Has evolution stopped?
By egr134
@egr134 (192)
Argentina
January 26, 2008 2:30pm CST
What do you think about it? Does the history of the world make sense about that? I mean, species are supposed to adapt to their environment but all the animals are adapted to their environment now. Could it be real that this has met an end and the world will be the same for many years? Personally I don't think it is true, I heard a friend saying that at school. What do you think?
4 people like this
6 responses
@ESKARENA1 (18261)
•
26 Jan 08
i agree absolutely. If evolution is simply adaption to our environment then we either evolve or die out
blessed be
2 people like this
@Aurone (4755)
• United States
26 Jan 08
Evolution doesn't stop because environments are not stable, they keep changing so the organisms keep on evolving with them. For example, bacteria have evolved resistance to pencillian and mosquitoes have evolved a resistance to some pesticides. Humans also evolve immune responses to new diseases.
2 people like this
@stvasile (7306)
• Romania
27 Jan 08
The environment today is not stable. The planet is constantly changing and the environment suffers small or large changes.
It also depends on the creature's lifespan. For an ephemeride, that only lives for a day, the environment may seem quite stable. Nevertheless, when its offsprings hatch, they will most certainly find other conditions than its parents.
For the creatures that live long lives (a turtle that lives for more than 100 years, for example), the changes in the environment can be noticed even during the animal's (or plant's) life, and it will pass to the young the best genetical adaptations.
@ESKARENA1 (18261)
•
26 Jan 08
No i do not think evolution has stopped although i do feel there are limitations. The head of the human baby can not grow any bigger for natural childbirth to be possible. However, we appear to use only 10 percent of our brain's capacity. Therefore, as we progress we evolve
blessed be
1 person likes this
@Rhoadan (42)
• United States
26 Jan 08
I wouldn't consider the physical limitation on the size of an infant's head to be a limitation of evolution; it's a selective pressure. You'd be surprised at how often evolution comes up with novel solutions to problems. As it is, infant heads are somewhat compressible. The cranium of a newborn is composed of sections with space between them. This allows the skull to be squeezed down to a size that will fit through the pelvis, if barely. The seams seal within a couple of years allowing room for brain growth.
As for the ten percent of our brain bit, that's a myth although where it came from is less than clear (http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=do-we-really-only-use-10&page=1). In any case, you're confusing a colloquial use of the word "evolution" with the biological theory of evolution which has to do with changes in gene frequencies over the course of generations.
@jenthsenth (16)
• United States
13 Jul 08
Evolution has not stopped. Natural evolution may have paused for awhile. But regardless, bacteria continue to cause at least some human evolution. Evolution will not stop as long as time continues for species.
1 person likes this
