BOLIVARIAN REPUBLIC OF VENEZUELA

MINISTRY OF POPULAR POWER FOR HIGHER EDUCATION

NATIONAL EXPERIMENTAL POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE BOLIVARIAN
NATIONAL ARMED FORCE
(UNEFA)
SAN TOME, EDO. ANZOÁTEGUI

PROF.: BACHELOR:
Gustavo Marino Aray P., Jessica R.
CI: V-20171922
November 2010

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INTRODUCTION

It happened that one day, in the minds of some characters, a series of

questions arose: How did life originate? How did men appear? Where do they
come from? What makes men different from the rest? of animals? Could it be
that all living beings have a common ancestor? (…)

Scientists maintain that modern humans originated from Africa,

because that is where the oldest bones have been found.; On the other hand,
in the genetic field, the same conclusion was reached, since DNA studies
have confirmed that all humans, in all their variations, shapes and colors,
have an affiliation with the African hunter-gatherers who lived long ago.
thousands of years ago.

But what does that mean?... that we are related to the monkeys at the
zoo? So... Where is the creationist theory? What about the “Christian-
Catholic-Apostolic” who believe in what the Bible says?... Genesis recounts
the appearance of man as a rational animated being created by God, in his
image and likeness. A sacred book thousands of years old cannot be wrong.

With scientists determined to decipher the origins of life, leaving aside

what the Bible says, they have caused a lot of confusion in society, because
they do not know what to believe; Some remain reluctant with the theory of
evolution, others understand it in their opinion: discrimination and racism
must be encouraged! Bad genes must be eliminated! Here the fittest survive!
And, there are people who do not know which side to choose or what opinion
to express.

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GENESIS

It is the first book of the Bible, in which the origin and creation of the
world, man and life in general are recounted in the first three chapters.

According to the sacred scriptures, the earth, as we know it, was

created by a divine being: God . In a process of seven steps, or seven days;
in which little by little he integrated each of the elements that we know
today: lands, seas, skies, sun, moon, stars and so on until creating animals
and MAN, absolute perfection, for being in the image and likeness of the God
himself. On the seventh day God rested.

There is a slight discord between the very literal understanding of

chapters 1 and 2 of Genesis... Well, in chapter 1 it is said that God creates
man and woman together: " And God created man in his own image, in the
image of God he created him ; male and female he created them.” And in 2
he relates that God formed man from clay, then brought the animals to Adam
so that he could give them a name and realize that he was missing
something: a companion; and Adam realized this and asked God for a woman
for him. Until finally God creates the woman from a rib of Adam: “ And from
the rib that God took from the man, he made a woman and brought her to
the man.”

This was what gave rise to the legend of Lilit, which presents Lilit as
the first woman who abandoned her husband and the garden of Eden. Since
they never found harmony together, when Adam wanted to have sexual
relations with her, Lilith felt offended by the lying position that he demanded
of her. Lilith, enraged, pronounced the magical name of God, rose into the air
and abandoned him. Leaving Eden she gave in to lust with the demons,
giving birth to the Lilim. Heaven punished her by causing one hundred of her
children to die a day.

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 To clarify this confusion, it was established that chapter one of Genesis
presents the week of creation, which culminates with the day of rest. While
the main idea of the second chapter is the institution of marriage, and details
concerning said institution are mentioned; since it does not say that they
were created simultaneously, but rather that they were created on the same
day. Therefore, it is maintained that chapter two does not contradict the first,
but only adds details not mentioned in chapter one.

The book of Genesis does not mention any author, but it is believed
that it was written by several religious people of the time. Although it is also
said that it is based on oral narratives from the 2nd millennium BC.

THEORY OF EVOLUTION

Darwin, Wallace, Lamark, Anaximander, among others, have another

opinion regarding the origin of life: EVOLUTION.

It all started with the discovery of the cell; With a series of studies
they came to the conclusion of conceptualizing the cell as the main
anatomical and functional unit of all organisms.

So if every living organism starts from the cell, there must be a close
relationship, which leads scientists to have the idea that living organisms
have a common ancestor; that they are all part of the same family tree.

Jean Baptiste Lamark's theory was the first to come to mention;

proposes that all static forms created by God had evolved from simple forms;
It means that adaptation mechanisms are responsible for the complexity of
current organisms.

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 Darwin, for his part, after having received a letter from Wallace about
his research regarding natural selection; He was motivated to publish his
work “ The Origin of Species” where he recounts his theory, based on the
principles of natural selection, as an important driver of the evolutionary
process. Charles Darwin accepts Lamarkian principles and Wallace's theories
and that is why his evolutionary thinking is also known as:
Lamark/Darwin/Wallace theory.

Darwin explains his theory in relation to the similarities between the

morphological formation of all living organisms, as well as arguing the
eminent resemblance of current birds with the fossil: “Archaeopteryx”.
However, except for this example, there was virtually no evidence of
intermediate forms or missing links, and this was what robbed the Darwinian
theory of veracity.

However, Darwin's theory was not forgotten; Years later, some

scientists interested in seeking more answers proposed an expansion of this
theory called “Neo-Darwinian Theory.” George John Romanes publishes the
work “ Darwin after Darwin”; where it describes a development of
evolutionary theory, it postulates that sexual reproduction in each generation
creates a new and variable population of individuals, then, natural selection
can act on that variability and determines the course of evolutionary change;
This is how Darwin's original concept is enriched.

Modern evolutionary synthesis.

The synthetic theory or modern evolutionary synthesis incorporates

the fields of systematic genetics and paleontology, which is why neo-
Darwinian theory should not be confused with synthetic theory.

