzzled his predecessors” (89). Coyne goes on and agrees with Darwin that location allows for dispersal, which allows for favorable environments. Favorable environments help organisms survive, and able to reproduce. Thus, location/environment, which is Continuity and Change, enables evolution.
I also agree with Andrew that the theme that can be best used to prove evolution is true is continuity and change. This is because continuity and change is the the genetic continuity of life. All species tend to maintain themselves from generation to generation using the same genetic code. However, there are genetic mechanisms that lead to change over time, or evolution. Priyanka says that she interprets continuity and change as what is happening with an organism’s environment. However, I believe that interpretation falls more under the category of Interdependence in Nature. Interdependence in nature is the complementarity of organism and environment. Evolution is all about the genetic makeup of organisms. Those who oppose evolution, probably have doubts about the scientific method as well, so Science as a Process isn't the best way to prove evolution. The theme Relationship between Structure and Function could also be hard to prove to skeptics, since they would just say that God designed animals and other organisms to have certain parts to perform specific functions. The same thing could be said about Regulation that God designed organisms to maintain homeostasis. Basically, because the theme continuity and change deals more with the genetic makeup of organisms and genes are something scientists manipulate on a daily basis, it would be much easier to provide evidence supporting the change in organisms over time. I was watching a show on the Discovery Channel a while back about how birds like the emu or chickens could have certain genes "turned on" that have been dormant for generations. Turning on specific genes caused the birds to develop teeth, longer tails, and other traits that provided evidence that birds are related to dinosaurs. Perhaps, scientists will be able to turn back the evolutionary clock far enough to create a dinosaur in modern times.
ReplyDeleteEric Hennings