Evolution

The most common idea was that the earth was immutable (meaning it could and did not change)

Early church fathers - interpreted story of genesis allegory (story not history)

Explores how organisms interact with each other in an environment - relationships between organisms

• “Humans developed from the world of monkeys” • Theorized a process that allowed species to “become more numerous”

• Noted that some parts serve no purpose - suggests that species had been created in a “perfect” form” but had changed or derived from it over time. • Compared parts and anatomy of animals • Degraded from “perfect form”

• Both suggested that life had changed over time. • Fossil discovery provided idea that some species had gone extinct • Erasmus suggested life might have evolved from a single original source (common ancestor) • Neither could provide a mechanism by how life had changed and evolved. - ideas remained speculative - no mechanism

-His ideas are NOT correct - Acquired characteristics CANNOT be passed on, can’t choose the traits that get passed on - However it was a start of an explanation - All species evolve over time - Species evolves in response to its environment - becomes better adapted - Changes are passed from generation to generation

• Preserved remains and traces of past life • Bones turn into minerals

• Found simple organisms were found in all depths of rocks • More complex are only found in shallow depths • Shallower depths are more likely to resemble living species • Rock layers contain fossils of many species that do not occur in layers above or below them

• Cuvier’s response was that the Earth had undergone a series of catastrophes, catastrophes that wiped out past species • The pattern of fossils could be accounted for by a series of global catastrophes that wiped out most species on Earth

• Charles Lyell described uniformitarianism as the very slow, gradual process/method by which the Earth had changed • Geological processes, laying down sediment, occurs extremely slowly In order for layers of rock to develop it would take many many years. • Geological changes are slow and gradual and that natural laws and processes have not changed over time

• Human Influence path of different organisms • Process where humans choose desirable traits in plants or animals • Selective breeding - Enhance characteristics • Occurs over many gens