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 Julian Huxley, a precursor of the modern evolutionary synthesis,
pointed out that evolution should be considered central and important in
biology, whose explanation should also be addressed by other sciences, from
geology, geography and even mathematics. Given that with information
provided by all these disciplines, a more robust theory can be established,
giving rise to mathematical models on evolution or evolutionary phenomena
indicated as: mechanisms of evolution.

The dizzying advance of scientific knowledge is leaving the neo-

Darwinian concept of evolution outdated; which establishes natural selection
as the basic mechanism of evolution. Through it, the environment selects
among genetic variability of populations, generated through the slow
accumulation of random mutations, those combinations that favor the
survival of organisms and, therefore, their ability to reproduce.

The fossil record, however, does not seem to support gradual change,
which would be expected if genetic variability were the result of a slow and
progressive accumulation of mutations. Rather, the fossil record indicates
evolution in leaps and bounds. That is, long periods without apparent
changes in populations followed by rapid radiations in which large numbers of
new species appear.

The necessary revision of evolutionary ideas is also encouraged by

new discoveries in Molecular Biology that are revealing a complexity of the
genome that is very far from the classic Mendelian vision of a linear
arrangement of independent genes, on which the theory was built. neo-
darwinist. On the contrary, the genome appears as a highly complex network
of interconnected genes, subject to multiple cascade regulations, with mobile
sequences capable of transposition and rearrangement.

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 In Darwin's time, scientists did not know how characteristics were
inherited. Currently, the origin of most hereditary characteristics can be
traced to persistent entities called genes, encoded in linear deoxyribonucleic
acid (DNA) molecules in the nucleus of cells. DNA varies between members of
the same species and also undergoes changes or mutations, or variations
that occur through processes such as genetic recombination.

 Variability. Variability arises in natural populations through mutations in

the genetic material, migrations between populations (gene flow),
reorganization of genes through sexual reproduction and can also come
from the exchange of genes between different species, for example
through horizontal gene transfer in bacteria or interspecific hybridization
in plants.
Variability is the “ raw material of evolution.” For natural selection to
act on a trait, there must be something to select for, that is, several
alleles for the gene that codes for that trait. Furthermore, the more
variation there is, the more evolution there is. R.A. Fisher mathematically
demonstrated that the more alleles there are for a gene, the more likely it
is that one of them will dominate the rest (notice). This implies that the
more variability there is in a population, the greater the rate of
evolution.
 Mutation. It involves modifications in the sequences of genetic material
in DNA, however, sometimes the copy may not be perfect. This change
can occur spontaneously, due to an error in DNA replication or meiosis,
although it can also be induced by radiation or chemical substances.
 Genetic Recombination. It is the process by which genetic information
is redistributed by transposition of DNA fragments between two
chromosomes during meiosis.
In asexual organisms, genes are inherited together, or linked, since
they do not mix with those of other organisms during the recombination
cycles that usually occur during sexual reproduction. Recombination does

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 not alter allele frequencies but rather modifies the association between
alleles belonging to different genes, producing offspring with unique
combinations of genes. Jens Christian Clausen argued that a combination
of sexuality (allowing the production of new genotypes) and apomixis
(allowing unlimited production of the most adapted genotypes) could
increase, rather than decrease, a species' capacity for adaptive change.
Recombination allows even genes that are together on the same
chromosome to be inherited independently. Furthermore, recombination
and redistribution of genes can produce individuals with new and
favorable genetic combinations.
 Population's genetics. A population is a group of individuals of the
same species that share a geographic area. Populations are subject to
evolutionary changes that underlie genetic changes, which in turn are
influenced by factors such as natural selection and genetic drift that act
mainly by decreasing the variability of populations, or migration and
mutation that act by increasing it. Thus, population genetics is an
essential element of the modern evolutionary synthesis; since it describes
the variation and distribution of allelic frequency to explain evolutionary
phenomena.
 Genetic Flow. Gene flow is the exchange of genes between populations,
usually of the same species. Gene flow within a species can be produced
by the immigration and subsequent crossing of individuals from other
populations or, simply, by the exchange of pollen between different
populations. Gene transfer between species involves the formation of
hybrids or horizontal gene transfer .
Immigration and emigration of individuals in natural populations can
cause changes in allele frequencies, as well as the introduction (or
removal) of allelic variants within an already established gene pool.
Physical separations in time, space or specific ecological niches that may
exist between natural populations restrict or make gene flow impossible.
In addition to these restrictions on the exchange of genes between

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 populations, there are others called reproductive isolation mechanisms,
which prevent members of two different species from crossing or mating
with each other, producing offspring or making them viable or fertile.
Depending on the distance at which two species have diverged from
their most recent common ancestor, it may still be possible for them to
produce offspring, as is the case with mating between the mare and the
donkey to produce the mule; such hybrids are generally infertile.

Evolution Mechanisms

Evolution cannot be considered as an isolated event in itself, but as the

result of the complex and constant interaction of different elements: not only
an infinite number of genetic mutations, but also changes in the
environment; sea level fluctuations, the contribution of nutrients and possibly
factors such as the inversion of the Earth's magnetic field or the impact of
large meteorites on its surface.

There are two basic mechanisms of evolutionary change: natural

selection and genetic drift. Natural selection favors genes that improve the
organism's ability to survive and reproduce. Genetic drift is the random
change in allele frequency, caused by random sampling of genes from one
generation to the next.

 Natural selection. Called the "self-evident mechanism," it is the

necessary consequence of three simple facts: (a) within populations of
organisms there is heritable variation, (b) organisms produce more
offspring than can survive, and (c) such offspring have different
capacities to survive and reproduce.

The central concept of natural selection is the biological fitness of an

organism; fitness measures the proportion of subsequent generations that

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carry that organism's genes. For example, if an organism can survive and
reproduce but its offspring are too small or sickly to reach reproductive
age, that organism's genetic contribution to future generations will be
very low and, therefore, its fitness will also be very low.

