Sources of Evidence for Evolution

September.10th, 2015

Paige Allensen #1

Sources of evidence for evolution

Pg. 340

#1-7

1. Q: Charles Darwin was not the only person to discuss the idea of evolution. Why is his name often synonymous with the idea of evolution?

A: His name is often synonymous with the idea of evolution because he created the “theory of evolution by natural selection”. So if someone were to hear his name they would automatically think of this theory since he made it so popular over time.

2. Q: Evolutionary biologist John Haldane once said, “I’d give up belief in evolution if someone found a fossil rabbit in the Precambrian”. Explain this quote.

A: This quote explains that John Haldane believes in evolution because there are no fossils in the Precambrian of animals such as a rabbit that have been found proving that the animals we have today did not exist thousands of years ago.

3. Q: How does the discovery of transitional fossils in the fossil record help you understand the evolutionary events of the past?

A: The transitional fossils in the fossil record help me understand the evolutionary events of the past because they filled in the gaps of the scattered snapshots that the original fossil record gave of ancestral forms.

4. Q: Choose a fossil and describe what information it provides that helps you understand evolution.

A: The vertebrate fossils show us that fish are the oldest vertebrates in following layers the fossils of other vertebrates, amphibians, reptiles, mammals, and birds appear. This shows there is evidence that amphibians evolved from ancestral fish.

5. Q: A scientist finds a rare organism- a whale with hind legs. Explain how this finding is evidence for evolution.

A: This finding is evidence for evolution because present day whales no longer have hind legs, instead they have evolved to use their fins and tales to help them move around in the water.

6. Q: The island of Madagascar...