Was Darwin Wrong?

Matt Altstiel
5/05/05
Kenny #5

Darwin and Scientific Truth

In his essay in National Geographic, David Quammen makes an emphatic case for the validity of Darwin’s Evolutionary Theory. The author even goes so far as to state, “The evidence of evolution is overwhelming,” (Quammen 4). He goes in depth to provide numerous instances of modern scientific discovery to defend his support for Darwin and his theory and in the process debunk creationist convictions. In sum, the essay shows the reader that the Evolutionary theory has become even more convincing and pertinent in recent years.

Despite the overwhelming evidence supporting Evolution many Americans and people world wide dismiss Evolution in favor of Creationism, or a literal interpretation of religious text concerning the creation of the world and its organisms. Part of this belief results from ignorance in biological knowledge or overly religious backgrounds that do not allow for the duality of religion and evolution. Evolution challenges the literal interpretation of the Book of Genesis as well as the 6 Day Creation theory in the Koran. Evolution unlike many other scientific theories draws ire from many people and is constantly under attack.

Quammen defends Evolution citing numerous examples throughout the article that offer definitive proof. Recent examples show evolution in action as a powerful force that shapes modern life. Among these examples is the evolution of disease causing pathogens that have produced drug resistant strains. Another compelling example occurs within the laboratory where scientists have successfully created a new species of fly by selecting certain genes for reproduction, yielding a type of fly that can no longer mate with its original species. Human induced evolution such as the wide variation seen in today’s pet dog’s show a relatively rapid transformation from a common ancestor. Still other examples in the field of morphology show that many insects had a common ancestor, one that is still present in simplified larval form.

Crucial to Darwin’s theory of Evolution is the concept of natural selection. Natural selection tells the reader that successful species will reproduce and have competitive offspring that will over the course of many generations adapt special traits to help them best survive in an environment. Species which do not adapt to the environment will be unsuccessful and will die out without producing a new species carrying many of the traits of the old. New environments encountered in the expansion of a particular species impose particular constraints which must be adapted too in order to survive. Furthermore, species that are particularly symbiotic with another may even adapt together, such as an orchid in Madagascar and the moth which pollinates it in “Convergent Evolution,” which aids both species. Another important concept in Natural Selection is “Island Biogeography”, the effects of isolation; time and competition create new species. As a result many different localized species will share very similar characteristics due to evolution from a common ancestor. Evolution therefore has a powerful and plausible mechanism which gives credibility to the argument that all species on earth today evolved from a common ancestor.

This explanation allows seemingly disparate species such as modern whales and modern antelopes to be closely related. Moreover, fossilized evidence shows the stages in the progression from a four legged, land dwelling herbivore to the ocean dwelling, krill eating baleen whale with fins. Fossilized evidence of the intermediate species displays several traits of each, among them a more dog shaped head similar to an antelope, as well weak vestigial legs. Fossilized evidence is beneficial to scientists since it gives them a window into the past to glimpse how a species evolved in an otherwise unobservable, long time period. However, every fossilized species uncovered represents just one in a thousand possible evolutionary species and links that may never be uncovered. Intermediate species do however help show the continuous adaptation and evolution from a common ancestor. Along the same lines as fossilized evidence, recent genetic evidence lends even more credibility to the theory of evolution. Scientific researchers have determined that humans and mice have more than 30,000 DNA similarities between them. Such similarities can’t help but point to a common ancestor for the source of all genetic material.

Although the author David Quammen wrote an article entitled: “was Darwin wrong?” per Quammen, the answer is a resounding no. He refutes the claims of Creationists and skeptics by citing concrete evidence to support Darwin’s theory of Evolution. Modern examples such as disease mutation and laboratory tests show how evolution can be proven in the short term. Quammen also shows how long term evidence such a DNA modeling and Paleontology reinforce his argument. He further backs up his position by using important concepts and terminology that explain not only the theory, but plausible explanations of central themes such as natural selection. Darwin was indeed right concerning his theory of evolution, and more scientific proof exists than ever before to back him up.