Charles Darwin described evolution as, “The process by which organisms change over time as a result of changes inheritable physical or behavioral traits”. The idea of evolution has been a hot topic for hundreds of years that goes against countless religions. Three important topics involving evolution are about Pangea The Supercontinent, Charles Darwin’s famous visit to the Galapagos islands, and how humans embryos contain similar characteristics as other animals.
In the article Pangea The Supercontinent, the authors from The Encyclopedia of Britannica ask what is Pangea. Pangea is, “A supercontinent that incorporated almost all the landmasses on Earth”. This Land Mass was assembled roughly 272-299 million years ago which had every continent connected as one large landmass. This continent separated apart around 200 million years ago during the early Jurassic Period. These authors let us know that some species were separated into different climates causing variation to form over hundreds of thousands of years. Looking at all the continents the Encyclopedia of Britannica lets us see how certain land masses were once connected and could fit together like puzzle pieces. It’s theorized that during Earth’s long history there would have been several Pangea like structures.
In the Galapagos Conservancy they tell us another distinctive piece of information relating to evolution is when Charles Darwin, The Father of Evolution, took a memorable, history defying trip to the Galapagos. This is where Darwin noticed variation amongst species, although he did not originally pick up on his discovery until he had a retrospective look on what he observed. When Darwin looked from island to island he noticed that the finches on each separate islands had mutations different from those on the other islands. Which in turn, “helped him to develop his theory of natural selection” as the Galapagos Conservancy stated. Researchers today have recognized these finches as, “the world’s fastest-evolving vertebrates” because of their ability to change physically and behaviorally, and because of the unpredictable weather.
The last source of information relating to evolution is the development of mammals and other species while in the womb. The Howard Hughes Medical Institute launched these ideas in 2004 and have shown us that in early development, there are very interesting distinctions which could lead one to believe in evolution. There are often ancestral characteristics which are formed in the development of early organisms. Both baby chicks and humans have something in common in the womb. For example “they have slits and arches in their necks like the gill slits and gill arches of fish”. Although these slits don’t actually serve as gills, this similarity in such early development suggests, “chicks and humans share a common ancestor with fish”.
Looking at all of these articles one would be easily able to identify the drastic differences in these articles. The first and second article are completely different in that the first article addresses the idea of Pangea, where the second article describes Charles Darwin’s visit to the Galapagos. These two ideas are in completely different hemispheres which attributes to how expansive evolution as a whole is. You can have to completely different theories which are both based from one idea. Pangea is more of a inferred theory and it still presents intriguing information. The last article was about how human embryos have similar traits to those of baby chicks. This ties into Darwin’s visit to the Galapagos and his observation of the variation of the finches on the island. There isn’t a really strong connection. This shows how the study of birds play a very large role in our study of evolution and the many different branches there are. The first and second articles don’t show much in common. Since the Supercontinent Pangea was formed so long ago this would’ve been an early stage to where different animals such as birds and other species start to evolve. Besides the tie in of the early stage of development, there is nothing more in common between these two articles.
Evolution is much more than just a theory. Looking at Pangea the Supercontinent, Charles Darwin’s theory of Evolution, and how Embryos are developed shows us the complexity and diversity in our existence.
Works Cited
“Pangea Supercontinent.” Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, n.d. Web. 2 Nov. 2015.
“Learning about Evolutionary History.” Learning about Evolutionary History. Berkley, Web. 30 Oct. 2015.
Watkins, Graham. “Galapagos Conservancy Blog.” Galapagos Conservancy. Galapagos Conservancy, 2009. Web. 2 Nov. 2015.
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