Evolution
Explanation
Biological Evolution is the change in the
inherited characteristics of biological populations over
successive generations. Evolutionary processes give rise to
diversity at every level of biological organisation, including
species, individual organisms and molecules such as DNA and proteins. All
life on Earth is descended from a last universal ancestor that
lived approximately 3.8 billion years ago. Repeated speciation
and the divergence of life can be inferred from shared sets of
biochemical and morphological traits, or by shared DNA sequences.
These homologous traits and sequences are more similar among
species that share a more recent common ancestor, and can be used
to reconstruct evolutionary histories, using both existing
species and the fossil record. Existing patterns of biodiversity
have been shaped both by speciation and by extinction.
Historical frame
Charles
Darwin (12 Feb. 1809 – 19 Apr. 1882 †) was the
first to formulate a scientific argument for the theory of
evolution by means of natural selection. Evolution by natural
selection is a process that is inferred from three facts about
populations:
-
More offspring are produced than can possibly survive.
-
Traits vary among individuals, leading to different rates of
survival and reproduction.
-
Trait differences are heritable.
Thus, when members of a population die they are replaced by the
progeny of parents that were better adapted to survive and
reproduce in the environment in which natural selection took
place. This process creates and preserves traits that are
seemingly fitted for the functional roles they perform. Natural
selection is the only known cause of adaptation, but not the only
known cause of evolution. Other, non-adaptive causes of evolution
include mutation and genetic drift.
In the early 20th century, genetics was integrated with Darwin's
theory of evolution by natural selection through the discipline
of population genetics. The importance of natural selection as a
cause of evolution was accepted into other branches of biology.
Moreover, previously held notions about evolution, such as
orthogenesis (J.B. Lamarck) and "progress" became obsolete.
Scientists continue to study various aspects of evolution by
forming and testing hypotheses, constructing scientific theories,
using observational data, and performing experiments in both the
field and the laboratory. Biologists agree that descent
with modification is one of the most reliably established facts
in science. Discoveries in evolutionary biology have made a
significant impact not just within the traditional branches of
biology, but also in other academic disciplines (e.g., anthropology
and psychology) and on society at large.
CPER's
standpoint
Members of CPER differ in their belief system about Biological
Evolution from mainstream scientific agreements, in the following
way: CPER acknowledges that, when an intelligent animal
species emerges from millennial evolutional processes in
nature, this species (at the moment: Human Being) can manipulate
the outcome of evolutional tendencies. This way, the
'humanimal' starts giving accelerated direction to
Progressive Evolution of its own life form, and
eventually of future life in general.
Linguistic derivation
The term Evolution is derived from the
Latin word ēvolūtiō, meaning "unfolding" or
"unrolling".
External sources
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evolution .