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Mad Lab Squad
The Theory of Evolution
Charles Darwin, an English naturalist and geologist had a passion and curiosity for how nature worked. After graduating from college, Darwin was invited by his botany professor to embark on a voyage on the Beagle to the South American coastline to chart poorly known stretches. In between stops to Brazil, Argentina, the Galapagos and many other places over the globe Darwin noticed that the plants and animals had many similarities along with variations based on location. In this finding, Charles Darwin concluded that they must have evolved from common ancestors. Evolution as Darwin described it is 'descent with modification' which he used to propose that Earth's species are descendants of ancestral species. Evolution has many other definitions but one thing is certain evolution can be viewed in two related but contrasting ways: as a pattern and as a process. The pattern of evolutionary change is shown through data or observations from Biology, Geology, Physics and Chemistry. The process of evolution includes components that create the observed pattern change.
Evolution/Natural Selection
Natural Selection
On Charles Darwin's life changing voyage, another observation was made about the plants and animals. In Darwin's observations, he found that individuals that had certain heritable traits survive and reproduce at a higher rate than other individuals this called natural selection. Charles Darwin realized that as time goes on natural selection will increase the match between organism and their environments. Darwin also realized that if organisms migrate or their environment change in anyway natural selection may result in adaptations to these conditions and may in fact create new species. Natural selection has been proven many times over from the evolution of drug-resistant bacteria to the Soapberry bugs. Charles Darwin's life changing voyage, another observation was made.​
Field Study: SoapBerry Bugs ( Jadera Haematoloma)
Soapberry Bugs feed most efficiently when their beaks coincide with the depth of the fruits of the seeds they consume. A population of Soapberry Bugs beaks was measured by researchers in southern Florida feeding on the native balloon vine. Soapberry beak lengths were also measured in central Florida feeding on the introduced golden rain tree (flatter fruit shaped compared to the balloon vine). Researchers then compared the measurements to those of the museum specimens collected in two locations before the golden rain was introduced.
Results: It was found that beaks lengths were shorter in populations feeding on the introduced species than in populations feeding on the native species. The average beak length in the museum specimens from each population (indicated in red arrows) was similar to beak lengths in populations feeding on native species
Conclusion: A change in the size of the Soapberry bug's food source can result by the natural selection for matching beak size.
Hardy Weinberg Principal
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