EVOLUTION MISCONCEPTIONS

NATURAL SELECTION MISCONCEPTIONS

• Natural Selection changes only for good reasons
• Natural Selection is organisms adapting to their surroundings
• Natural Selection helps the fittest
• If an organism does not reproduce, it is evolutionarily useless

There is a theory that if an organism does not reproduce, it is evolutionarily useless. However, this is not true. Natural selection occurs at the gene level. Therefore, the physical organism does not really matter, the genes the organism contained do.

ANGLER FISH

• The male fish is extremely small
• It must reproduce immediately or it will cease to exist
• This does not make it evolutionarily useless
• This is a prime example of the corrected theory

Organisms do not necessarily adapt to their surroundings. If the mutation they receive helps them survive longer, it will most likely be passed on to the next generation. Soon the mutation will be common and it will no longer be considered a "mutation," but a common trait.

GIRAFFES

• MISCONCEPTION:
• The giraffe's neck stretched because they couldn't reach high leaves
• CORRECTIONS:
• The stretching of the giraffe's neck was a mutation
• The mutated giraffes have passed the mutation to their offspring

Natural Selection does not change for good reasons. Natural selection does not have intentions. Natural selection selects from certain organisms, giving traits that enable individuals to survive and reproduce. Therefore, it would make more copies of that gene in the next generation.

MARFAN SYNDROME

• This is an example how Natural Selection does not always work well
• Marfan Syndrome is a genetic disease
• Usually if you are related to someone who has it, you may have it too.
• If you have Marfan Syndrome, you have a 50% chance of passing it on to your children

Natural Selection does not only help the fittest. There are not one or two "best" individuals in the population that pass their genes on to the next generation. The "fittest" organisms are the most well suited to their environment. But, they all survive, and reproduce, passing on their genes to the next generation.

EVERY DAY EXAMPLES

• A plant may not be able to survive a drought
• An animal may not be able to catch its prey every time it's hungry
• They are fit enough to pass on their genes to the next generation