Thursday, February 22, 2018

Homologus and Analogus Traits


Image result for monkey with tail      Two species that possess the homologus trait are humans and monkeys. Humans are bipedal primate mammals that are considered to be one of the smartest species to ever live. Humans are "us", we are currently defined as the Homo sapiens species.  Monkeys are non-hominoid simians, which consist of 260 known living species. Monkeys generally possess tails and live in or by trees. Monkeys come in all different shapes and sizes just like humans do. Monkeys and humans share many similar characteristics like being extensively social in their own environment, and they share many differences like humans habituating all parts of the world and monkeys usually only habituating forest regions where lots of tree coverage is available.



The homologus trait between monkeys and humans are that they have tails, which is an extension of

the torso. The tails that monkeys possess are called prehensile tails which act as an extra limb for the monkeys. This "limb" allows the monkey to grasp objects, swing from branches, hold onto things, and ward off insects.  Humans possess a very similar feature known as the coxxyx or the tailbone. The coxxyx was thought to have once been a fully formed tail. The human tailbone is an extension of the torso and is made of "rudimentary vertebrae" and is often called a vestigial structure. The coxxyx does not have the same function as the monkey's tail. The human tailbone serves as a muscle attachment for our lower limbs as well as helps in balance and support for when a person sits. The obvious difference in these structures are size, the human tailbone generally measures less than one inch in length while generally monkeys tail bones could measure from 2 inches all the way to 23 inches. Monkeys tails display a series of tail vertebrae while humans tailbone is loosely fused bones that are attached to the sacrum. These homologus traits exhibit differences between humans and monkeys mainly because of environmental factors. Monkeys have made use for the tails due to their environment, using it to grasp and hold onto branches as well as for climbing and agility. Humans, on the other hand, did not need much use for this longer tail because of the environment, they became bipedal and probably had no use for a tail anymore.
      Paleontologist's working in Tanzania have discovered the oldest known fossils from two major primate groups — Old World monkeys and apes which include humans. This study recovered a lone tooth and jaw fragment with three teeth from a site in Rukwa in southwestern Tanzania. They dated geological nearby rocks and found out that the fossils are 25.2 million years old, which is older than any other example from either primate group. This fossil trove “fills in a roughly 10-million-year gap in primate evolution,” says John Fleagle, an anthropologist at Stony Brook University in New York. This discovery also confirms the fossil record analyses of mutations in DNA that can be traced back to estimate how long ago two species diverged, which suggests that old world monkeys and apes split from their common ancestor 25 million to 30 million years ago. This discovery proves that approximately 30 million years ago monkeys and human ancestors the "apes" split from their common ancestor, which was generally said to resemble a primate-like  mammal species that possessed a tail of some sort. With this evidence it would seem that this unknown common ancestor possessed the homologus trait but then due to many factors this species diverged into two new species carrying with them this homologus trait but with different structures and functions.







     Two different species that possess the analogus trait is a dolphin and a horse. Dolphins are aquatic mammals that have teeth. There are 39 species of oceanic dolphins classified in four genus, but these numbers continue changing with new discoveries. There are even small amounts of dolphins that inhabit freshwater rivers. Dolphins have smooth, rubbery skin that usually is a mixture of black, white, and gray. They have two flippers or fins on their sides, a triangular fin on the back, and a large layer of blubber beneath their skin. On the other hand, Horses are odd-toed ungulate mammals belonging to the taxonomic family Equidae. Their average height is 4 ft. to 6ft. and their average weight is 840lbs to 2,200lbs. They have long tails, short hair, muscular torsos, long thick necks and elongated heads. Due to domestication they are found all over the world.
   
          The analogus trait of each species is their limbs.  A dolphins flipper or limb measures 11-19 inches and are curved back. A horse's limbs are made of dozens of bones, ligaments, muscles, and tendons that support the weight of the body. Both a horse and dolphin possess similarities in their structure, for example, they both contain a humerus, radius, ulna, carpals, metacarpals, and phalanges. They have complete difference in size and shape, but are used for the same function and motion

whether it be in water or land.  This similar function is for moving and steering. Both horses and dolphins use their limbs for moving, steering, and even balancing across the ocean for the dolphin or land for the horse. This analogus trait between these species exhibit similarities because both are needed for them to be able to move around areas properly and thrive. The common ancestor of these two species could definitely have had possessed this analogus trait. Scientists believe that the earliest ancestors of dolphins were not marine creatures but were terrestrial animals. The evidence is that dolphins have to come to the surface of water to get air. Since ancestors of the horse were terrestrial maybe this analogus trait was possessed by the common ancestor o these two species because they were in similar environments and those certain bones were needed for different functions and many survival. The function of these limbs are ultimately to move and steer which in any environment seems helpful. We know these traits are analogus because they have the same function but belong to a different class of vertebrates so that must mean their evolutionary line must be different.

Saturday, February 17, 2018

Week 2 bonus

How much should “opinion” come into play in science and in science education?  Can opinion play a positive role or a negative role in science?

In my opinion, "opinion" should not come into play at all in science and science education. I personally went to a catholic school where opinion mattered a lot in the education system specifically science. Instead of introducing us to theories and evidence about evolution it was not allowed to be taught at the school or even mentioned. In that case, I believe that the opinion played a negative role in my life as well as other students lives because we ended up not having knowledge about something that are constantly brought up in all upper division science courses. I think if the school was to teach us about evolution and then state their opinions it would've been a different story, but they didn't even allow us to make our own bias off the topic. I just firmly believe that opinion can mostly affect science negatively because science is not based on opinion its based on evidence and using the scientific method. Everyone has an opinion and I do respect everyone's opinion, but lets leave out opinions sometimes when it comes to science!

Thursday, February 15, 2018

Thursday, February 8, 2018

Darwin's Evolution Theory

     I believe that Charles Lyell had one of the biggest influences on Darwin's theory of Natural selection. A huge contribution that Lyell made to the science community is that he was the modern founder of geology. He also wrote the book Principles of Geology, which argued the idea of uniformitarianism. Uniformitarianism is a geological principle that states that the Earth has been shaped by roughly the same forces seen today (PBS). It considers that these geological processes are unaltered from the those of the past. The slogan they use for uniformitarianism is "the present is the key to the past" (PBS). This work formed the foundation that Earth could be billions of years old.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/evolution/library/02/4/l_024_01.html
    The work of Charles Lyell helped Darwin's theory of natural selection. The bullet point "Individuals do not evolve. Populations do" has been influenced by Lyell because Darwin's concept of slow and gradual evolution was formed with the help of Lyell's work on old-earth theories. This bullet point states that evolution does not occur within a generation but between a generation meaning it takes time for evolution to occur. Lyell's old-earth theories gave Darwin's gradual evolution theory an adequate period of time, because Lyell's theory of the Earth being extremely old supports Darwin's theory of life taking many years to change. 
     I do not believe that Darwin could have developed a believable natural selection theory without Charles Lyell. Charles Lyell not only mentored Darwin but gave his theory a lot of support and an actual time frame for gradual evolution. Without the concept of the Earth being possibly a billion years old it would be harder to understand. I do believe that Lyell's ideas were very much used by Charles Darwin himself while developing the famous theory of evolution.
    The attitude of the church directly affected Darwin and his decision not to publish his theory for a while because his wife Emma had very strong religious beliefs, and he knew that this theory would not be accepted in the church and would cause threats to his friends and family (37).
Jurmain, Robert. Introduction to physical anthropology. Wadsworth Cengage learning, 2014.