Could somebody explain to me Darwins Theory of Evolution?

Question

Let me be a bit more clear I need to prove that we as humans have evolved from primates.

Answer 1

To the points made here by others, I'd ask everyone in the class to open their mouth and point to their canine teeth, which show that, like all the other apes, and monkeys, (which all also show that characteristic: those of the baboon being more than an inch long) we evolved from a carnivorous common ancestor, and that, should they have any further doubts, to measure the differing rates at which their fingernails and toenails grow. At one stage, our ancestors were digging animals, which were selected for the characteristic of having quicker growing foreclaws, which wore away because they needed to dig holes to live in, for shelter at night, a den for their offspring, and as a refuge from the  powerful predators which abounded. To this day, our fingernails grow at a much faster rate than toenails, for that very reason. Had we been "created" in one fell swoop, by some omnipotent being, why don't they grow at the same rate, and why do we have canine teeth? It just doesn't stand the test of reason!

Answer 2

Scientists do not " prove " things, but are convinced of the evidence. There is the fact of evolution; the change in allele frequency over time in a population of organisms. Then the is the theory if evolution by natural selection, which explains evolution; the differential survival of variant organisms who, by reproducing more successfully than other organisms leave more decedents with these variations that proved successful in the struggle for existence.

Go here for more.

http://www.actionbioscience.org

http://www.talkorigins.org

http://www.aboutdarwin.com

Answer 3

First of all it is NO LONGER A THEORY... and HAS NOT BEEN A THEORY for OVER 100 YEARS... ever since the British Academy of Sciences declared that EVOLUTION is a VALID SCIENCE...

If you want an example... just look at a flower... ALL FLOWERS are a product of EVOLUTION... all of them... everywhere.

ALL FISH and BIRDS are a product of EVOLUTION... all of them.

All MEN AND WOMEN are a product of EVOLUTION... all of them

Answer 4

Its the idea that more 'advance' species evolved from 'lower' species, with those with the traits that help the species survive the best outlive and reproducing those with out it.

Answer 5

Humans are part of the hominid family. They are both part of and descended from them. The process of this development is called evolution. In brief, this means that new species develop and expand as they are better at dealing with their environment then others. See: http://www.nap.edu/readingroom/books/evo...

for a discussion of the evolution process.

The hominids include humans and the apes. They are part of the family Hominidae, of the order Primate. Humans did not "descend from the apes" We share a common ancestor with them and are considered "cousins." Chimpanzees, our closest relative, share a 99% match in DNA. In protein sequencing, the match is closer, no differences at all.  When man's protein sequencing is compared to gorillas there is only two differences in the match with hemoglobin, red blood cells and amino acids. Lastly the antgen-antibody reaction for humans is 97% from chimpanzees compared to 50% for baboons. In other words we're related. DNA is today used to show how closely people are related (as in determining paternity) and to determine if people were at a crime scene (as a means to determine guilt or innocence). It also is used to determine how long ago species split off from each other.

The split from the apes is put at 8 million years ago. That's based both on the fossil remains and the know rate of change for DNA. (At this point creationists gripe about "no transitional fossils" or "gaps." When the multiple hominids are presented the red herring becomes "See you have more gaps to fill") The first bipedal hominids (walking on two feet) is 4 million years ago. The first known bipedal hominids were the Australopithecus. ("Southern Ape") There are several known types and the exact lineage is still being argued. The known family tree is:

Australopithecus afarenis "Southern Ape of Afar" This is the species "Lucy" belongs to.  Brain size is about 410cc, they stood between 3 and 4 feet and weighed about 65 pounds. They went extinct about 2.5 million years ago.

Australopithecus africanus "Southern Ape of Africa" Probably evolved from Australopithecus afarenis and lived 3 to 1 million years ago. Brain size was about the same as a gorilla's and they stood between 3 and 4 feet tall. Weight was about 45 to 90 pounds.

Australopithecus robustis "Robust Southern Ape" This species is larger then Australopithecus africanus , 4 feet 11 inches and 5 feet 7 inches, and weighed 110-154 pounds. Brain size is put at 500cc. This group lived 2.5 million to 1.5 million years ago. There is argument that robustis was the male of the afarenis or africanus species.

Australopithecus boisei "Bosie Southern Ape" boisei is named after one Charles Boise and supporter of fossil hunts. The original name was Zinjanthropus "East Africa man" The species lived 2.5 to 1 million years ago. Height was between 5 feet 3 inches to 5 feet 10 inches. Weight was between 132 and 176 pounds. Brain size was about 500cc.  boisei is nicknamed "Nutcracker man" due to its large jaw and massive grinding teeth. However, examination has shown that it could chew no harder then us and it's diet seems to have primarily been of leaves.

Homo habilis "Handy man" This is reported to be the first known species of the genus Homo. The brain is larger the Australopithecus, 650-800cc compared to 500cc, the arms shorter, and hip bones that facilitated bipedal walking. Body size was reduced from boisei and robustis, back to between four and five feet. Weight is put at 110 pounds. The species is dated at 2.5 to 1.5 million years ago. Habilis was a throw back in that the head had not changed with the rest of the body. It still retained the brow ridges, jaws and nose of the Australopithecus. In fact, some discoveries were so labeled.

Homo erectus "Upright Man") was the first hominid to leave Africa. His existence dates from 1.6 million years ago to perhaps 200,000 years ago. However, recent discovers have suggested that isolated populations may have existed even later.

