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What are the six main pieces of evidence supporting evolution give a short description of each.?
Wiki User
∙ 13y ago
Well we have genetic, anatomical, geological, anthropological, paleontological and common sense.
We can look at our DNA and see old useless genes that one served a function but have mutated beyond use by now. We can look at our bodies and see how they are constructed with specialized features and redundant or missing parts. We can look at our history and see how different we are from the people that inhabited ancient Rome. (Slightly but not very, our pinkies are shorter.) We can look at fossils and see a long chain extending into the past. Not just for humans but for all animals and plants too. We can also look at where different types of animals have been found and see their gradual spread or shrink of territories and match them to geological evidence for climate. And, we can just look around and see the basic logic for ourselves in our every day lives. This is by far the easiest but least scientific way.
Wiki User
∙ 6y ago
Wiki User
∙ 8y agoThere are much more than four types of evidence for evolution, but there are four major fields it can be derived from, followed by a brief explanation.
Paleontology - the study of fossils and prehistoric life
Evolutionary change is clearly documented in the fossil record. Fossils are well ordered within rock layers, the oldest ones being at the bottom and youngest being at the top. Paleontologists have found transitional forms for many lineages, including humans, showing progression as we move up through the rock layers. A transitional fossil is one that contains anatomical similarities with two groups of organisms. It is possible to see how organisms evolved by arranging their fossils in a chronological sequence.
Biogeography - the study of the geographic distribution of organisms
Data about how species are distributed throughout the world and why they are present or absent in certain areas can provide evidence of common descent and shed light on patterns of speciation. Questions such as: Why are most marsupials concentrated in Australia? Why are organisms that live on islands so different from organisms that live on mainland continents? Why are some organisms endemic to certain regions? Why do animals that live in similar habitats still have fundamental differences? and so on can only be reasonably answered in light of evolution.
Comparative anatomy - the study of how anatomical structures between organisms are similar and different
Comparative anatomy involves things like homologous and analogous structures and also reveals a nested hierarchy among all life on Earth. Taxonomy is based on relationships between organisms and starts with broad groups having fundamental similarities and separates them into smaller groups based on specific differences. The nested hierarchy of organisms shows strong evidence of common descent. Embryology is also part of comparative anatomy. Comparing embryos of different animals shows similarities and relationships.
Genetics - the study of DNA and genetic traits
The study of genetics is only a relatively recent development, yet it has provided some of the most powerful pieces of evidence for evolution. One of the strongest confirmations of common descent comes from the study of gene sequences. Comparative sequence analysis examines the relationship between the DNA sequences of different species. If the hypothesis of common descent is true, then species that share a common ancestor will have inherited that ancestor's DNA sequence and mutations unique to that ancestor. More closely related species will have a greater fraction of identical sequence and more shared substitutions when compared to more distantly-related species. The sequencing of the human genome only happened around 10 years ago, yet it has provided much insight into human evolution and our relatedness with other species. Much more evidence of evolution can be found in genetics that is too much to fit here.
Wiki User
∙ 13y agoEvidence for Evolution - The Icons of Evolution
The following "evidence for evolution" can be found in any Biology textbook in any public school in the United States of America. Accompanying each supposed evidence for evolution is a brief explanation (ex) and the standard criticism (crit).
Evidence for Evolution - Homology:
(ex) Many animals have similar bone structures, giving the superficial appearance of relationship. (crit) Thought to have been evidence for common ancestry until significant advancements were made in biochemistry. Simply put, "Similarity does not imply a genetic relationship." (Dr. Walt Brown, "In the Beginning," 2001, p. 290.)
Evidence for Evolution - Embryology:
(ex) Embryos of different vertebrates look alike in their early stages, giving the superficial appearance of relationship. (crit) Embryos of different vertebrates DO NOT look alike in their early stages. "This idea was fathered by Ernest Haeckel, a German biologist who was so convinced that he had solved the riddle of life's unfolding that he doctored and faked his drawings of embryonic stages to prove his point." (William R. Fix, "The Bone Peddlers: Selling Evolution," 1984, p. 285.) Haeckel was exposed as a fraud in 1874 by Professor Wilhelm His. Nevertheless, Haeckel's fraudulent drawings (or similar representations) remain in high school and college biology textbooks to this day as evidence for evolution.
