The process of evolution

The processes of evolution’ introduces the main causal processes of evolution. Evolutionary change
ultimately relies on the mutations of organisms.

Natural selection is the process through which populations of living organisms adapt and change.
Individuals in a population are naturally variable, meaning that they are all different in some ways. This
variation means that some individuals have traits better suited to the environment than others.
Individuals with adaptive traits—traits that give them some advantage—are more likely to survive and
reproduce

Type of natural selection

A directional selection is type of selection that work in favor of one extreme feature of population .Is
a force in nature that causes a population to evolve towards one end of a trait spectrum. If a discrete
trait goes through a directional selection, only one variety will be selected for (only blue eyes).

stabilizing selection is any selective force or forces which push a population toward the average, or
median trait.stabilizes on a particular non-extreme trait value. This is thought to be the most common
mechanism of action for natural selection because most traits do not appear to change drastically over
time

Disruptive selection, also called diversifying selection, describes changes in population genetics in
which extreme values for a trait are favored over intermediate values

Mechanism of speciation
A species is a group of organisms with similar characteristics and can interbreed to give fertile offspring.
Speciation is an evolutionary process of the formation of new and distinct species. The species evolve by
genetic modification. The new species are reproductively isolated from the previous species, i.e. the new
species cannot mate with the old species.

Allopatric speciation ): Allopatric isolation is a key factor in speciation and a common process by
which new species arise .Greek allos means ‘other’ and patra means ‘fatherland’. It is also often called as
Geographic speciation. It occurs when biological populations of the same species become isolated (i.e.
vicariant) from each other to an extent that prevents or interferes with genetic interchange. The isolated
(vicariant) populations thenlundergo genotypic or phenotypic changes as

: (a) they become subjected to dissimilar selective pressures,

(b) they independently undergo genetic drift,

(c) different mutations may arise in the gene pools of two isolated populations.

Two separate populations over time may evolve distinctly different characteristics. If the geographical
barriers are later removed, members of the two populations may be unable to successfully mate with
each other, at which 2point, the genetically isolated groups have emerged as different species.

Sympatric speciation – In this type, the formation of two or more descendant species happened from
a single ancestral species all occupying the same geographical area. In this type, species diverge while
inhabiting the same place.This speciation requires a change in host, food and habitat preferences in
order to prevent the new species being swamped by gene flow. In theory, it may occur where there is a
polymorphism in the population conferring adaptations to two different habitats/niches. Reproductive
isolation could then arise if the two species had a preference for their habitat.2

Divergent evolution or divergent selection is the accumulation of differences between closely related
populations within a species, sometimes leading to speciation. Divergent evolution is typically exhibited
when two populations become separated by a geographic barrier and experience different selective
pressures that drive adaptations to their new environment.

Convergent evolution is the independent evolution of similar features in species of different periods
or epochs in time. Convergent evolution creates analogous structures that have similar form or function
but were not present in the last common ancestor of those groups

The evolution of humans

Human evolution is the evolutionary process within the history of primates that led to the emergence of
Homo sapiens as a distinct species of the hominid family, which includes all the great apes. This process
involved the gradual development of traits such as human complex languages indicating that human
evolution was not linear but weblike.lArdi (ARA-VP-6/500) is the designation of the fossilized skeletal
remains of an Ardipithecus ramidus, thought to be an early human-like female anthropoid 4.4 million
years old. It is the most complete early hominid specimen, with most of the skull, teeth, pelvis, hands
and feet,[1] more complete than the previously known Australopithecus afarensis specimen called
"Lucy."

Lucy and Ardi

On November 24, 1974, fossils of one of the oldest known human ancestors, an Australopithecus
afarensis specimen nicknamed “Lucy,” were discovered in Hadar, Ethiopia Lucy, about 3.2 million years
old, stood only a meter (3.5 feet) tall. She had powerful arms and long, curved toes that paleontologists
think allowed her to climb trees as well as walk upright.1974, Lucy showed that human ancestors were
up and walking around long before the earliest stone tools were made or brains got bigger, and
subsequent fossil finds of much earlier bipedal hominids have confirmed that conclusion. Bipedalism, it
seems, was the first step towards becoming human.
Ardi is the designation of the fossilized skeletal remains of an Ardipithecus ramidus, thought to be an
early human-like female anthropoid 4.4 million years old. It is the most complete early hominid
specimen, with most of the skull, teeth, pelvis, hands and feet,more complete than the previously
known Australopithecus afarensis specimen called "Lucy." The finding sheds light on a critical but
unknown period of evolution at the root of the human family tree, shortly after our ancestors split from
chimpanzees more than 6m years ago.

Human brain size and evolution

As early humans faced new environmental challenges and evolved bigger bodies, they evolved larger
and more complex brains.Large, complex brains can process and store a lot of information. That was a
big advantage to early humans in their social interactions and encounters with unfamiliar habitats.Over
the course of human evolution, brain size tripled. The modern human brain is the largest and most
complex of any living primate.

Broadly speaking, evolution simply means the gradual change in the genetics of a population over time.
From that standpoint, human beings are constantly evolving and will continue to do so long as we
continue to successfully reproduce. What has changed, however, are the conditions through which that
change occurs