Carnival of Evolution: Darwin’s Day Edition

Ever since the theory of evolution was developed by Charles Darwin, there have been a number of facts that have emerged after a multitude of research in this field to support the theory. It is still , however, perceived to be a theory , due to the fact that there is no concrete proof to confirm it.

One of the biggest challenges facing the proof of evolution is the fact that the process of evolution occurs over periods of hundreds of years which therefore makes it very difficult to observe and measure. One of the pieces of evidence that has helped in this regard is the discovery of fossils. Fossils provide insight into what creatures looked like in the past and scientists are able to analyse the similarities and differences between fossils and modern day organisms. Scientists are also sometimes able to explain why the changes occur over the number of years and this may often leads to a greater understanding of these changes.

The theory of evolution states that modern human beings evolved from apes and this theory is further supported by the discovery that one of the chromosomes in the human body is the result of the fusion of two ape chromosomes. By looking at mitochondrial studies of humans and apes, it has been found that there is a 91% similarity between chimpanzees and human beings. Genes are continually changing in a response to the change in environment and the fact that human genes are closely related to the genes of apes further supports the theory of evolution.

Darwin's theory of evolution has contributed greatly in the field of science but there are ,however , some holes in his theory that have been discovered recently which all points to the fact that this is merely a theory, albeit a very plausible one.