Origin Of Life On Earth And How Biological Populations...

The theory of evolution discusses, with considerable proof, the history of life on earth and how biological populations have changed and developed over successive generations. Despite the abundance of evidence for evolution, both scientific and physical, some still doubt the validity of this theory. However, once compared with the alternative theory of creation, it is apparent that evolution is the most probable explanation for the origin of life on earth, to date. This essay will explain a handful of theories which provide proof for evolution as well as some of the most compelling genetic evidence to support the theory. The ability for organisms to adapt and mutate on a genetic level, reproduce to carry on only desired traits, as well as†¦show more content†¦Adaptations are produced by natural selection and are a process of evolution which enhances or enables the probability for an organism to survive and reproduce. Adaptation can result in an organism gaining or losing an ancestral feature2. Examples of organism adaptation are the bacteria Escherichia coli evolving the ability to use citric acid as a nutrient to survive long-term laboratory experiments and the soil bacterium Sphingobium developing an entirely new metabolic pathway that degrades the synthetic pesticide pentachlorophenol2. These genetic changes may be passed on to the next generations who will also be better able to survive and reproduce. The genetic developments undergone by each of these bacteria explicitly show how a species can evolve over time into a more complex form2. Furthermore, geologist Charles Lyell’s theory of Uniformitarianism states that the same natural laws which exist in the universe today have always existed and have shaped and continue to shape our earth3. Lyell’s theory suggests that the earth did not form through separate catastrophic events but rather by gradual change as can be seen in discrete rock layers in rock formations such as canyons3. These layers of rock contain different types of sedimentary rock and fossils which can be dated to show the progressive formation of certain landscapes over extensive