Brain size is put at 850cc, height up to 6 feet and weight was comparable to modern humans.

Early discoveries of Homo Eretus remains were variously named Peking Man, Java Man and Heidelberg Man. His range was all of Africa, most of Europe and as far east as China. Sites in California have been suggested as containing Homo erectus finds. No one had satisfactorily explained how the vast distance from China to California was crossed. Recently a small sample the population of China was tested to determine their DNA. The theory tested was that man developed in Africa, spread out and then further developed in China. What was found suggested that waves of hominids came out of Africa, each developed the race further. The idea how having man develop in several regions and not just Africa has supporters as does the "out of Africa" theory.

Homo sapiens neanderthalenis "Man from the Neander Valley" This species is today considered a "dead end," someone that did not give rise to Homo sapiens sapiens. The latest support has come from DNA analysis of his bones. They don't match with Homo sapiens sapiens. In other words, humans did not develop fro the Neandertals. Neandertals are larger in body then modern humans with massive bones. They have short, compact bodies, with large joints and hands. The body shape suggests they were well adapted to cold environments. They are dated between 200,000 to 30,000 years ago. In some sites (the Middle East at Jebel Irhoud, Tabun, and Skhul) the two species (Homo sapiens, and Homo sapiens neanderthalenis) lived near each other. It has been suggested that an archaic Homo sapiens gave rise to the species. They had to date been found only in Europe and the Middle East. It has been suggested that while the species was successful, they may have a a lower birth rate then the early humans. Given only a 2% lower rate per generation would lead to extenuation.

Homo sapiens "Man who thinks" The archaic form is dated between 500,000 and 150,000 years ago. Brain size is about 1200cc. The species shows  links and the characteristic of Homo erectus.

Homo sapiens sapiens Modern man. The first know group appears some 40,000 years ago during the Neolithic period. However, new finds are pushing that date back.

Please understand that evolution doesn't have a "goal." Natural selection means that those creatures that adapt better tend to live to reproduce. Those that reproduce tend to pass their traits on. Understand also the huge amount of time that we're dealing with. At one inch equals 1 million years, the Empire State Building just about equals the age of the earth. Stand a book on top of the TV tower and that's how long humans have been around as a recognizable species. Civilization would be a worn dime on top of the book.

Answer 6

Compared to a parent organism the young are always born different to adapt to there surroundings, and eventually evolve.

Answer 7

I would refer you to Secretsauce, who will, no doubt give a better answer than me.

EDIT : If you want to see some debate about evolution and what the major objections to it are, go here:

http://www.talkorigins.org/origins/faqs-...

To show that humans evolved from a common ancestor with modern apes, you need to show that there are similarities between humans and other apes which would make it likely that we are related.

Such as:

Similarity in anatomy - eg. opposable thumbs, upper torso and shoulder similarity to chimps, musculature.

Similarity of blood - our blood groups are similar, our blood red and white cells are almost identical, other mammals are slightly different, reptiles and birds very different. The less related we are, the more different the blood looks.

Similarity of DNA - we share about 99% of our DNA with Chimpanzees and Bonobos, our closest related species. One of the major differences is the chromosome structure, they have two more than us. Significantly, our chromosome  number 2 represents a direct fusion of these two extra chromosomes, meaning that this could be the mutation which separated us from the other apes 7 million years ago.

The closer the match in DNA, the more closely related two species are. Humans are no exception.

If you are in a debate concerning evolution, then the other team will roll out several well-worn and easily defeated points.  Namely

"Irreducible complexity eg How could the eye have evolved if it so complex? If you remove one part, it does not work." There are many animals with differing levels of complexity of eyes, from the Euglena with a simple light sensitive eye spot, to birds of prey with vision which extends into the ultraviolet spectrum of light, well beyond human vision. Human eyes are not the best or worst eyes on Earth. If there are simpler eyes being used by other organisms, then it is clearly possible for them to have evolved, through those stages, to get to where we are now.

"Why are there still apes around if we evolved from them?" The answer is, of course, that we did not evolve from modern apes, we evolved from a common ancestor with the apes, about 7 million years ago we evolved into humans under certain environmental conditions and genetic mutations; they evolved into chimps, gorillas and orang utans under other conditions.

"The second law of thermodynamics does not allow things to become more complex, so we could not have evolved from simpler life forms." The answer here is that the second law allows organisms to use energy to become more complex, energy is constantly being introduced to Earth via the Sun, to plants, and then to animals, along the food chain. Life on Earth, and evolution are not closed systems, so there is no violation of the second law.

Go to the Talk Origins website for more complete answers.

Good luck with the debate.

Answer 8

Darwins theory of evolution, which is a theory of how life developed and diversified is confirmed in many ways...

The famous example of the peppered moth showed how the moth evolved when its environment was changed by the industrial revolution

Also, new species of fruit flies have been developed in laboratories, not created but EVOLVED because of genetic mutations

Furthermore, the fossil record has discovered various TRANSITIONAL FOSSILS with show species with "in between" characteristics between two different species...Two prime examples are Archeopetrx, which shows the transition from reptile to bird...and also Tiktaalik, which shows the transition from fish to tetrapod in the Devonian period

Finally, the fossil record also confirms another "darwinian" prediction, namely that biological organisms go from simplicity to greater complexity...thus if you go farther back in time, you find more simple biological forms and less complex ones...and if you go back billions of years, you find very simple single cell life forms...the Archea and prokaryotes

This should get you started...there are still other examples you can look up on your own...