Therefore, if one allele increases fitness more than other alleles of the
same gene, with each generation the allele will become more common
within the population. Such traits are said to be “favorably selected”; The
fitness of an allele is not a fixed characteristic; if the environment
changes, traits that were previously neutral or harmful can be beneficial,
and vice versa. However, even if the direction of selection changes, traits
that were lost in the past may not be regained again in an identical form.

Within a population, natural selection for a given continuously varying

trait, such as height, can be categorized into three different types. The
first is “directional selection,” which is a change in the mean value of a
trait over time; for example, when organisms become taller. Second is
“disruptive selection,” which is the selection of extreme values of a
given trait, which often results in extreme values being more common and
selection acting against the average value. This would imply that short
and tall organisms have an advantage, but those of medium height do
not. Finally, in "stabilizing selection" , selection acts against extreme
values, which determines a decrease in the variance around the average
and less variability. This would, for example, cause all organisms in a
population to gradually acquire a similar height.

 Genetic drift. It is a gradual change in the genetic composition of a

population, not linked to the environment. Unlike natural selection, it is
a random process that does not produce adaptations.

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 The process consists of the change in the frequency of alleles
between one generation and the next, and occurs because the alleles
of the offspring are a random sample from the parents, and because
of the role that chance plays in determining whether a given specimen
will survive and reproduce; In mathematical terms, alleles are subject
to sampling error. As a result, when selective forces are absent or
relatively weak, allele frequencies tend to "drift" up or down randomly
(in a random walk). This drift stops when an allele finally becomes
fixed, that is, it either disappears from the population or completely
replaces the rest of the genes.

Genetic drift can cause two separate populations that start with the
same genetic makeup to separate into two divergent populations with
a different set of alleles. The time depends on the size of the
population.

Consequences of Evolution.

 Adaptation . It is one of the basic phenomena of biology; a process

by which a population becomes better suited to its habitat.
 Coevolution . It is the evolutionary phenomenon from a group
perspective; since no species evolved in isolation; On the contrary,
relationships were established between different species, in which
cooperation or conflict reigned; whatever the case, complementary
sets of "commensalism, mutualism, parasitism, predation, competition"
developed between the species.
 Speciation. It occurs when a population of a certain species gives rise
to another or other populations, reproductively isolated from each
other and with respect to the original population. The speciation
process, over 3.8 billion years, has given rise to an enormous diversity

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of organisms, millions of species from all kingdoms, which have
populated and populate the Earth almost from the moment the first
seas were formed. .

Speciation has been observed on multiple occasions both under

controlled laboratory conditions and in nature. In sexually reproducing
organisms, speciation is the result of reproductive isolation followed by
genealogical divergence. There are four modalities of speciation:
allopatric, peripatric, parapatric, sympatric.

 Allopatric speciation : occurs in populations that are initially

geographically isolated, as in the case of habitat fragmentation
or migrations. Under these conditions, selection can cause very
rapid changes in the appearance and behavior of organisms.
Because selection and drift act independently in populations
isolated from the rest of their species, separation can ultimately
create organisms that cannot reproduce among themselves.
 Peripatric speciation : occurs when small populations of
organisms become isolated in a new environment. It differs
from allopatric speciation in that the isolated populations are
numerically much smaller than the parent population. Here, the
founder effect causes rapid speciation through rapid genetic
drift and selection in a small gene pool.
 Parapatric speciation: Similar to peripatric speciation in that a
small population colonizes a new habitat, but differs in that
there is no physical separation between the two populations.
Instead, speciation is the result of the evolution of mechanisms
that reduce gene flow between both populations. Generally, this
occurs when there has been a drastic change in the
environment within the parent species' habitat.

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  Sympatric speciation : species diverge without geographic
isolation or changes in habitat. This modality is rare, as even a
small amount of gene flow can eliminate genetic differences
between parts of a population. In general, in animals, sympatric
speciation requires the evolution of genetic differences and non-
random mating, so that reproductive isolation can develop.
 Extinction. It is the disappearance of an entire species; This is not an
unusual event, since species often appear by speciation, and disappear
by extinction. In fact, practically all animal and plant species that have
ever lived on Earth are currently extinct, and it seems that extinction is
the final destiny of all species. These extinctions have occurred
continuously throughout the history of life, although the rate of
extinction increases dramatically in occasional extinction events.
Human activities are currently the main cause of extinctions still
continuing; Global warming is likely to accelerate even further in the
future.

The role that extinction plays in evolution depends on what type of

extinction it is. Intermittent mass extinctions dramatically reduced
diversity indiscriminately and promoted bursts of rapid evolution and
speciation in the survivors.

 Microevolution and Macroevolution. Microevolution is a term

used to refer to small-scale changes in gene frequencies in a
population over the course of several generations. These changes can
be due to a number of processes: mutation, gene flow, gene drift, as
well as natural selection. Population genetics is the branch of biology
that provides the mathematical structure for the study of
microevolutionary processes, such as skin color in the world's
population.

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 Larger-scale changes, from speciation (emergence of a new
species) to large evolutionary transformations that occurred over long
periods, are commonly called macroevolution (for example,
amphibians that evolved from a group of bony fish).
Biologists do not usually make an absolute separation between
macroevolution and microevolution, since they consider that
macroevolution is simply microevolution accumulated and subjected to
a greater range of environmental circumstances.

Expansion of the Modern Evolutionary Synthesis.

The origin of the human species is still under debate; In recent

decades it has become evident that evolutionary patterns and mechanisms
are much more varied than those postulated by the pioneers of evolutionary
biology and the architects of synthetic theory.

New concepts and information in molecular developmental biology,

systematics, geology, and the fossil record of all groups of organisms need to
be integrated into what has been called an "extended evolutionary synthesis."
The aforementioned fields of study show that evolutionary phenomena
cannot be understood solely through the extrapolation of the processes
observed at the level of modern populations and species.

