Kara's Evolution Blog

'Survival of the good enough' is a more accurate description of natural selection than 'survival of the fittest' because not every species has to be the fittest to survive long enough to reproduce. Using 'survival of the good enough' is more accurate because most species aren't the strongest or the best, they are just able to survive long enough to be able to reproduce.   'Survival of the good enough' relates to natural selection, as this survival is what drives evolution. Those species that are able to survive long enough to reproduce will have their genes passed down to the next generation!

1.) A great example of convergence from the "Improbably Destinies" Chapter 1 was the example of caffeine-producing species. 2.) Convergent evolution is when multiple species have similar traits but do not have a common ancestor. The multiple species independently evolve these similar traits. Divergent evolution is quite the opposite of convergent evolution. Divergent evolution is when related species have evolved similar traits, while convergent evolution is for species who have evolved similar traits and do not have a common ancestor. 3.) The example in #1 showcases convergent evolution because it talks of how these multiple species, cacao, tea, and coffee all produce caffeine but they are on different branches of the evolutionary tree as the diagram below shows. This shows that these species, cacao, tea, and coffee all evolved the caffeine-producing trait independently from one another.  4.) Due to natural selection, these species could have developed convergent features be...

Click for the slideshow in Google Slides

1.) The myth and misconception - Evolution is just organisms adapting to their environment over time. 2.) My interest in this misconception is because this is something that I believed about evolution. I thought that evolution was just about adaptations to organisms' environments over time, and I am learning now that this is not the case. Evolution has no goal and is due to random mutations that are then passed down through the generations. I am excited to learn more throughout the semester, as I am coming to realize I don't understand evolution at all.