Evolution

Evolution has transformed into a frequent source of debate in the science community

over the past few centuries and has only become widely accepted in the past one hundred years.

This theory explains the gradual change from simple, ancient organisms into the diverse,

complex organisms of today’s world and also supports the idea of a common ancestor of all

organisms. Because of the extreme influence of the church and their opposing creation theories,

scientists need a convincing array of fields to prove the validity of their revolutionary theory to

the common people, and five of these essential scientific topics will be discussed and analyzed in

this essay. In order to support evolution and common ancestry, one should analyze vestigial

structures and embryology, homologous structures and transitional species, and lastly

biogeography.

The study of vestigial structures and embryology both support the idea of descent with

modification by displaying body parts that are present but not useful. Vestigial structures include

a multitude of body parts that were formerly useful in an organism but no longer are, and

embryology comprises of the study of embryos. Specifically, the tailbone of humans no longer

serves a purpose (Document C), and the gill slits found in so many animal embryos are not

helpful to most organisms unless they are aquatic (Document E). Furthermore, these superfluous

body parts’ lasting presence in these species proves evolution because they must have been

useful in the past, but the species changed over time to the point where they became unnecessary.

Lastly, the similarity of all the early embryotic structures (picture on Document E) provides

evidence for a common ancestor because it would likely not be coincidental that such diverse

species have nearly identical embryos. By studying the peculiar vestigial structures of organisms

and embryos, one may better understand the idea of common descent with modification.
 Although observing vestigial structures may seem convincing enough, scientists also

utilize homologous structures and transitional species to further confirm evolution and common

ancestry. Homologous structures consist of a comparison of two structures that have the same

appearance but different functions, and a transitional species denote a creature that represents the

shift between two groups of animals. For example, bats and whales share the same upper arm

bone structure but differ in function (Document A), and Tiktaliik represents the middle species

between aquatic fish and land-dwelling animals because of its growth of legs (Document H).

Therefore, the parallel wrist structure represents a common ancestor because the structure

remained the same, but the function diversified according to the environment of the animal.

Also, the transitional species between marine and terrestrial animals represents evolution because

Tiktaliik has characteristics of both groups showing a gradual, processional change. By

analyzing homologous structures and transitional species, people can understand the origins of

certain characteristics like bone structures and the connection between different groups of

organisms.

Similarly to how homologous structures demonstrate how evolution can cause species to

retain some similarities but also develop defined differences, the study of biogeography can also

highlight the process by showing the differences between animals in different parts of the world.

The subject of biogeography discusses the location of different species across the geographical

formations of the Earth. For instance, Darwin compared and contrasted the characteristics of the

thirteen species of finches among the Galapagos Islands and discovered that each was

comparable, but each appeared to have a different beak corresponding to the available food on

their specific island. Hence, the variety of species on the Galapagos provides evidence for

evolutionary theory because it displays the changes a population will make over time according
to the conditions of their environment. By using biogeography to evaluate different, but related

species, one can visualize the process of evolution better.

The presence of unnecessary structures in both adult organisms and embryos, the study of

homologous structure and “missing link” species, and the understanding of how geographic

location affects a population all contribute to the validity of the theory of evolution. The diverse

combination of sciences supporting it should solidify the theory because it shows that multiple

sources all direct towards the same conclusion. Evolution, the process of how organisms develop

throughout multiple generations from a common ancestor, cannot be officially proven because

no one currently has the capability of witnessing the changing of life starting at the beginning of

time, but scientists in recent years have developed a very convincing argument for it. Although

there will always be controversy and disbelief concerning evolution, scientists are now able to

provide a large amount of proof that causes most people to agree with the theory.