Myths and Misconceptions

    The myth and misconception I have chosen to focus on this week is that organisms, including humans are not constantly evolving. Considering we cannot see evolution currently taking place due to the fact that evolution occurs over long periods of time, it can be believed that organisms are not still evolving. This is untrue- while we may not be able to visibly see evolution occurring in species- including our own, organisms are constantly evolving and adapting to their environments. Scientifically, evolution occurs over extremely long periods of time and species do not quickly evolve physiologically to their new environments. Rather, small changes result in transitional species throughout the evolutionary process. This is one of the reasons that we cannot currently "see" evolution occurring. Transitional species result from changes to the environment over time and evidence of this can be seen in the fossil record. 

    I chose to focus on this myth because I find it interesting that this is a misconception. To me, it doesn't make sense to disregard evolution simply because we cannot currently see it happen- especially because there is evidence of evolution occurring over periods of time in the fossil record. In more complex organisms, it does not seem feasible to see massive changes in a short period of time simply because physiologically adapting to new environments does not necessarily happen instantly. This myth is also interesting because most environmental changes that require species to evolve and adapt also occur over long periods of time. In response to the global climate increase- which has been occurring over a long period of time, it is likely that many animals are slowly evolving to survive in higher temperatures.