EVOLUTION

Evidence from multiple fields of study points to all life on Earth having a universal common ancestor -
a single-celled organism that lived roughly 3.5 billion years ago. The theory of evolution explains how
the great diversity of life developed from that one organism. When living things reproduce they create
offspring that inherit a mix of their traits as well as developing traits of their own. Small changes can
add up over multiple generations to create dramatic changes and animals may even evolve into different
species. These changes happen via DNA mutation and recombination. DNA is a chain like a set of
chemicals present in every cell of a living organism. It is the building block of life and has coded
information that tells the cell how to grow and function. DNA mutations occur as a result of copying
errors. The change brought about by a mutation is either beneficial, harmful, or neutral. An example of
a neutral DNA mutation is blue eyes in humans. During sexual reproduction, the father's sperm cell -
which contains a copy of half his DNA - and the mother's egg cell – which contains a copy of half her
DNA - fuse. The resulting cell has a complete set of DNA, which is unique recombination of the
parental DNA.
 EXAMPLE
All the dogs that we have today were descended from one group of grey wolves. Breeders selected the
wolves with the most desirable physical and behavioral traits and allowed them to mate, so over time
those desirable traits became more and more pronounced. More and more specialized breeding leads to
all the breeds of dogs we see today, from Labradors to pugs. When nature creates new species it acts
like the dog breeders albeit over a longer period. Animals that have less desirable characteristics to
survive in their environment are selected out by nature, leaving only the most suitably adapted to
survive. These survivors then pass on their desirable traits to their offspring and the process repeats
over millions of years until a species becomes uniquely adapted to survive and thrive in their
environment. Predators, parasites, excessive competition, toxins, climate change are just some of the
things in nature that weed out the weaker members of a population from the rest. The consequence of
natural selection is neatly expressed by the phrase 'Survival of the fittest.' And that, in a nutshell, is
evolution.