Evolution of Kathryn's Knowledge of Evolution

In many religious circles, the speed of speciation and its "conflict with faith" are often discussed (in layman's terms). Many believe that too many things had to have happened too quickly and that too many changes had to have been made in a short period of time for evolution to have occurred independent of a Creator, or even at all. In some cases, these believers are on the right track. Speciation often DOES take longer than one or two generations, though evidence does show speciation, evolution, and selection have occurred and will continue to do so. There are several different ways speciation can occur, and each of these ways takes a different amount of time. It takes considerably longer for a buildup of mutations to produce a new species than would result from the migration and separation of two groups previously of the same species. Most commonly, evolution often behaves more like sorghum and less like Speed Racer. The processes by which speciation occurs all have va...

Much like humans, female pipefish are the more alluring and attractive of their species. This is in strict opposition to many other mating relationships in the animal kingdom. Why would this be? Maybe it's because there are fewer male pipefish and the females must fight over them. Maybe it's because male pipefish are picky and do not want to have ugly offspring. Even with all these different options for why female pipefish are the ornamented of a pipefish mating pair, one thing remains constant: the idea that females are more vibrant than males is evolutionary. Though conflicting theories of why these females may be more attractive exist, all theories are surrounded by the idea that the females must perform for the males and that the males prefer beautiful females. The females must appear attractive for a male pipefish to mate with them, and that is an element of sexual selection in pipefish. 

One animal trait I have always found fascinating is that of the feet of the Blue-Footed Booby. Why are they like that? In what situations are blue feet a beneficial trait? It turns out that the current hypothesis actually has to do with the diet of the blue-footed booby. The pigments present in the diet of the boobies likely concentrate in their feet, causing that pigment to affect their foot color. Higher concentrations lead to more vibrant blue feet. If the color of their feet is a result of their diet, why have their feet not increased the amount of predation experienced by the boobies? Can predators not see their blue feet from miles away? It is questions like these that remind me why I am so interested in science and the scientific method.

When discussing evolution, there is usually a question of "when will it end?" or " why would anything still be evolving" or, better yet, "are humans evolving?" To answer these questions, we have to remember why anything ever evolves in the first place. Whether it be selection, nonrandom mating, or the weather, there is always a reason for evolution that is driven by some outside force. These outside forces are why organisms continue to evolve. We've had a heck of a time dealing with the evolution of COVID-19 over the past couple years! The reason organisms keep evolving is simple: to become better suited to their environments. It would not make sense for a bright pink moth to live in the dirt now would it? And to answer the question regarding the evolution of humanity, we have yet to see a true survival-driven evolutionary characteristic of humans in the modern era. Sure there may be redheads or blue-eyed people, but those mutations do not constitute e...

I have been learning so much about evolution and problem solving over these past few weeks. I have really enjoyed working my brain and making connections, asking questions, and solving problems that I don't normally get to see. My original thoughts on evolution haven't changed, per se, but they have grown. I understand more of the nitty gritty of evolution rather than just the general concept. I think I may still be struggling with some real-world applications of my knowledge, but some of what I have been working on has really helped drive that home. I am even more curious about how our general understanding of evolution as both a society and a scientific community will change in the future. I think more people are becoming comfortable with the idea that while we may not know everything about evolution we continue to learn more about it each and every day.

In nature, organisms reproduce within their populations constantly. This can be a good thing, resulting in higher fitness, better adaptations to their environments, or an overall net good benefit to the population. However, there can also be negative outcomes concerning reproduction within populations. Sometimes, the size of a population can result in inbreeding. This means organisms that are genetically very similar are reproducing with each other. Sometimes this is good and results in strong organisms that are well adapted to their environments, but in many cases inbreeding is unfavorable. Inbreeding can cause unfavorable alleles to reproduced in a population and decrease the fitness of that population. Inbreeding can also cause organisms in a population to only be adapted to an extremely specific environment. Both of these things are unfortunate for organisms and decrease the fitness of that population of organisms.