Evidence for Evolution - Observed Natural Selection
(Survival of the fittest): (ex) Darwin's proposed mechanism for evolutionary change is observed in nature. (crit) Natural selection serves as a means of conservation, not one of creation. It explains survival of a species, not arrival of a species. Here's an illustration: You work in a car factory. Your job is quality control - make sure the cars work like they are supposed to. You kick the tires and slam the doors, drive the cars around, etc. You identify and remove defects (an arbitrary selection with the same final result as natural selection). How long would it take for this selection process to turn one of those cars into an airplane naturally over time? It won't happen. "Natural selection may have a stabilizing effect, but it does not promote speciation [the arrival of a new species]. It is not a creative force as many people have suggested." (Daniel Brooks "A downward Slope to Greater Diversity," Science, Vol. 217, 24 September 1982, p. 1240.)
Besides, while survival of the fittest is observed in nature, it is not absolute. We also observe survival of the weakest and survival of the luckiest. Every infant is the weakest of a species, and yet obviously, some of them survive or there would be no species at all. Similarly, when a whale swims through a school of fish swallowing 80%, the 20% that survived were not the fittest - they were the luckiest. Somehow "survival of the fittest" has become tautology. Only the fittest survive. How do we determine they were the fittest? Because they survived!
Evidence for Evolution - The Fossil Record:
(ex) Supposed "missing links" between distinct kinds of animals which can be extrapolated as transitions between kinds. For example, Archaeopteryx is thought to be a transition between reptiles and birds. (crit) There are no unambiguous transitional fossils. Archaeopteryx was thought to be a transition between reptile and bird because of its teeth and the claws on its wings. The fact is some fossil birds had teeth, and some didn't. Some reptiles have teeth, and some don't. Some mammals have teeth, and some don't. As far as claws on its wings, there are birds living today that have claws on their wings. Nevertheless, they are obviously birds, and no one disputes this. Besides, superficial similarities do not imply genetic relationship. "There is not one such fossil for which one could make a watertight argument. The reason is that statements about ancestry and descent are not applicable in the fossil record." - Colin Patterson, Senior Paleontologist at the British Museum of Natural History and editor of a prestigious scientific journal. Patterson is a well-known expert having an intimate knowledge of the fossil record. (Reference: Colin Patterson, personal communication. Luther Sunderland, "Darwin's Enigma," 1988, p. 89.)
Wiki User
∙ 14y ago- Fossil records document a chronology of successive changes over long periods of time observed within a species, thereby demonstrating that the species evolved over time.
- The anatomy of different species share strikingly common features, and these similar anatomies demonstrate these different species shared a common ancestor.
- Comparative genetic sequencing among different species reveals identical sections of the genetic sequence, demonstrating these different species shared a common ancestor.
- Geographical specialization reveals that some animals (the kangaroo, for example) live only in specialized regions, even though they are well adapted to survive in a much larger proportion of the planet. This specialization of regions indicates an evolutionary development unique to that region.
Wiki User
∙ 6y agoAnswer:
Six pieces of evidence for evolution are:
- present observation of evolving animals
- DNA
- fossils
- similar morphology in related species
- milk intolerance in humans
- mathematical modeling
Wiki User
∙ 11y ago1. Genetics
2.Comparative Anatomy
4. Geographical Distribution
5. Observed Natural Selection
6. Speciation
Wiki User
∙ 14y agoSimilar body structures, patterns of early developments, molecular structure, and fossils
Wiki User
∙ 10y agono one knows. it has been said that British scientists had discovered three of the five major pieces but the other ones were said a myth.
Wiki User
∙ 11y agothe peppermint moth example
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How does Darwin's theory of evolution explain microevolution but not macroevolution?
Those terms need to be done away with. There is no such division in the theory of evolution by natural selection, even in Darwin's time. There is evolution and speciation. One flows seamlessly into the other over time and we have myriad pieces of evidence supporting this.
What makes evolution a therory?
Evolution, the change in allele frequency over time in a population of organisms, is fact. The theory of evolution by natural selection explains much about the fact of evolution. That is what make a theory, explanation. Facts are useful, but uninteresting. Theories explain facts by gathering many convergent pieces of evidence and putting it into a logical and consistent whole.
What are the four pieces of evidence that scientists point to as proof of natural selection?
Among myriad others; fossil evidence, artificial selection, biogeographic distribution of organisms and molecular genetics.
Why do scientists believe evolution occurred?
