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Human Evolution
Evolution vs. FundamentalismThe Three ChimpsNature and Human Nature
 
 
Evolution: Root of Biodiversity
•Individuals in a population differ in their characteristics
 –Characteristics are based on inherited genes
•Genetic differences arise because genes canchange (radiation, toxins) or get reshuffled (by sex)
 –Individuals cannot change their characteristicsdeliberately, only by accident or chance
•Individuals with certain characteristics (structural or behavioral) survive and reproduce better than others
 –With pressure from the environment, competitors,predators, prey, etc., which also change or evolve
•Eventually, only those with favored characteristicsremain in a niche; unlucky ones go extinct
 –“Those” refer not only to individuals but to entire taxa
 
 
Some Notes about Evolution
•More than a theory but a scientific principle•Despite claims by fundamentalists, evolution hassolid scientific bases
Fossil record – evidence of change in structure in manyspecies, including humans
DNA and organs – too similar in diverse species,suggesting they had a common ancestor 
Vestigial structures – useless organs that may once havebeen functional in an ancestor 
Direct observation – development of genetic resistanceto antibiotics by bacteria, pests to pesticides
•We can’t explain
all 
traits of living things, but thatdoesn’t mean evolution is wrong
 –Fossil record can’t preserve everything –Many unexplained traits were probably adaptive before
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