Misconceptions About Evolution -University of California at Berkley

1. Misconceptions AboutEvolution-University of California at Berkley

2. Misconception: “Evolution is a theory about the origin of life.” • Evolution is the theory about how life changed after its origin. • “Origin of Species” not the “Origin of Life”

3. Misconception: “Evolution is ‘just’ a theory.” • Theory – in science, a well-substantiated explanation of some aspect of the natural world • Scientific theories are explanations that are based on lines of evidence, enable valid predictions, and have been tested in many ways.

4. Misconception: “Evolution is like a climb up a ladder of progress; organisms are getting better” • Natural selection weeds out individuals that are unfit in a situation. • For evolution, “good enough” is good enough. • Fitness is linked to environment, not to progress.

5. Misconception: “Evolution means that life changed ‘by chance.’” • Random mutation is ultimate source of genetic variation. • BUT, natural selection, is not random. • EXAMPLE: the streamline of these tuna is no accident, a more streamlined shape allows these fish to move faster through the water.

6. Misconception: “Natural selection involves organisms ‘trying’ to adapt.” • Natural selection leads to adaptation, but the process doesn’t involve “trying.” • Either an individual has genes that are good enough to survive and reproduce, or it doesn’t. • Can’t get right genes by “trying.”

7. Misconception: “Natural selection gives organisms what they ‘need.’” • Natural selection has no intentions or senses; it cannot sense what a species “needs.” • If a population has a variation that allows those individuals to survive better, they will produce more offspring, and the population will evolve.

8. Misconception: “Evolution is a theory in crisis and is collapsing as scientists lose confidence in it.” • Scientists debate HOW evolution took place, not WHETHER it took place. • It is the debates of HOW evolution took place that are often misinterpreted as debates about WHETHER evolution occurs.

9. Misconception: “Evolutionary theory is incomplete and is currently unable to give a total explanation of life.” • Evolutionary science is a work in progress. • New discoveries are made and explanations adjusted when necessary. • We do know a great deal about: • The history of life • The pattern of lineage-splitting through time • The mechanisms that caused these changes

10. Misconception: “Gaps in the fossil record disprove evolution” • Evolutionary biologists do not expect that all transitional forms will be found, because lots of organisms don’t fossilize well and environmental conditions for forming good fossils are not that common. • Scientists HAVE found many transitional fossils.

11. Misconception: “Evolution is not science because it is not observable or testable.” • Fossils such as Archaeopteryx give us snapshots of organisms as they adapt and change over time. • Studying modern organisms such as elephant seals can reveal specific examples of evolutionary history and bolster concepts of evolution. • Artificial selection among guppies can demonstrate microevolution in the laboratory. • Laboratory experimentation with fruit flies demonstrates the power of genetic mutation. • Science is accomplished by gathering evidence from the real world and inferring how things work. • For example: • An astronomer cannot hold the stars in his hand. • A geologist cannot go back in time.

13. Misconception: “Most biologists have rejected ‘Darwinism’.” • THUS FAR, there have been no credible challenges to the basic Darwinian principle that evolution proceeds primarily by the mechanism of natural selection acting upon variation in populations and that different species share common ancestors. • Darwin’s idea that evolution proceeds at a slow deliberate pace has been modified to include the idea that evolution can proceed at a relatively rapid pace under some circumstances.