Thursday, April 28, 2011
Homologous and Analogous
1a. For my homologous trait questions I chose humans and gorillas due to them both having hands.
1b. The hands are used for very different things in the human and gorilla species. Humans use them for nearly every function of life, yet never walking on them. Gorillas use their hands for constantly walking on and swinging from trees, so mostly transportation. Gorillas have limited use for their hands otherwise, such as eating and picking bugs from one another.
1c. Primitive primates were the common ancestors of the human and the gorilla.
2a. I chose to research an Iguana and and a Piranha. The Iguana lizard as well as the Piranha fish both posses a analogous trait of scales.
2b. The Iguana's scales are used for protection from predators, fighting competitive mates, and camouflage with their surroundings. Piranha scales are used for body armor like protection, distraction from potential predators, and to attract mates. These two species exhibit some differences among each other because one lives on land, as the other lives under water.
2c. Dinosaurs were the common ancestor of these two primitive-like species. The majority of all dinosaurs had scales as well.
1b. The hands are used for very different things in the human and gorilla species. Humans use them for nearly every function of life, yet never walking on them. Gorillas use their hands for constantly walking on and swinging from trees, so mostly transportation. Gorillas have limited use for their hands otherwise, such as eating and picking bugs from one another.
1c. Primitive primates were the common ancestors of the human and the gorilla.
2a. I chose to research an Iguana and and a Piranha. The Iguana lizard as well as the Piranha fish both posses a analogous trait of scales.
2b. The Iguana's scales are used for protection from predators, fighting competitive mates, and camouflage with their surroundings. Piranha scales are used for body armor like protection, distraction from potential predators, and to attract mates. These two species exhibit some differences among each other because one lives on land, as the other lives under water.
2c. Dinosaurs were the common ancestor of these two primitive-like species. The majority of all dinosaurs had scales as well.
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Week 1
I chose to research Thomas Malthus' contribution to Charles Darwin's "Origin of Species." Thomas Malthus published "An Essay on the Principle of Population" which discussed the issue of an ever increasing population yes a relatively stable food supply. Thomas Malthus was an English economist whom was aiming to get population restrictions put into place, rather than advance any scientific ideas.
The specific bullet point closely associated with Thomas Malthus' essay would be "Resources are limited." The entire purpose of Malthus' publication was to strive for a limit on population size in England to reduce the effects of famine and poverty. This pertains to the "Resources are limited" bullet point because Thomas was most worried that if the English continued to carelessly reproduce they would be the cause of their own demise.
Charles Darwin could not have come up with his theory of natural selection without reading Thomas Malthus' publication, or at least not nearly as soon as he did. It was not until after Darwin read "An Essay on the Principle of Population" that he realized an overproduction of offspring causes competition for limited resources and came up with his theory of natural selection.
The attitude of the church was definitely suppressing Charles Darwin's attempt to spread his hypothesis of evolution throughout England. The attitude towards evolution and hereditary traits was believed to be a "blending" process from parental units to offspring. There was much opposition to Darwin's "Origin of Species" book at first, but as people read it and began to follow Darwin's ideas his notoriety increase.
The specific bullet point closely associated with Thomas Malthus' essay would be "Resources are limited." The entire purpose of Malthus' publication was to strive for a limit on population size in England to reduce the effects of famine and poverty. This pertains to the "Resources are limited" bullet point because Thomas was most worried that if the English continued to carelessly reproduce they would be the cause of their own demise.
Charles Darwin could not have come up with his theory of natural selection without reading Thomas Malthus' publication, or at least not nearly as soon as he did. It was not until after Darwin read "An Essay on the Principle of Population" that he realized an overproduction of offspring causes competition for limited resources and came up with his theory of natural selection.
The attitude of the church was definitely suppressing Charles Darwin's attempt to spread his hypothesis of evolution throughout England. The attitude towards evolution and hereditary traits was believed to be a "blending" process from parental units to offspring. There was much opposition to Darwin's "Origin of Species" book at first, but as people read it and began to follow Darwin's ideas his notoriety increase.
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