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Talk:Evidence of evolution (view source)
Revision as of 20:25, January 9, 2009
, 20:25, January 9, 2009I'll take all the help I can get on this: note that the 90/10 rule does not apply when a sysop peppers you with questions like a moth flying toward light ;-
:::Very good points. I often remember the fact that most high school biology teachers either minored in biology in college or they had a couple of bioclasses with their masters. In either case their exposure to evolutionary theory is very limited and I would not refer to them as evolution educators. I know for a fact that the Peppered Moth is not used as an example in most college bio-major classes, due to better and more current examples. The use of the Peppered Moth may just "date" the instructor, lol. I would say that Wells is making a mountain out of a mole hill.
:::Very good points. I often remember the fact that most high school biology teachers either minored in biology in college or they had a couple of bioclasses with their masters. In either case their exposure to evolutionary theory is very limited and I would not refer to them as evolution educators. I know for a fact that the Peppered Moth is not used as an example in most college bio-major classes, due to better and more current examples. The use of the Peppered Moth may just "date" the instructor, lol. I would say that Wells is making a mountain out of a mole hill.
:::As for your last question "does "evolution" sometimes also mean "changes in distribution of existing organisms"?" yes it does. This is one of the driving forces in evolution as population distribution directly effects gene dispersion. Both varieties of moth did exist before the soot pollution, if anything the peppered moth example shows population shift due to natural selection (moths easier to see).--[[User:Able806|Able806]] 14:54, 9 January 2009 (EST)
:::As for your last question "does "evolution" sometimes also mean "changes in distribution of existing organisms"?" yes it does. This is one of the driving forces in evolution as population distribution directly effects gene dispersion. Both varieties of moth did exist before the soot pollution, if anything the peppered moth example shows population shift due to natural selection (moths easier to see).--[[User:Able806|Able806]] 14:54, 9 January 2009 (EST)
I'm confused (but don't worry: that's my normal state when I first start learning about something). Did you just say that "changes in distribution of existing organisms" are a cause of evolution? (I thought they are a result.)
More to the point, is a "[[population shift]]" the same as a change in the distribution of existing varieties of a species? If so, is this considered part of "[[the theory of evolution]]" or simply a general principle of [[ecology]]?
*I have seen evolution defined as "any change in the frequency of alleles within a gene pool" [http://toarchive.org/faqs/evolution-definition.html]; but also as,
*changes in populations that are ... inheritable via the genetic material from one generation to the next
If glaciers come down from the North Pole over a period of tens of thousands of years, this will change the distribution of varieties and species of plant and animal life. But when they melt later on (see [[interglacial]]), the same distribution pretty much comes back. Are any new varieties or species created during or '''because''' of this?
What I'm really getting at is a way of making the theory of evolution [[falsifiable]]. For it to be distinguished from [[pseudoscience]], there has to be some aspect of it which (proponents admit?) which makes a testable prediction. Or which at least says, "If the theory is true, then we will see X in the fossil record."
Then if X is produced, we can say that evolution is consistent with reality. But if we can't produce X, we might be justified in doubting evolution.
One "X" we're all looking for is an modern example of evolution. If by "evolution" we mean the appearance of a new variety or species. If there were no dark varieties of the peppered moth 200 years ago, but soot pollution brought it into being, this might prove something (but see also [[breeding]]). --[[User:Ed Poor|Ed Poor]] <sup>[[User talk:Ed Poor|Talk]]</sup> 15:25, 9 January 2009 (EST)