Question: how do you know that the theory of evolution happened, do you have any relevant evidence to proceed this research?

James Pope answered on 3 Jul 2012:

Hi littlemisstiger,

In palaeoclimate work we spend a lot of time working with palaeontologists who gather fossils of both large species and microscopic life. When you look at all these species you can see how they evolve from one species to a couple of similar species and it is really easy to see Darwin’s theory in action. We can see the adaptations the species makes over millions of years to live in changing conditions, this is really clear in micro-fossils because we have millions of them to study! Adaptations are the changes that evolution happens through, such as the longer neck of the giraffe and the stripes of the zebra, although they all happen slowly over many generations, the beneficial adaptations surviving and the less beneficial ones dying out.

Personally, I am also very good friends with a evolutionary biologist. We knew each other at Edinburgh University and Fiona now works on her PhD at the University of Exeter. Fiona did a lot of work with flies called Drosphelia, which reproduce quickly and have a short natural lifespan. Fiona investigates how changing the environment these flies lives in changes the preferences the flies have for mating to investigate if envrionmental factors get in the way of natural evolution of the flies.

The development of an eye is the best example of how evolution works. Imagine you are a blind fish, using vibrations in water to sense your way around. A mutation means that an adaptsation occurs causing your offspring develop a cell on their face that can sense the change from light to dark, it can ‘see’ shadows. This means your offspring are more likely to survive and mate and have their own offspring, most of whom have this light sensor cell on their face. Over time the mutation continues and more and more of these light sensor cells form. Over millions of years, these cells form the retina, and other parts develop around them, such as the lens and the pupil. All of these adaptations come together to form an eye, through a process of elimination, good developments survive, bad ones die out.

The same is true of our own species, the ones who came out the trees and could stand on two legs, outsurvived those who squatted on four legs as they could see predators coming. Evolution is very fair, but also very harsh for those who lose out.