A list of some things you may not know about Charles Darwin.
There are so many different species on Earth. How did that happen? Speciation is the divergence of a common ancestor into two or more new species. Learn more about the mechanisms of speciation and why it is important to evolution.
It's finally starting to feel like spring here! The grass is green, the trees are budding, and the sun is warm. Here in the Midwest we've had plenty of April showers, so bring on the May flowers!
Here's what you may have missed in the month of April on About.com Evolution:
Scientists at the University of Michigan studying dust mites say they have proof that evolution is reversible. By sequencing some genes of the modern dust mite, the researchers found that the free living dust mites were once parasitic dust mites. The twist to this tale is that parasitic dust mites were first free living dust mites. This, according to the research team, is proof that evolution is reversible.
While this finding is definitely intriguing, it seems like common sense that evolution could be "reversible". After all, evolution follows natural selection of traits that are desirable for the current environment. If an environment changes, then a species will have to adapt or die. It is feasible that an environment may revert back to the way it once was as the earth goes through various cycles and history repeats itself...so why not evolution?
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March definitely came in like a lion and it starting to be more "lamb" like, finally. I kept busy this month writing new content about evolution. Here is what is new for the month of March:
The end of the Triassic period in the Mesozoic era saw a large scale extinction of many species including some extremely large prehistoric relatives of armadillos and crocodiles. Scientists now hypothesize that the mass extinction of the huge ancient crocodiles was the start of the "age of the dinosaurs". The large predators that died off left a niche open for dinosaurs to take over and helped them thrive throughout the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods before they went extinct at the end of the Mesozoic era.
Not only were the large crocodiles competition for the early dinosaurs, they may have even fed on some small species of dinosaur. They were fierce predators that could knock their prey out with one swipe of their tails. However, the dinosaurs were better equipped to survive after the increased volcanic activity of that time period caused the extinction of the larger predators.
Related Articles on Evolution at About.com:
Photo of a Lolong Crocodile by Marty Williams
