Evolution (II). Common Fallacies about Evolution Progressivism Fallacy Teleology Fallacy (Purposivism Fallacy)

Evolution (II)

Common Fallacies about Evolution

• Progressivism Fallacy

• Teleology Fallacy (Purposivism Fallacy)

<-HUMAN

How Fast is Evolution?

• Gradualism Hypothesis

(Charles Darwin)

• Punctuated Equilibrium Hypothesis (Stephen Jay Gould and Niles Eldrege)

DARWIN’S FINCHES

Natural Selection in Action*

Daphne Major

Normal year Drought year

The story of the ground finch

• Medium Ground Finch (Geospiza fortis)

• Seed Eater

• Every year on Daphne all the birds are caught and measured

• Their food size is measured

Ground finch

Beak Depth is Inherited

Figure 01.08

Drought

Seed size and

hardness

Year

What happened to the food ?

Drought

What happened to the finches?

Beak size

Year

Finch Summary

• Beak depth is a trait that responds to changing environmental conditions

• Beaks appear to be an adaptation for feeding

• Evolution is a process-continually in operation– Sometimes measurable in real time

Evidence of Evolution by Natural Selection

• Fossil record

• Age of the Earth

• The mechanisms of heredity

• Molecular biology

• Comparative anatomy

The crossing over of alleles between matched pairs of chromosomes during meiosis