 Paleobiology and Rates of Evolution. Paleobiology is a discipline

focused on interpreting the ecological and evolutionary processes of
extinct organic beings, studying them from their fossil remains.

At the time when Darwin proposed his theory of evolution,

characterized by small and successive modifications, the available fossil
record was still very fragmentary; this was used as the main argument

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against his proposal that all organisms on Earth come from a common
ancestor.

Scientists have explored the Precambrian period in detail and it is

known that life is much older than was believed in Darwin's time. It is also
known that those ancient life forms were the ancestors of all subsequent
organisms on the planet. Likewise, in the last 20 years, a large number of
representative examples of intermediate fossil forms that link the main
groups of vertebrates and even fossils of the first flowering plants have
been discovered, described and analyzed. As a result of these and other
scientific advances, paleontology (originally a branch of geology) has
developed into a new discipline currently called paleobiology.

The rate of evolution is nothing more than a numerical estimate

concerning the relationship between the quantity and frequency of the
phenomenon of evolution. Population geneticists have long been
interested in determining the rate of allele substitution in the course of
evolution; That is, they intended to be able to analyze the rate at which
allelic forms are replaced in species over evolutionary time. Such a
measure would be a good estimator of evolutionary change since it would
allow the speed of evolution to be characterized in a less ambiguous way
than other measures of evolutionary rates based on the analysis of
complex characters: morphological, anatomical, behavioral, etc.

 Environmental causes of mass extinctions. The term “mass

extinction” is used when a large number of species become extinct in a
geologically short period of time; The events may be related to a
single cause or a combination of causes. Extinct species are plants and
animals of all sizes, marine and terrestrial. A series of extinctions have
occurred in life on earth, of which 5 were truly massive:

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1. A series of Cambrian-Ordovician mass extinctions occurred 488 million
years ago. During that event, many brachiopods and conodonts
disappeared, and the number of trilobite species was also significantly
reduced. The two most accepted hypotheses about the causes of this
extinction are the arrival of a glacial period and the cooling of water
together with a reduction in the amount of available oxygen.
2. 444 million years ago, at the transition between the Ordovician and
Silurian periods, its probable cause was the glacial period. The first
event occurred when marine habitats changed dramatically as sea
levels fell. The second occurred between five hundred thousand and
one million years later, as sea levels rose rapidly. At that time, all
complex organisms lived in the sea and about 100 biological families
became extinct, accounting for 85% of fauna species. Brachiopods
and bryozoans were among the most affected, along with the families
of trilobites, conodonts and graptolites.
3. 360 million years ago the Devonian mass extinction occurred, in the
transition between the Devonian and Carboniferous periods, in which
82% of species disappeared. This was an event that probably lasted
about three million years. It is suspected that the main cause was an
ice age, caused by an enormous diffusion of vegetation that caused
the fixation of Carbon Dioxide, reducing its greenhouse effect and
contributing to cooling.
4. 251 million years ago, during the Permian-Triassic mass extinction,
about 96% of marine species became extinct. This was the greatest
catastrophe that life on Earth has ever known. 53% of marine
biological families, 84% of marine genera and approximately 70% of
terrestrial species (including plants, insects and vertebrates)
disappeared. The causes of the biological catastrophe are still
unknown to science. Several hypotheses compete: extreme volcanism,
an impact from a large asteroid, the explosion of a nearby supernova,
the release of enormous quantities of greenhouse gases trapped in
the ocean floor in the form of methane hydrates.

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5. 65 million years ago in the Cretaceous-Tertiary mass extinction, about
76% of all species disappeared, including dinosaurs. The most
accessible hypothesis attributes this great change to the collision of a
large asteroid or comet against the Earth's surface. As a result of this,
the fire devastated everything that is today the American continent.
The impact caused immense clouds of dust to rise and remain
suspended in the air for months, obscuring the planet. On the other
hand, sulfur, chlorine and nitrogen vapors mixed in dense clouds,
causing deadly acid rains.
The real causes of mass extinctions may never be discovered, however
there is a high probability that they are caused by environmental
disorders; which indicates that while much of evolutionary history may be
gradual, from time to time certain catastrophic events have set its
underlying pace. It is evident that the few "lucky survivors" determine the
subsequent patterns of evolution in the history of life.

 Sexual selection and Altruism. Sexual selection refers to

reproductive success, determined by the way mating is carried out.
The fight between individuals of the same sex to find a partner can
favor certain individuals with certain characteristics or heritable traits.
As these characteristics are perpetuated, only if reproduction
concludes successfully does their frequency of appearance tend to
increase. Sexual selection results in morphological differentiation
between individuals of each sex (Sexual dimorphism) because in one
sex traits evolve that are not necessary for members of the other.
Some examples are: the antlers of male deer, the bright color patterns
of the plumage of the males of some birds, and the size differences
between both sexes of a species. Sexual selection can occur in two
ways: intrasexual selection and epigamous selection.
 Intrasexual selection: males compete for display or engage in fights
to obtain females.

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  Epigamous selection: females accept males that possess certain
traits. On some occasions, individuals of one sex take over many
individuals of the other sex, with whom they mate during the
breeding period (a practice called polygyny). In this way a very
intense sexual selection is carried out.

Altruism is the pattern of animal behavior in which an individual

puts his or her life at risk to protect and benefit other members of the
group. Almost all of these theories explain to us how an individual can
even sacrifice his own survival to protect that of others, although they
always add the fact that among the members of that group there must
be a member who shares part of his or her genes. This would be a
way to ensure the continuity of your genetic information. Despite this,
this theory is insufficient to explain the altruistic behaviors that develop
towards unrelated individuals, that is, those with whom genetic
information is not shared.

