Pre-Darwinian Theories

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living creatures evolved by natural means after the origin of the first life. As far as we know, Charles Darwin modified his religious beliefs, as did many others, as a result of the discovery of convincing proof of evolution. Darwin's religious faith was also severely challenged by the death of his 10 year old daughter Annie in 1851. Apparently, he came to believe that his God created the order of the universe including the rules of nature that result in biological evolution. His famous book, On the Origin of Species, was not a denial of his God's existence. However, he did reject a literal interpretation of the Judeo-Christian Bible. Darwin's Personal Struggles--an interview with Darwin's biographer, James Moore This link takes you to an audio file at an external website. To return here, you must click the "back" button on your browser program. (length = 7 mins, 38 secs) Evolution of the Eye--an explanation by zoologist Dan-Erik Nilsson This link takes you to a video at an external website. To return here, you must click the "back" button on your browser program. (length = 4 mins, 8 secs) How Do We Know That Evolution Has Occurred The evidence for evolution has primarily come from four sources: 1. the fossil record of change in earlier species 2. the chemical and anatomical similarities of related life forms 3. the recorded genetic changes in living
organisms over many generations 4. the geographic distribution of related species The Fossil Record Remains of animals and plants found in sedimentary rock deposits give us an indisputable record of past changes through time. This evidence attests to the fact that there has been a tremendous variety of living things. Some now extinct species had traits that were transitional between major groups of organisms. Their existence confirms that species are not fixed but can evolve into other species over time. Geological strata containing an evolutionary sequence of fossils The evidence also shows that what have appeared to be gaps in the fossil record are due to incomplete data collection. The more that we learn about the evolution of specific species lines, the more that these so-called gaps or "missing links in the chain of evolution" are filled with transitional fossil specimens. Chemical and Anatomical Similarities Living things on Earth are fundamentally similar in the way that their basic anatomical structures develop and in their chemical
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Page 25 and 26: proteins in living things are made
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Pre-Darwinian Theories

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