I want to set the record straight from the start. Whether you believe all life evolved from a unicellular organism, or that a god or gods created us and everything around us, I am not here to dispute either claim. That is for you to decide on your own, and I’m not about to start a ‘Does God Exist?’ debate for this article’s discussion.
However what I am going to discuss is the fact that a species can evolve through the process of natural selection, and whichever belief you hold, this is not a fact that can be disputed.
Case Study: A very recent study shows that the average length of elephant tusks has shrunk significantly over the past 50 years. This is the result of poachers hunting the elephants with large tusks for their valuable ivory. Over a period of only fifty years, elephant tusks have now become stereotypically shorter which makes them less appealing to poachers for hunting.
This is a classic example of how the logic of evolution of species through natural selection works. It’s the concept of how there are always variations of species (e.g. short or long tail, blonde or black hair, short or long fur, etc.) and some of these variations will allow certain organisms to survive better than others, and long enough to reproduce several offspring with the same or similar advantageous characteristics.
Example: It is only logical that giraffes with short necks will find it hard to find food and many of them will end up dying off from starvation. Meanwhile, their long-necked counterparts are thriving. In the end, it is the long-necked giraffes which are more actively reproducing off-spring and outliving the short-necked of the species. Eventually over time, the short-necked giraffes will become such a small group that they may eventually cease to exist.
What I’m trying to get at in this article is basically I am sick and tired of the people out there who down-right deny the concept of evolution through natural selection altogether.
Yes, I can’t say for absolute certainty whether we did in fact all evolve from a single cell. Yes, I can say there are missing links and a lack of proof to support either side of the story. But the fact is, nobody can say species don’t evolve.
Final thoughts: It’s up to you whether you want to believe one theory or another, but it is impossible to completely deny that species evolve over time. Whether we all evolved from a single cell, or if we had help from a supernatural force to get where we were some thousands of years ago is uncertain, and there is a lack of concrete proof on both sides of the argument. However we can’t deny that since human records have existed, evolution has occurred.
The human brain contains 750 trillion connections. How many connections evolved per year?
that’s a lot of connections and mathematics and I h8 maths.
It doesn’t matter how much evidence is presented, evolution non-believers disregard everything that doesn’t fit within their preconceived fairy tales. No matter how well supported it is by the evidence.
WRT the elephant tusk case study. It’s worth noting a few more things. This phenomenon is only measurably with Asian Elephants, and not African Elephants. It is Asia that still has the overwhelmingly high poaching rate. Not only are average tusk lengths getting smaller, there is a distinct rise in males born without tusks at all.
Historically, Asian males born without tusks accounted for less than 5% of the male population, this has risen to between 5 and 10% of the male population.
WRT Giraffe neck length. The commonly held belief that Giraffe neck length allowed the to feed higher, is no longer the most accepted theory about why their necks are so long.
It certainly had a positive influence, but preferred theories now include, sexual preference. Historically, sexual preference was unknown or discounted, now a days, sexual preference is understood to have a significant drive within natural selection.
Fighting, Giraffes fight with their necks, clubbing the hell out of each other, the longer the neck the more powerful the weapon.
Longer necks allow less energy to be used, while feeding. A Giraffe can move to a tree and feed off of a huge amount of the tree, without moving as much. Energy conservation, especially within Africa is a considerable advantage.
This doesn’t make sense, and is not how it works.
Would you make the following statements?
Humans have 20 digits. How many fingers and toes evolved per year (or millions of years).
Humans have 5 million hair follicles. How many follicles evolved per year?