To explain unrelated altruism, it has been postulated that, in these

cases, altruistic behavior is carried out when the individual hopes in
some way to be rewarded by the other or by some other member of
the group; or that finally some of the altruistic behaviors may be the
result of the individual's need to feel accepted by the group or a
person, to feel a participant within it, with which they also indirectly
obtain a benefit. This meaning was proposed by scientists exploring
the reasons why non-selfish behavior might have evolved.

 Macroevolution, promising monsters and rated balance. When

macroevolution is defined as the process responsible for the
emergence of higher-ranking taxa, metaphorical language is being
used. In fact, only new species "emerge", since the species is the only
taxon that has ontological status. Macroevolution accounts for the

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 emergence of important morphological discontinuities between
species, which is why they are classified as markedly differentiated
groups, that is, belonging to different and high-ranking taxonomic
units. In the mechanisms that explain the emergence of these
discontinuities, the different conceptions and disciplinary approaches
contradict each other.

Graphic representation of the conceptual differences between

gradualism and punctuated equilibrium in relation to morphological
divergence over time.

Gradualism is the orthodox macroevolutionary model. He explains

macroevolution as the product of slow change, the accumulation of many
small changes over time. This gradual change should be reflected in the
fossil record with the appearance of numerous transitional forms between
groups of organisms. However, the record is not abundant in intermediate
forms. The gradualists attribute this discrepancy between their model and
the evidence found to the imperfection of the geological record itself
(according to Darwin's expressions, the geological record is a narrative of
which some volumes and many pages have been lost). The punctuated
equilibrium model – proposed in 1972 by N. Eldredge and S.J. Gould -
maintains instead that the fossil record is a faithful reflection of what
really happened. Species appear suddenly in geological strata, are found
there for 5 to 10 million years without major morphological changes, and
then abruptly disappear from the record, replaced by another related but
different species. Eldredge and Gould use the terms stasis and disruption,
respectively, to designate these periods. According to their model, abrupt
interruptions in the fossil record of a species would reflect the moment in
which it was replaced by a small peripheral population - in which the pace
of evolution would have been faster - that competed with the original
species and ended up replacing it. . According to this pattern, natural

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selection operates not only within the population, but also between
species, and qualitatively important changes in organisms would occur in
relatively short periods - from the geological point of view - separated by
long periods of equilibrium.

In evolutionary biology, a promising monster is an organism with a

profoundly mutant phenotype that has the potential to establish a new
evolutionary lineage. The term is used to describe a saltational speciation
event, which can contribute to the production of new groups of
organisms. The phrase was coined by German geneticist Richard
Goldschmidt who thought that small, gradual changes, which satisfactorily
explain microevolutionary changes, cannot explain macroevolution. The
evolutionary relevance of promising monsters has been rejected or
questioned by many scientists who defend the Synthetic Theory of
Biological Evolution.254 In his work The material basis of evolution,
Goldschmidt wrote that "change from one species to another is not a
change that does not involve more and more atomistic changes, but a
complete modification of the main pattern or the main reaction system
into a new one, which can later again produce intraspecific variation by
means of micromutations. "

Goldschmidt's thesis was universally rejected and widely ridiculed

within the scientific community, who favored neo-Darwinian explanations
of RA. Fisher, J. b. S. Haldane and Sewall Wright.

However, several lines of evidence suggest that promising monsters

play a significant role in the origin of key innovations and novel body
plans by saltational evolution, rather than by gradual evolution.254
Stephen Jay Gould argued in 1977 that genes or regulatory sequences
They offered some support for Goldschmidt's postulates. In fact, he
argued that examples of rapid evolution do not undermine Darwinism (as

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Goldscmidt assumed), but neither do they deserve immediate discredit, as
many neo-Darwinists thought.257 Gould insisted that Charles Darwin's
belief in gradualism was never an essential component of his theory of
evolution by natural selection. Thomas Henry Huxley also warned Darwin
that he had burdened his work "with unnecessary difficulty by adopting
without reservation the principle Natura non facit saltum."258 Huxley
feared that such an assumption might discourage those naturalists who
believed that cataclysms and great evolutionary leaps They played a
significant role in the history of life. Gould wrote:

As a Darwinist, I wish to defend Goldschmidt's postulate that

macroevolution is not simply extrapolated microevolution and that large
structural transitions can occur rapidly without a series of smooth
intermediate states... In his infamous 1940 book, Goldschmidt specifically
invokes developmental genes as potential makers of promising monsters.

 Synthesis of developmental biology and evolutionary theory.

Developmental biology; formerly called Embryology; it was not part of
the synthetic theory; but it was not because they wanted to leave it
out of the synthesis, but rather the embryologists of the time had a
position against the evolutionary theory and preferred not to join;
They then claim that they were left out.

However, in the last two decades, that participation has been

remedied. In fact, both developmental biology and evolutionary
biology have come together to form a new discipline called
Evolutionary Developmental Biology , also known as “Evo-devo” .
This explores how developmental processes have evolved and how,
ultimately, the development plans of the various parts of the body of
organisms of the past and of current organisms have been achieved.
The discovery of homeotic genes ( HOX genes ) came from this

36
 branch; These genes encode DNA binding proteins that profoundly
influence embryonic development. They play an important role in the
morphogenesis of vertebrate embryos, since they provide regional
information along the anteroposterior axis of the body.

 Microbiology and Horizontal Gene Transfer. The first was

practically ignored, due to the scarcity of morphological traits and the
lack of a species concept, especially among prokaryotes. Now,
evolutionary researchers are taking advantage of their greater
understanding to explore the taxonomy and evolution of these
organisms. These studies are revealing totally unexpected levels of
diversity among microbes.

