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 theory of evolution was that evolution happened do to natural selection. Species can have different physical or behavioural traits leaving the fittest to their environment to have a better chance of survival while the other doesn’t. Left with the fitter species, they breed and become stronger and more adapted to their environment. The Galapagos Islands are found in the Pacific Ocean. There are 13 major islands inhabited by animals found almost no-where else in the world.

The Galapagos finches are a great example of evolution. Multiple different species of finch reside of the islands all having different beak shapes. The shape and size of their beaks depended on what their main food source was. For example, the finch that fed off seed and nuts would have a larger but shorter beak to help them easily break open their food, while finches with thinner and longer beak fed off of flowers.

The Arizona pocket mice are found in the Arizona desert. Their fur changed to whichever surface they resided on to camouflage since they are too small to fight off their predators. The ones that live on the sand have tan-orange fur while the ones that live on the darker patches of land evolved darker fur to help camouflage.

The Galapagos tortoise differ in species just like the finches. The saddle-back tortoises have shells that lift in the front to help them easily lift their heads to eat from higher trees cactus. The dome-shaped tortoises eat vegetation closer to the ground so there is no need for a lift in it’s shell.

DNA proved Darwin’s theory of evolution to be correct was because while looking at the DNA sequences, the sequences for the species were the same other than a few bases which changed their trait. Like having longer necks or the colour of their hair. It changes our view on evolution because we can now decipher the change or evolution in the DNA. We can also possibly create new species with the change.

Sources:

• What Darwin Never Knew the movie
• https://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/lonesome-george/galapagos-tortoises-and-evolution
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darwin%27s_finches