My Field Journal Digital Showcase
on Category: Science 11
on What Darwin never knew
on How did the discovery of DNA prove that Darwin’s theory of evolution was correct and how does it change the way we view evolution today and into the future?
Darwin’s went on a voyage in the southern hemisphere in 1835 on the HMS beagle, but primary he went to the Galapagos islands. During the five weeks he had spent there, he observed the animals from island to island, taking notes. When he returned to London after his 5-year trip on the HMS Beagle he realized that the finches had very slight variations between the finches on each island; specifically, that their beak shapes were different because of the available diet, but he didn’t know how the changes had happened. The missing pieces to his work would be found in DNA but since DNA hadn’t been identified until 1953.
Darwin’s research was the foundation of our knowledge of evolution. His book, On the Origin of Species, gave us the ability to discover DNA and genetics. Darwin had found that the tortoise’s shell and neck shape had changed from island to island. The herbivore tortoises that ate plants closer to the ground had shorter necks. That information could be used to compare the tortoises from the 1800s and now.
In the future we can see how the species of the past changed since Darwin had discovered them or in the pas 60 years due to natural selection. We will have more technology and knowledge to take our current knowledge about natural selection further.
“Evolution: Library: Adaptive Radiation: Darwin’s Finches”. Pbs.Org, 2021, https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/evolution/library/01/6/l_016_02.html.
“Origin of the Species: Where Did Darwin’s Finches Come from?” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 30 July 2018, https://www.theguardian.com/science/2018/jul/30/origin-of-the-species-where-did-darwins-finches-come-from.
Frazier, Jack. “Chapter 1 – the Galapagos: Island Home of Giant Tortoises.” ScienceDirect, edited by James P. Gibbs et al., Academic Press, 1 Jan. 2021, pp. 3–21, www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780128175545000046.