The world is forever evolving, never remaining permanent. Land that once rose above the sea years ago is slowly sinking due to rising sea levels and global warming, animals evolving and having to adapt to new environments after the earth’s crust parted due to continental drift creating new islands and continents. The proof for the theory of evolution is embedded in the crusts of the earth of today, telling the story of the geography of genetics.
What is evolution?
Evolution is the gradual change of a population’s gene pool by mutations over a period of time. There are two types of evolution, micro- evolution which is evolution within a species as well as macro-evolution which is decent of a different species from a common ancestor over many generations. This allows for survival of the fittest amongst species therefore allowing survival in changing surroundings.
The Galapagos Islands and Darwin’s theory
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Mainland organisms descended to the Galapagos Islands and due to Geographic isolation were forced to adapt to their surroundings in order to survive and therefor causing speciation to occur. Reproductive isolation occurs from species being no longer able to breed with one another due to distance, causing genetic isolation.
Charles Darwin spent a long time studying the species on the Galapagos Islands and comparing them to the species on the mainland of South America. He discovered the species living there originated from the mainland but had adapted in different ways in order to survive in the new environment. His main focus was the Finches. Darwin discovered that the fiches were genetically similar, but their beaks were different. This was due to the finches having to adapt to the different food niches that were available on different islands. The theory of natural selection was then