A particularly important result in studies of microbial evolution was

the discovery of horizontal gene transfer in 1959 in Japan. This
transfer of genetic material between different species of bacteria has
played an important role in the spread of antibiotic resistance. More
recently, as knowledge of genomes has expanded, it has been
suggested that the horizontal transfer of genetic material has played
an important role in the evolution of all organisms. These high levels of
horizontal gene transfer have led to questioning the family tree of
organisms. Indeed, as part of the endosymbiotic theory of organelle
origin, horizontal gene transfer was a critical step in the evolution of
eukaryotes such as fungi, plants, and animals.

 Endosymbiosis and the origin of eukaryotic cells. The

endosymbiosis hypothesis (also called theory) indicates that the
evolution of the first eukaryotic cells is the result of the permanent
incorporation of what were once physiologically different and
autonomous prokaryotic cells into a prokaryotic host cell. According to
this concept, mitochondria have evolved from some form of ancient

36
 aerobic bacteria, while chloroplasts have evolved from some form of
cyanobacteria-type prokaryotes.

The explanation of these symbiogenetic processes would follow

these steps: at first, an individual would come into contact with a
bacteria, in principle this relationship could be parasitic, but over time
both individuals could reach a mutualistic relationship, the host would
find advantages in the characteristics and specialties of the host. If this
point is not reached, natural selection would penalize this relationship,
gradually decreasing the number of these individuals in the population
as a whole; On the contrary, a fruitful relationship would be favored by
natural selection and the individuals involved would proliferate. Finally,
the close relationship between both would be reflected in the genetic
inheritance of the resulting individual.

 Variations in the expression of genes involved in inheritance.

There are also forms of hereditary variation that are not based on
changes in genetic information; but yes in the process of decoding it.
The process that produces these variations leaves the genetic
information intact and is often reversible. This process is called
epigenetic inheritance, which results from the transmission of non-DNA
information sequences through meiosis or mitosis; and may include
phenomena such as DNA methylation or structural inheritance.
Whether these mechanisms allow the production of specific beneficial
variations in response to environmental cues is still being investigated.
If this is the case, some instances of evolution could occur outside the
typically Darwinian picture, which would avoid any connection between
environmental signals and the production of heritable variations;
although remembering that indirectly the origin of the process itself
would involve genes, such as the genes for the DNA-methyltransferase
enzyme, histones, etc.

36
Impact of the Theory of Evolution.

From the first moment in which the pioneers of evolutionary theories

began to shape their hypothesis, disputes, unknowns, controversies, debates,
controversies arose, (...) Especially after the publication of The Origin of
Species , by Charles Darwin .

The first to oppose the aforementioned theory were countless religious

believers in the creationist theory; For hundreds and hundreds of years
humanity faithfully trusted the sacred scriptures which relate that man was
made by God from clay; and not only these, but also the followers of other
stories, such as the Hindus, the Buddhists, the Japanese, the Aztecs, in short,
everyone had their myth, their legend, their story about the origin of
everything , so that a little man with a pronounced beard to say that all those
fables had no reason to exist and, incidentally, postulate that man and
everything that surrounds him is the result of evolution. That man is part of
the hominid family: orangutans, gorillas, chimpanzees and bonobos.

What the hell does that guy have in his head?! I suppose some
characters of the time thought; Such was the ridicule towards the crazy
proposal, that they made caricatures of Charles Darwin with a monkey body.
But, what if that theory had emerged at this time, what would they say? –
And this one that was smoked? (hahaha) – maybe not, maybe in this
technological revolution, a 21st century Darwin would believe his theory
without hesitation. Today evolution is as subject to doubt as the theory that
the Earth revolves around the Sun.

Those who did not question the Darwinian hypothesis for a second
were those who used it as an excuse to support philosophical positions that
promote discrimination and racism. For example, Francis Galton's eugenic
ideas were developed to argue that the human gene pool should be improved

36
through selective breeding policies, including incentives for those considered
to have "good genes" to reproduce, and forced sterilization, prenatal testing,
contraception, and even the killing of those considered to have "bad genes."
Another example of an extension of the theory of evolution that is currently
considered unfounded is social Darwinism, a term referring to the Malthusian
theory of the Whig party, developed by Herbert Spencer in ideas about
"survival of the fittest" in commerce and in human societies in general, and
by others in claims that social inequality, racism and imperialism were
justified.

The atrocities of the Holocaust were also linked to the theory of

evolution, through the action of natural selection, which maintains that the
survival of the fittest explains and justifies the differences in well-being and
success between societies. However, contemporary scientists and
philosophers consider that these ideas are neither implicit in evolutionary
theory nor supported by available information.

At the beginning of the 20th century, both Western religions and

scientists dogmatically and almost unanimously discounted or condemned
any proposal that implied that life is the result of an evolutionary process.
However, as geological evidence began to accumulate around the world, a
group of scientists began to question whether a literal interpretation of the
creation recounted in the Judeo-Christian Bible could be reconciled with its
discoveries (and their implications). Some religious geologists, such as Dean
William Auckland in England, Edward Hitchcock in the United States, and
Hugo Millar in Scotland continued to justify geological and fossil evidence only
in terms of a universal Flood.

This early debate about the literal validity of the Bible did not take
place behind closed doors, and it destabilized educational opinion on both

36
continents. Eventually, he instigated a counter-reformation that took the form
of a religious revival on both continents between 1857 and 1860.

In response to the scientific acceptance of the theory of evolution,

many religious people and philosophers have attempted to unify scientific and
religious views, either formally or informally; through a "pro-evolution
creationism." For example, some religious people have adopted a creationist
approach from theistic evolution or evolutionary creationism, and defend that
God provides a divine spark that initiates the process of evolution, and (or)
where God created the course of evolution.

