Week 3 Blog Post

Two species that possess the homologous trait are frogs and lizards. Both have a body structure with the same genetic bases, which was inherited from a common ancestor. The limbs may look pretty different on the outside and vary in function but they have similar skeletal structures. Since both have different functions, this makes them possess homologous structures. Because of their similar structures, this suggests that both species evolved from a similar/common ancestor.

Two species that possess the analogous trait are bats and birds. Not the species themselves, but their wings. They serve the same function in each species but evolved independently rather than from the same embryological material or even from the same structures in a common ancestor. Butterflies and bats are a product of separate evolutionary responses to roughly similar functional demands. When it comes to the ancestry of the bat and the butterfly, each developed their wings separately and independently. Therefore, the common ancestor of each species did possess the analogous trait and they are each a result of separate evolutionary responses.  The have the same function, but not necessarily the same ancestry. 

Protein Synthesis : Blog Post

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The Influence of Alfred Russel Wallace on Darwin

Alfred Russel Wallace had the greatest influence over Charles Darwin through his developing theory of Natural Selection. By studying and taking notice of animals and their evolution, Wallace contributed a great deal to science. Darwin and Wallace together realized that existence and survival does not come down to pure chance and coincidence.

“Darwin and Wallace both realized that if an animal has some trait that helps it to withstand the elements or to breed more successfully, it may leave more offspring behind than others. On average, the trait will become more common in the following generation, and the generation after that.”  http://evolution.berkeley.edu/evolibrary/article/history_14

The most important discovery that benefited the scientific community the most as Darwin wrestled with the idea of natural selection was when Darwin began to notice and spend time observing pigeons. Together, Wallace and Darwin found that natural selection can produce “new types of body parts, from wings to eyes” through the observing of these pigeons.

I believe that Darwin may have been able to develop the idea of natural selection on his own and without the influence of Wallace. They noticed that not only animals but plants also change over periods of time through evolution.

The Church and the people in it believed that God created the world and not science/evolution. They believed also that man did not come from animals but that they were created by God just like the rest of the world and the things in it. Darwin’s book “On the Origin of Species” proved that evolution could be proved through science and that humans are evolved forms of animals. The attitudes of the church did not discourage Darwin or force him to shut down his study. He kept his belief the same.