Theory of Evolution The Evolution of Hox Cluster Essay

Dear Mr. Darwin, In your book The Origin of Species you talked about how natural selection was how evolution took place, yet you did not know how this mechanism was actually involved in evolution. Well you were right and now we know how natural selection plays a part in evolution. Natural selection does play a big part but there are others mechanisms that help shape how an organism evolves. These mechanisms include migration, isolation, genetic drift, and mutations. A specific new field in biology has developed, in which explicitly looks at mutations and how it causes the gene to change. More specifically it looks at how the â€Å"genetic switches† known as Hox genes have made these mutations possible. This new field is called evolutionary†¦show more content†¦This new population that was isolated adapted differently to a new environment and hence became a new species of bear. Migration is a mechanism that helps gene flow, by adding new alleles or changes in frequenci es of alleles that are already present within a set population. This can happen when another organism, in the case of insects on birds, gets picked up and moved to a new location. Migration will generally unify gene frequencies among populations rapidly in evolutionary time (Ridley, 2004). If the two populations originally had different gene frequencies and if selection is not operating, migration (or, to be exact, gene flow) alone will rapidly cause the gene frequencies of the different populations to converge (Ridley, 2004). In which causes genetic variation within the population, and can cause this new population to evolve having new characteristics that better suit the populations. Mutations are one of the biggest causes of variation within an organism. Mutations are changes in the genetic sequence, and they are a main cause of diversity among organisms (Loewe, 2008). Mutations mainly arise as copy errors when DNA is replicated at mitosis and meiosis (Ridley, 2004). There is a n ew field in biology that looks at how development produces morphology, and much of morphological evolution occurs by modifications of existing development gene pathways. Specifically it is the study of evolution andShow MoreRelatedeig1213804 Words   |  16 Pagesdiscovery of Tiktaalik shows us how we are related to fish in many ways that were hard to prove in the past. The title comes into play because although we our much more complex than our fish ancestors, everyone’s bodies comes from a long line of evolution that once contained fish. Chapter 2 - Getting a Grip 1. Describe the â€Å"pattern† to the skeleton of the human arm that was discovered by Sir Richard Owen in the mid-1800s. Relate this pattern to his idea of exceptional similarities. Sir Richard OwensRead MoreEssay on Ap Biology Your Inner Fish6743 Words   |  27 PagesCheyenne Grindrod AP Biology Mrs. Lancaster 05 August 2013 Chapter 1: Finding Your Inner Fish PART 1: (b) Prediction: Judging by the image of the magazine cover, this chapter will cover fossils as well as evolution. Perhaps it will talk about how land and water organisms are similar. (c) Description: The magazine cover is Tiktaalik which is a very famous fossil that is the first to show aquatic creatures becoming more associated with being on land and adapting. Tiktaalik is the first