Beginning in 1950, the Roman Catholic Church took a neutral position

regarding evolution with Pope Pius XII's encyclical Humani Generis. "The
Magisterium of the Church does not prohibit that - according to the current
state of science and theology - in research and disputes, among the most
competent men in both fields, the doctrine of evolutionism is the object of
study, insofar as it seeks the origin of the human body in a pre-existing living
matter - but the Catholic faith mandates that souls are created immediately
by God. ". In 1996 John Paul II stated that the theory of evolution is more
than a hypothesis and recalled that The Magisterium of the Church is directly
interested in the question of evolution, because it influences the conception
of man. Pope Benedict XVI has stated that "there is much scientific evidence
in favor of evolution, which is presented as a reality that we must see and
that enriches our knowledge of life and being as such. But the doctrine of
evolution does not answer all the questions and above all it does not answer
the great philosophical question: where does all this come from and how
does everything take a path that ultimately leads to man?

EVOLUTION OF THE SOCIETY

36
 Human society has not always been the same, but has been and is
constantly evolving and has gone, historically speaking, from small
dimensions (sizes) and simple organizational forms to larger dimensions and
with complex degrees of internal organization. Thus the current expression of
human society is not the same as in the origins of humanity and will not be
the same in the future since it will assume new forms and contents.

But first, what is society? (…)

Society is the set of individuals who act in accordance with achieving

technological, socio-political and economic development, allocating it to
subsistence and interacting with each other, cooperatively, to form a group or
a community. Human societies are population entities; Within the population
there is a relationship between the subjects and the environment, both carry
out activities in common and this is what gives them their own identity. Also,
society is a chain of knowledge between various areas, economic, political,
cultural, sports and entertainment. Furthermore, within society there are
several cultures that are created by man, and these cultures have their own
territory to be able to develop successful interaction with subjects of the
same beliefs, customs, behaviors, ideologies and the same language.

Humanity, humans, man... What is man? It's something amazing;

Man is the one who does countless studies regarding EVERYTHING! He
provides a clear and precise answer to any question; but he cannot establish
a concept, his own definition of himself, an answer that encompasses
everything it means to be a man as such.

The Dictionary of the Royal Academy of Language records the

following definition: MAN “ Rational animate being, male or female” this
definition introduces the term rational, an adjective on which it is necessary
to stop for a moment, since this is a defining feature. and differential of the

36
human species. The term rational leads to the term reason, this is understood
as the capacity that humans have to think, that is, to change concepts and
propositions.

Now knowing what man and society are, the following question arises:
What is the evolution of human society due to? (…)

Society is the cradle of the human being. It is through it that man can
develop as such; given that this is a perfectible being and needs society to
perfect itself, apart from becoming a worthy being so that society treats it
with dignity. This is why society is made for man and we must not forget that
it is men who make it up. But every society must tend to the common good
and not the public good.

It is born with the very appearance of man. In prehistory, society was

organized hierarchically, where a leader was always the strongest, wisest of
the group, occupying power. It was not until the Greek era when this
absolutist tendency of power changed, giving way to a social system in which
the lower classes of society could occupy power or unite to occupy it,
democracy, which gave rise to the appearance of politics. But it was not until
1789 with the French Revolution when the trend of society changed radically,
making it possible for anyone to rise to a higher class, something impossible
until that time.

Human society has suffered great changes throughout History that

have made it evolve in all aspects (scientific, technological, social,
economic, cultural, among others).

Social Evolutionism .

36
 It is the term that defines the change from one society to more
complicated ones. It is based on anthropological theories of social
development that are credited to societies with primitive state terms that
gradually become more civilized with the passage of time.

Social evolutionism is formed by ideas such as those of Charles

Darwin, Herbert Spencer and Lewis Henry Morgan among others. The latter
two base their thoughts on Darwin's evolutionary theory and which Spencer
later coined the term social Darwinism and which Morgan used to analyze the
North American tribes with the study of the Iroquois. The objective of his
studies is not the evolution of individual institutions isolated within a social
context, but rather the evolution of society as a whole.

To all this, social evolution has been taken by those who study the
science of man as a force that carries out the work of concrete individual
factors, determining the course of history. In 1859, Darwin advanced
transformism or evolutionism, offering his own observations to demonstrate
the differences by resorting to paleontology to prove the historical nature of
the process.

In general, the experience of humanity gives way to a social evolution

that is moved by functions and needs that occur at the moment that they
change and to which they have been exposed and that knowledge can reach
the hands of the person from others through through learning or a need
placed as a priority. Its results are uniform, coherent and repeatable
throughout its development.

All of these ideas have been composed by the so-called main

civilizations and main movements in the history of the ancient and medieval
world in the West and which are still valid today. These four main focuses
that have had the most influence have been the Phoenician (trade), the

36
Greek (everything that other civilizations have but with the addition of
gambling, art, liberal ideas, etc.), the Roman (power and superiority) and the
Judeo-Christian (God and origins of nature).

Conclusion

The geological structure and fossil remains have helped specialists

reconstruct the history of life on our planet. Today it is assumed that the first
living beings appeared more than 3.8 billion years ago. From then until now,
the Earth has recorded the emergence, evolution and extinction of numerous
species. After the extinction of the great dinosaurs, mammals found the
opportunity to evolve to become rulers of the Earth. At first its size was like
that of a mouse, but later its growth was constant and it covered the planet.
The evidence available so far maintains that man has undergone a change
along with the rest of the species, being himself part of the animal kingdom,
in his classification of placental mammals; having primates as ancestors.
Perhaps modified by climate change, about five million years ago, the species
of primates that inhabited the African jungle subdivided, giving rise to the
appearance of hominids, our first bipedal ancestors. From then on, the
scientific community attempts to reconstruct complex phylogenetic trees to
account for the emergence of our species.

