What is the evidence for the thory of evolution?

Essay by pusiu January 2004

download word file, 2 pages 5.0 1 reviews

Downloaded 56 times

In the 19th century, a man called Charles Darwin thought that creatures came about by Evolution. However, the society at the time was very religious and had trouble accepting that creatures did not always stay the same as in the Bible, it is said that God created creatures. It says that God created them as they are now. It does not say anything about evolution. Therefore he had to think of proof to convince people. Here is some evidence for the theory of evolution.

Firstly, mammals are distributed in every continent of the world accept Antarctica. If you compare the mammals in two different continents, you will find that many are very similar. For example, three mammals that are found in South America are the llama, tapir and jaguar. Three that are found in Africa are the camel, rhinoceros and the lion. The llama is similar to the camel, the rhinoceros to the tapir and the jaguar to the lion.

This suggests that they the similar species have a common ancestor. However, being on different continents, and the different climates and habitats in each one, they have evolved differently.

Another piece of evidence for evolution is the presence of homologous and vestigial structures. The limbs of amphibians, birds and mammals are all based on the same design. This design is the pentadactyl limb. This is strong proof that they have all developed from an ancestor that is common to all of them that lived many millions of years ago. Structures that are found in different animals, but have the same basic design are called homologous. Also, the presence of vestigial structures supports evolution. Vestigial structures are structures that have no function today, but are thought to have been important in the past. Two examples are the presence of two...