Origin of Life: Evolution, Importance and Sample Questions

Ans. The genes help to pass on the traits of an organism to their offspring. Genes are present in the DNA and help the organisms to share their traits and characteristics with the next generation thus helping them to produce more of a population of the similar kind.There are also some mutations and the genetic variations because of which their is a production of the different kinds of species and this helps to produce organisms that are different and thus helps in the process of evolution.

Genes are the most important elements in the process of evolution because of this only scientists are able to study and research about the different life forms and their characteristics. Genes also help to study the relationship between the past forms of lives that have existed and their generations ahead. The mutations that happen in the genes also led to the formation of the different kinds of organisms and creatures because of which we could have a diverse population. Genes are the reasons that there have been a possibility of life.

Ans. Natural selection means that the organism who is able to survive in the given conditions and produces more and more offspring and they are also able to survive in the given conditions thus are considered to be the fittest. If the organism or the species is not able to survive the given conditions and not produce more offspring or their offsprings don't survive in the given natural condition then they are considered not as the fittest.

Fig. Evolutionary Theory and Natural Selection

The mechanism of natural selection is one of the most important ones because this has helped to increase the organisms to reproduce more and more and those who could survive the given environmental conditions passed on their DNA’s to the next generation and which went on in the similar manner.The theory of the natural selection was given to us by Darwin. 

This theory also had some observations and these observations help us to understand why there are so many creatures who couldn't survive the changing environmental conditions and don't exist now and whereas there are many organisms now which have developed from a common ancestor and still survive. 

Ans. Evolution has led to creation of different species and organisms on this planet and the different forms of life are able to exist. If there would have been no evolution then no form of life would have ever existed. This process has occurred in the same and different kind of population over the years and the changes that happened moved from one generation to the other. Evolution is one of the reasons that there is existence of life on this earth. 

The genetic changes in the organisms over the time and the mutation in the genes have led to the formation of the different types of creatures and have also helped the existing organisms to reproduce and increase their population of the similar kind.Evolution as a process started billion years back and still goin on helping us to examine and witness the different kinds of life that existed and are being born on this planet.

Ans. Fossils are one of the most important pieces of evidence in studying the process of evolution. Scientists and the people who research on the structure of DNA and the different kinds of formations on the origin of life, these fossils help them to make a comparative analysis between the life that existed in the past life and in the current times. 

The DNA sequence is also compared between the creatures that exist today and their ancestors that would have existed on this planet. These fossils also help to tell about in which age that particular creature existed. This also leads to the study of how life would have existed and evolved in the different life forms over a certain period of time. Study of the fossils also helps to study the homologous structure between the fossils, that is to study a structure of the two life forms that have a common evolutionary life of origin like their hands or flippers.

Ans. The analogy refers to the similar functions or the same kind of resemblance of the structures that have different kinds of the origin in organisms. It can be said in the more simple terms that it means that there is a similar kind of function in the organisms but their origin is different. This is also known as the convergent evolution.These structures can have a resemblance in many ways like their appearance or the structure they have. 

Fig. Analogous Structure in Evolution

One of the main examples for the analogous evolution can be the physical appearance, the behaviour patterns of the organisms and the physiological processes that can be found in many organisms but will be very different and far from each other if their biological existence is checked. One example for the same can be the human beings and the apes. They don't have any common ancestor and still they have the similar kind of the forelimbs. 

Another example that can be spotted for the analogous creatures is the wings of the butterfly and the birds. Their lineage of evolving is different from each other but still both of them have the wings that help them to fly. This is also known as the parallel evolution because the two different organisms who are completely different to each other grow in the same direction of acquiring the characteristics.

Ans. The homology in evolution refers to the similar build up of the different kinds of the organisms in their physical characteristics that is based upon the reason that they have evolved from a common ancestor. The use of these structures will defer in the different organisms. For example the mammals and the humans have a similar kind of buildup structure but the ways in which these parts function differ for both of them. 

Fig. Homologous Structures in Evolution

The composition of the structure remains the same but they actually differ in the way they function. If we look at the bone structure of the hands of the humans and the mammals, we see that they are made of the similar kinds of bones, ulna, radius, humerus and carpal. But when we compare physical usage of these forelimbs they will be different from each other. Thus this points at the fact that these organisms had a common ancestor through which they grew up and evolved and they also had a same time of origin. H

Ans. The adaptive radiation refers to the evolution of the organisms such as plants or the animals which have adapted themselves into the different ecological conditions. The process of the adaptive radiation can be seen in the group of similar kinds of species. In this process the common lineage of the ancestry goes through the different kinds of the biological events. The adaptive radiation can be seen in the species which differ from each other phenotypically. 

Fig. Adaptive Radiation

From a common ancestry there has been evolution of the different kinds of the species. These different kinds of species that have the similar lineage and they also have the ability to survive in the different kinds of the environmental conditions. During the process of evolution, these species have changed in their shapes and sizes and because of this they have developed different eating habits or different kinds of lifestyle to make sure they survive in the given environmental conditions. 

They also differ in the morphological diversity. This process of the adaptive radiation has also helped in the mutation in the genes and this increases in the number of organisms.The most common example of this is the exploration by Darwin on the finches and the study that he did on them regarding the different regions they were loving or under the different environmental conditions. The different kinds of beaks that were evolved.

Ans. Analogous structures are those structures which have the same build up in the different organisms and these creatures don't have the same origin. Their ancestor history is not the same. Whereas the homologous structures are those where the organisms have the same origin of lineage. They also have the same kind of ancestral history, the buildup of these organisms or their physical buildup is also the same but the use of these characteristics is different in different organisms. 

Fig. Analogous Structure and Homologous Structure

The divergent evolution has helped to the formation of the homologous structures whereas the convergent evolutions have helped the formation of the analogous structures. Species which have the homologous structure cannot be easily found in the same ecological conditions because they have not developed in the similar environmental conditions. Whereas the analogous structures can be found in similar kinds of ecological conditions.