Before all this evidence of so-called evolution appeared, most of the

peoples of the world had their versions of the origin of the world and man;
One of the most outstanding beliefs is divine creation, dating back to the first
book of the Bible, Genesis, according to which the world was created in 7
days by God; On the sixth day, the first man was created from clay, “in the
image and likeness” of the Creator. The goal was for this creature to
dominate nature. Eve, the first woman, emerged from one of Adam's ribs. For
disobeying the Creator by eating one of the forbidden fruits, Adam and Eve

36
were expelled from Paradise. Condemned to work the land and give birth in
pain, they had children, giving rise to humanity.

Whatever the origin of humanity, human society emerged from its

beginnings, which has evolved according to the periods of time in which we
live. It has been human society that gave the pro to the Creationist theory
and the con to the Evolutionist theory; although currently both are accepted
according to theistic evolution.

In my opinion, events exposed in the Bible coincide with arguments

presented in evolutionary theory; and one answer to the morphological
resemblance of organisms may be the very fact that they were all created by
one God; Scientists insist on giving an answer to everything, but as the Popes
said; How do they explain the existence of the soul in all men? Where does
all this come from and how does everything take a path that ultimately leads
to man?; and one last question asked by myself: How do you explain how life
emerged, that is, why evolution occurs, what objective did the cells have to
begin to progress? Because just as they evolved, they could have remained
static; There had to be something that drove them, something that
established the forms as they are: Our God!!

36
Bibliography

The information contained in this work is the result of writing at the

discretion of Bachelor Jessica Aray, based on content obtained from the
following web pages:

http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evoluci%C3%B3n_biol%C3%B3gica

http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitos_de_la_creaci%C3%B3n

http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biblia

http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brahm%C4%81

http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Origen_del_mujer

http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lilit

http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_origen_de_las_especies

http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hom%C3%ADnido

http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hominina

http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hominidae

http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holocaust

http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man

http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homo_sapiens

http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Society

http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evolucionismo_social

http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Altruism

http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paleobiolog%C3%ADa

http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puntuated_Equilibrium

http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuello_de_botella_(biolog%C3%ADa)

http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extinci%C3%B3n_masiva

36
 http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extinciones_masivas_del_C%C3%A1mbrico-Ordov
%C3%ADcico

http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extinciones_masivas_del_Ordov%C3%ADcico-Sil
%C3%BArico

http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extinci%C3%B3n_masiva_del_Dev%C3%B3nico

http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extinci%C3%B3n_masiva_del_P%C3%A9rmico-Tri
%C3%A1sico

http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extinci%C3%B3n_masiva_del_Cret%C3%A1cico-
Tertiario

http://html.rincondelvago.com/extinciones-en-las-eras-geologicas.html

http://html.rincondelvago.com/evolucion-humana-y-origen-de-la-sociedad.html

http://blog.educastur.es/iesdenorena/2009/11/23/evolucion-de-la-sociedad-
humana/

http://www.uam.es/personal_pdi/ciencias/joaquina/BOXES_CCAA/
ESTIMADORES_CAMBIO_EVOLUTIVO/Estimadores_%20cambio_evolutivo.htm

http://www.buenastareas.com/search_results.php?query=evolucionismo+social

http://www.buenastareas.com/ensayos/La-Sociedad-Humana/160351.html

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203223.html

http://www.buenastareas.com/ensayos/La-Sociedad-Humana/386744.html

http://www.buenastareas.com/ensayos/Evolucion-De-La-Sociedad/643436.html

http://www.buenastareas.com/ensayos/Evolucion-De-La-Sociedad/198082.html

Thus, as from the books mentioned below:

FIRST BOOK OF MOSES. Genesis. The Holy Scripture. The Bible.

AROZAMERA, María; WHITE, Leonardo; CABEZÓN, Gabriela;

CLEMENTE, Graciela; JEMIO, Diego; PELLEGRINO, Mariana;
PODESTÁ, Carolina; PODESTÁ, Verónica; DE LA SERNA, Martha;

36
VELOSO, Claudio; WEISS, María Laura; ZUAZO, Natalia . Visual Atlas
of Science. Volume 12: Evolution. Barcelona, Buenos Aires. 2006 Editorial
Sol 90.

RENGIFO LOZANO, Bernardo; PIZANO SALAZAR, Catalina.

Dictionary of synonyms and antonyms. Printed in Colombia. 1999 Norma
SA Publishing House; 2003 Edition.

36
Index

Front page 1
Back cover 2
Introduction 3
Genesis 4
Theory of Evolution 5
- Modern Evolutionary Synthesis 6
 Variability 8
 Mutation 8
 Genetic Recombination 8
 Population's genetics 9
 Genetic Flow 9
 Evolution Mechanisms 10
 Natural selection 11
 Genetic drift 12
 Consequences of Evolution 13
 Adaptation 13
 Coevolution 13
 Speciation 13
 Allopatric Speciation 13

 Peripatric Speciation 14

 Parpatric Speciation 14

 Sympatric speciation 14
 Extinction 15
 Microevolution and Macroevolution 15
- Expansion of the modern Evolutionary 16
Synthesis

36
  Paleobiology and Rates of Evolution 16

 Environmental Causes of Mass Extinctions 17

 Natural Selection and Altruism 19

 Intrasexual Selection 20

 Epigamic Selection 20

 Macroevolution, Promising Monsters and Rated

Balance 21

 Synthesis of Developmental Biology and the theory

of Evolution 24

 Microbiology and Horizontal Gene Transfer 24

 Endosymbiosis and the origin of eukaryotic cells 25

 Variations in the expression of genes involved in

inheritance 26
- Impact of the theory of Evolution 26
Evolution of the Society 29
- Social Evolutionism 31
Conclusion 33
Bibliography 35

36