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COMMON MISCONCEPTIONS OF EVOLUTION Indiana University East- Anthony Breitenbach

Common misconceptions of evolution

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Common misconceptions of evolution. Indiana University East- Anthony Breitenbach. Robert L. Trivers. MET~ often denied. Robert L. Trivers. - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

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Evolution: Just a theory?

Common misconceptions of evolutionIndiana University East- Anthony Breitenbach

Robert L. Trivers MET~ often denied

Robert L. TriversAlthough Darwins theory of evolution through natural selection is central to the study of social behavior (especially when wedded to Mendels genetics) , it has been widely neglected.

Central To Life Science

Why is MET so widely neglected?MisconceptionsThe History-Deniers

The Common Misconceptions1) MET as a belief system 2) MET as teleological3) Survival of the fittest4) Natural Selection5) Humans came from monkeys6) MET as only a theory

6MET as a Belief SystemWhat do you think of Evolution?I do not believe in Evolution

The Difference: Science & ReligionNatural worldExplanatory toolTest hypotheses

Supernatural worldBelief systemContain no testable hypothesesScienceReligion

Natural WorldWWIIObservable

Supernatural WorldReligion: belief system

1) MET as a Belief System: Conc.Accept or deny the fact (not believe)

MET as TeleologicalTeleological: perfection point to strive for

Natural SelectionMisunderstanding of Natural SelectionI have called this principle, by with each slight variation, if useful, is preserved, by the term Natural Selection. Charles Darwin

Natural Selection: Not a ForceGenetic Variation

No Teleological GoalGenes advantageous to slugs Genes advantageous to humansSlugHuman

What Does Successful Mean?Survival of the Fittest

FittestLittle to do with physicalReproductive

The Meaning of Life

The Beginning of LifeReplication- primordial oozeMutation- genetic variationThe birth of natural selection

The Immortal Coils1) Longevity2) Replication frequency3) Mutation frequency

Survival MachinesChemical WarfareChemical Shields

Survival MachinesSurvival machines began as passive receptacles for the genes, providing little more than walls to protect them from chemical warfare of their rivals Richard Dawkins 2006

Survival MachinesSurvival Machines: Us Slow Process

Survival MachinesA hen is only an eggs way of making another egg. (Gene selectionism)

Natural selection:what does it operate on?Natural Selection Operation

Gene SelectionismFor the good of the geneGenetic democracy

Group SelectionismSpecies, family

V. C. Wynne-EdwardsGroup selection was the fashion that natural selection operated in order to produce adaptations (Family) Daly and Wilson 1983

When an egg was removed from the Flickers nest, the Flicker would lay any number of eggs to replace the ones that had went missing. W. C. Wynne-Edwards claimed that that was due to natural selection operating on the group, or in this case family.

W. D. Hamilton [if] whats being selected is the genes contribution to its numerical increase, assistance to its collateral kin as well as to offspring can be of selective advantage Daly and Wilson 1983

Inclusive FitnessAltruistic towards familyOptimum clutch size

Monkeys and HumansThe Lineage of The Apes

Hominid EvolutionNo modern is descended from any other modern species.

Richard Dawkins 2010

ApesHumansMonkeys

The common ancestor betweenhumans and monkeys lived around 25 million years ago and probably looked a lot more like a monkey than a human. Speciation, the process in whicha species splits to form two otherspecies can be a very slow process.The two species that split from the common ancestor of humans and monkeys probably looked verybiologically similar. Evolution is a slow process and now, 25 millionyears later, evolution has had time to produce two species that look biologically different despite sharing93% of their DNA.

LucyAustralopithecus africanusMissing link1970sMissing links filling

Is evolution Only a theory?Evolution: Only a Theory?

The Oxford English DictionaryTheory: 1) a scheme or system of ideas or statements held as an explanation or account of a group of facts or phenomena; a hypothesis that has been confirmed or established by observation or experiment, and is propounded or accepted as accounting for the known facts; a statement of what are held to be the general laws, principles, or causes of something known or observed

The Oxford English DictionaryTheory: 2) a hypothesis proposed as an explanation; hence, a mere hypothesis, speculation, conjecture, an idea or set of ideas about something; an individual view or notion

Only a TheoryTheory~ strongest paradigm

We Have the Evidence!Vast array of empirical supportWithstood the test of timeGeneticsAnthropologyPaleontologyBiochemistryComparative Anatomy

Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium (Null Model)1) No mutations2) No natural selection3) Infinitely large population4) All members breed5) No non-random mating6) Same number of offspring7) No migration in or out

p = the allelic frequency of the dominant allele in the populationq = the allelic frequency of the recessive allele in the population

Probability of two p alleles coming together is p (in eggs) multipliedby p (in sperm) which yields p. The same goes for q yielding q. Duringreproduction the is a frequency of p + q eggs and p + q sperm in the population. Therefore the genotype frequency becomes p + 2pq + q. Thenext and every round of mating after that will still result in p + 2pq + qunless an assumption is violated (i.e. natural selection, migration, etc.).

Evolution: A Theory indeedWithstanding the Test of Time

Evolution: A Theory Indeed150 years of strengthening

The Meaning of LifeGenes the next generation

The Survival Machines Us

Richard DawkinsReplicators are no longer peppered freely through the sea; they are packaged in huge colonies individual bodies. And phenotypic consequences, instead of being evenly distributed throughout the world, have in many cases congealed into those same bodies. But in the individual body, so familiar to us on our planet, did not have to exist. The only kind of entity that has to exist in order for life to arise, anywhere in the universe, is the immortal replicator.

The Greatest Show on Earth

Literature CitedAllen, R. E., Fowler, H. W., & Fowler, F. G. 1990. The Concise Oxford dictionary of current English. Oxford, Clarendon Press.C, Choi. 2007. Monkey DNA Points to Common Human Ancestor. Available: http://www.livescience.com/1411-monkey-dna-points-common-human-ancestor.html.Last accessed 10 Mar 2013.Daly, M. and Wilson, M. 1983. Sex, Evolution, and Behavior. 2nd ed. Boston: Willard Grant.Darwin, C. 1859. On the Origin of Species. London: Muray.Dawkins, R. 2010. The Greatest Show on Earth. New York: Free.Dawkins, R. 2006. The Selfish Gene. Oxford: Oxford UP.Hamilton, W.D. 1964. The Genetic Theory of Social Behavior, J. Theoretical Biology. 7: 1-52. Lack, D. 1966. Population Studies of Birds. Oxford: Clarendon Press.O'Neil, Dennis. 2012. Hardy-Weinberg Equilibriam Model. Available: http://anthro.palomar.edu/synthetic/synth_2.htm. Last Accessed 2 Mar 2013.Trivers, R. 1985. Social Evolution. Benjamin/Cummings Publishing Company, Inc. Menlow Park, CA. Wynne-Edwards, V.C. 1962. Animal Dispersion in Relation to Social Behavior. Edinburgh: Oliver and Boyd.

Thank you for your time. And yes, it is a theory.

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