Charles Darwin developed the Theory of Evolution by Natural Selection before most of the fossil evidence for the theory existed. He looked at the micro-evolution practised by pigeon breeders, the evidence on the Galapagos Islands and elsewhere, and realised that evolution was the only explanation that made sense. He saw that related species were to be found in close proximity, evidence of evolution from a single parent species, whereas a single act of Special Creation ought to have placed the species anywhere on the globe where the environment was suitable.The fossil record shows clear evidence of evolution over a period of more than a billion years. Certainly, at first, there were no transitional species among the many species that had been found, although scientists saw much that did confirm the Theory of Evolution. That has changed, because many transitional species have been found. A recently discovered 220-million year old fossil, Odontochelys semitestacea, is a new species of turtle that had a fully formed shell on its underside, but only a small partial shell on its back, extending from its backbone. As well as a partial shell, Odontochelys semitestaceaalso had ribs that had begun to widen, thus demonstrating that the fully developed shell of later turtles evolved from the ribs of earlier species. Tiktaalik roseae is the name of a newly discovered lobe-finned fossil fish from the late Devonian period, that is a transitional form to amphibians, with basic wrist bones and simple fingers, as well as the robust ribcage necessitated by existence out of water. Odontochelys semitestacea and Tiktaalik roseae are two more pieces in the jigsaw that shows conclusively how life on Earth evolved from earlier species.Scientists can now use DNA evidence from modern species to support the fossil record, as further evidence of evolution.
What can be considered evidence for evolution?
Virtually all species can be arranged into a nested hierarchy highly evocative of common ancestry. That was probably the pivotal piece of evidence launching the theory of evolution as the foundational science of biology. There is also the fossil record which shows us that single celled organisms populated earth's oceans billions of years before the first multicellular organisms appeared. Multicellular organisms themselves dwelled solely in marine environments hundreds of millions of years before the first terrestrial forms gained ground. Fossils of plants and insects are common before any known terrestrial vertebrates. The first of these bear uncanny resemblance to sarcopterygian lungfish of the Devonian. The fossil evidence for evolution continues to mount from there--dinosaurs and birds dominating the mesozoic, mammals and flowering plants running rampant in the cenozoic. In addition to the nested hierarchy and the fossil record there is substantial evidence from molecular biology in support of evolution. DNA sequences in eukaryotes accrue mutations at varying rates that help establish genetic clocks timing diversification events between species. Embryological development is another key piece of evidence indicating common ancestry between species. There are numerous other substantial and significant pieces of evidence, but this small handful is a good start.
How does Darwin's theory of evolution explain microevolution but not macroevolution?
Those terms need to be done away with. There is no such division in the theory of evolution by natural selection, even in Darwin's time. There is evolution and speciation. One flows seamlessly into the other over time and we have myriad pieces of evidence supporting this.
What makes evolution a therory?
Evolution, the change in allele frequency over time in a population of organisms, is fact. The theory of evolution by natural selection explains much about the fact of evolution. That is what make a theory, explanation. Facts are useful, but uninteresting. Theories explain facts by gathering many convergent pieces of evidence and putting it into a logical and consistent whole.
What are pieces of information that support the main idea?
Supporting details
. are pieces of information that support the main idea?
supporting details
How are fossil records pieces of evidence for evolution?
The change over time that is the definition of evolution is quite well illustrated in the fossil record, especially at the level of higher taxa. The simplicity that becomes multicelled complexity is well written into the mineralization of the fossils left behind over the millions of years.
What strategy do historians use to synthesize evidence and draw conclusions?
Corroborating it with other pieces of evidence
List 5 pieces of evidence that a chemical change description?
formation of a precipitate formation of a gas color change change in temperature change in odor disappearance of a solid
What is one of the best pieces of evidence that the moon is not a captured object?
One of the best pieces of evidence supporting the giant impact hypothesis for lunar genesis is the rock samples collected by the Apollo missions. These rocks show the same oxygen isotope ratios as the Earth. In addition, the lunar surface was once a molten ocean; the energy required could have been delivered by a massive impact.
What is the purpose of minor supporting details?
Minor supporting details help to reinforce and expand upon the main ideas or arguments in a piece of writing. They provide specific examples, evidence, or explanations that add depth and credibility to the overall message. Minor supporting details help make the main points more convincing and compelling to the reader.
What are 4 pieces of evidence of evolution?
Part 1: Evidence from the Fossil Record Part 2: Evidence from Geographic Distribution of Living Species Part 3: Evidence from Homologous Structures and Vestigial Organs Part 4: Evidence from Embryology
What are pieces of information collected during an investigation?
evidence
What does supporting detail mean in a passage?
Supporting details in a passage are specific pieces of information that help to explain, clarify, or provide evidence for the main idea. They may include facts, examples, statistics, or quotes that strengthen the author's argument or point of view. These details offer further insight and help to make the main idea more convincing to the reader.
