Nature of Evolution: Selection, Inheritance, and History (Essay Sample)

Nature of Evolution: Selection, Inheritance, and History
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Nature of Evolution: Selection, Inheritance, and History
Originally developed by Charles Darwin, the theory of evolution strongly depended on the premise of historical and common points of origin for different organisms living in the world. Thus, it was first published in Darwin’s initial publication, The Origin of Species. According to perspectives of descent presented in this book, all living organisms had a common point of origin, hence, a common ancestor. This original ancestral organism developed from non-life to life situations through various favorable conditions. As the organism began to interact with the environment, reproduction took place and more descendants arose (Bowler, 2013). Due to separation and diversion to different environments, different descendants got to experience different environments. They had to adapt to their environments to survive. It is these processes of adaptation and diversification into more complex organisms that got referred to as evolution (Ruse & Travis, 2011). Hence, evolution defines ‘descent with modification’ that gets achieved through heredity, natural selection, and mutation.
Heredity performs one of the greatest roles in evolutionary processes. Biologically, heredity defines all the trends of transfer of genotypic and phenotypic characteristics from parent generations to offspring generations. To function as a component of evolution, two major concepts determine the trends in inheritance. These include ideas of constancy and those of variation. While some characteristics have to be maintained within a population, others disappear with time (Ruse & Travis, 2011). The initial defines constancy while the latter defines variation. In cases where traits are advantageous to a population, they may persist and reoccur in future generations. However, situations with variations have some characteristics getting inherited while others are not. As changes occur over time, heredity leads to evolution.
Since evolution occurs slowly and progressively, natural selection results in slow but complex developments that occur over time. This implies that all complex body parts of different organisms underwent cumulative, slight, but successive modifications over time. In the precept that some traits are advantageous while others are not, organisms with the former stand chances of enjoying more advantages in their habitats. For example, animals with strong eyesight can spot predators or prey easily (Bowler, 2013). Equally, strong ones can run fast enough to catch prey or escape from predators. In this complex, the weak will neither feed nor escape. They will either starve or get preyed on. As others get eliminated, the advantageous ones survive to reproduction. They also get to pass the advantageous traits to their offspring. At this point, they are believed to have been ‘selected’ by nature (Claybourne, 2012).
Mutation defines irreversible changes that occur in the nucleotide sequences that make up genomes. These can occur in six different ways including deletion, insertion, duplication, repeat expansion, nonsense, frameshift, and missense. They can be caused internally or environmentally. In all, they cause changes in nucleotide strands that may result in the development of favorable or unfavorable traits. These ultimately advantage or disadvantage organisms in various ways in relation to the environments in which they dwell (Nei, 2013).
In conclusion, the theory of evolution explains that all organisms have a common point of origin and ancestral background. By evolving, these organisms have developed complex structures and improved their adaptability to survive in their environments over time. Thus, evolution defines ‘descent with modification’. The processes through which evolution occurs include heredity, natural selection, and mutation.
References
Bowler, P. (2013). Evolution: The history of a biological idea. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Claybourne, A. (2012). Who Discovered Natural Selection? Chicago: Britannica Digital Learning.
Nei, M. (2013). Mutation-driven evolution: Processes and outcomes in evolution. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Ruse, M., & Travis, J. (2011). Evolution: The first four billion years. Cambridge: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.
OWUOR MIKWA
Marital Status: MarriedLanguages: English & Swahili Sex: MaleReligion: ChristianNationality: KenyanE-Mail Address:  HYPERLINK "mailto:owuormikwa2015@gmail.com" owuormikwa2015@gmail.comTel: +254773558060Date of Birth: 2nd Jan. 1988 CAREER OBJECTIVES
Seeking to work in an organization where my strong analytical, research, communication and presentation skills can be utilized. I am willing to acquire new knowledge and skills and to also enhance the ones I have.
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September 1st 2014 31st June 2015 International Organization for Migration, Transit Centre Operations <...