Origins, Evolution, and Destruction: Natural vs Artificial Selection

Evolution is the process by which populations of organisms acquire and pass on traits from generation to generation, affecting the overall makeup of the population and even leading to the emergence of new species. The terms organic evolution or biological evolution are often used to distinguish this meaning from other usages.

Evolution of a species is determined by many factors. Natural selection being the most determining factor. Natural selection favors traits more use full for the organisms given environment, organisms without these certain traits die out, so organisms with the favorable traits will survive and reproduce thus spreading the favorable trait.

Isolation can cause groups of the same species to speciate, a new species is developed within a species due to natural selection. Each isolated group develops traits that will benefit themselves. This causes derived traits to form in the lineage. Derived traits are slight changes in the ancestral traits.

There are two evolutionary traits that describe lineage. The first is called gradualism. In a complete evolutionary lineage, a finely graded transitional difference occurs between each ancestor and its descendants. This means that species gradually evolve and show differences in derived traits but keep similar ancestral traits. Traits will be specialized to suit the species given environment. The second explanation punctuated equilibrium. Punctuated equilibrium is the concept that evolutionary change proceeds through long periods of stasis punctuated by rapid periods of change. This concept favors a non-gradual evolution. It favors the idea of quick spurts through time. One thing is certain that species do evolve as time passes by. So much time is needed to see physical change in species.

Natural selection causes variations in humans. There are three variations: morphological, physiological, and behavioral. Morphological variation includes shapes and proportions, colder climates tend to have smaller chunkier people and hot places have thinner and leaner people. Physiological variation includes dietary size. Some places people are used to certain food nutrition and limits the maximum size of their body. The amount of clothes a person wears to suit its environment is behavioral variation. People in places with colder temperatures wear more clothes than people in warmer climates.

Natural selection is essential for the survival of life on Earth. It is the tendency of the most fit organisms to survive in their given environment. Surviving individuals result in a favorable variation of traits in the species. Like the cheetah, over time its developed the ability to run fast, because of environmental pressure. Another form of natural selection is human-induced selection, which is called artificial selection.

Artificial selection is forced breeding and human driven domestication of plants and animals. It is used to make growth of the plants and animals increase so it can meet the demands of the humans. 

Artificial selection gave birth to many of the diseases we face today. Living in close proximity with live stock is a main cause. We have bred livestock for so long that many wild species have disappeared - now these animals only function as "food". Plus, we have altered agriculture. Grains now produce more, but their root systems are shallow. Shallow root systems increase the probability of erosion. We have completed altered our ecosystem with artificial selection. So we have unlimited supplies of food thanks to science, but this same science has caused elevated levels of greenhouse gases. 

The Earth goes through natural phases of increased greenhouse gases - yes, it is NATURAL. However, the rate of increase today is not natural. Our artificial selection processes have toyed with natural selection. We have damaged our home. Evolution is supposed to be natural, caused by the environment. Can we fix this? Yes! Are we trying to fix the problem? Some of us are. Join the cause, let's revive natural selection so all these wonderful species in our world can adapt to the changes and continue to exist.

Read more about how artificial selection is damaging the world!

About the Author

I'm Jose Pierre and I like learning about all aspects of culture, both ancient and modern. I enjoy learning how they communicated, expressed themselves, and their technology.