Describe Darwin Research Paper

Module/Subject Code: PY291 Module/Subject Title: No of Words: Introduction to Psychology 2, 320

[DARWIN’S THEORY OF EVOLUTION]
Describe Darwin’s theory of evolution and evaluate the important contribution it has made to Psychology as a discipline.

In 2007, Scientists from the Smithsonian Institute inducted the skulls of a prehistoric snake, found in tact in a Colombian coal mine, into the fossil record1. These giant snakes, cold-blooded reptiles, alongside two other ancestors of animals still living today: the giant crocodile and the giant tortoise; pre-date the evolutionary progeny of Darwin’s observations in the Galapagos Islands yet exemplify his theory of natural selection. Long before Darwin published his evolutionary observations
J., Bloch, 2009). Today’s snakes, limited only by environmental conditions (Huey, R. B., 1991), have inherited similar physiological and reproductive traits. In 1836, Darwin reached the archipelago of the Galapagos Islands: 16 volcanic masses off the coast of South America, individual habitats at self-determining stages of their own evolutionary process (Geist, 1996) supporting ecosystems of unique diversity. On each Island, Darwin observed, across plants and animals - insects, birds and reptiles – similarities among species albeit with subtle adaptations best suited to their environments. Plants of yellow and white flowers dominated: as they successfully attracted bees for pollination, other variations receded. In the absence of mammals, he noted, individual species had adapted to environmental conditions without
Iguanas, cold-blooded reptiles like snakes, can endure long periods without food or water. This was critical to the survival of the many that floated, swept away on driftwood from the South American shores where they originated, to individual islands where they settled and reproduced. Darwin deduced through his studies that variations in each of these highly-populated colonies were the product of adaptation to environmental conditions present in each unique ecosystem: coastal; volcanic rock; grasslands. The marine iguana, unlike its relatives can swim. A vegetarian, it feeds on algae and seaweed and exhibits physiological characteristics suited to underwater scavenging: strengthened claws to cling to the seabed and nasal glands which facilitate the modified behaviour of ‘spitting’ out saltwater to circumvent dehydration (Dunson, W. A., & Mazzotti, F. J., 1989). The climatic phenomenon of El Nino, which decimates algal food sources, prompted scientists to observe closely the physiology of the marina iguana, which were now only 80% of previously recorded body sizes. This physiological variation is now scientifically attributed to a direct response to the environmental hostilities which challenged the survival of this species: smaller skeletons and body mass allows marine iguanas to regulate body temperature and consume less. Larger