Natural Selection in Red Pandas

Before

After

My model shows is an example of natural selection in red pandas. Red pandas hunt during the night as nocturnal carnivores. In the before picture, the panda has smaller ears and eyes. As a result of natural selection, the more adapted panda has bigger eyes and ears. This way, they are more successful at hunting at night. The big eyes make it easier to see their living prey. The larger ears will make it easier to hear during the night time and not get eaten. Natural selection is the biological process of survival of the fittest. Those who are most well adapted to the environment will survive to reproduce and pass down the wanted traits. According to Darwin, natural selection needs four things: variation, inheritance, high rate of population growth, and  Differential survival and reproduction. Natural selection is one of the basic mechanisms of evolution.

The evolutionary process that is being modeled is natural selection.  As time went on, the beaks on finches changed significantly.  Although only two other types of beaks are shown here, a plethora of different beak sizes became present.  The initial beak made it difficult for the finches to exploit multiple food sources, but over time different beak sizes were able to thrive in different environments.  I chose this evolutionary process to model because I was inspired by the Galapagos Island presentation that I attended at Hofstra University.  The bigger beak allowed for the exploitation of other dietary supplements while the smaller beaks allowed the finches to obtain food in smaller spaces.  The evolution was able to occur because finches that were able to survive reproduced.  The finches that were inadequate at obtaining food were not able to survive and pass their traits on.  The cause for the variation in finch beak sizes all originates from the fact that there was competition for food and some beaks were advantageous to have while others were not.  

Natural Selection in Beetles

I am modeling the evolutionary process of natural selection on a beetle population. I showed it by before natural selection and after the process was complete. You can see how there was variation in color of beetles before natural selection and after only the brown survived long enough to reproduce. Since the green beetles were eaten more by birds more brown beetles reproduced. After generations only brown traits are passed down, because those are the only ones to survive and become more common. The mode of evolution is selective due to predators. In this case the environment didn’t help the green beetles camouflage, causing them to be eaten and spotted more than the brown beetles were. Eventually the process will go on long enough to only reproduce brown surviving beetles.

ELK

The evolutionary process I chose to model was sexual selection. Before the evolutionary force, the antlers on this species of Elk were small. But after, they are larger and more defined. Female Elk are usually attracted to males with bigger antlers because they can provide stronger babies that are more likely to survive in the wild. Therefore the females of the population favored the gene for larger antlers. This is not random, it is a selective process since the females are physically choosing who they want to be with. The source of this variation was genetic factors that gave some individuals measly antlers, and other individuals large antlers. 

Natural Selection In Hummingbirds

The evolutionary process that is modeled above is natural selection.  As time went on the beak of the hummingbird changed.  Before the change the hummingbird's beak was very fat.  This made it hard for the hummingbird to get food from the flowers.  As time continued the birds beak began to get thinner in order for it to get its food.  I chose this evolutionary process to model because the environment wasn’t able to provide for the hummingbirds with fat beaks, so in order to survive better they adapted to their environment and over time their beaks got thinner.  The thinner beaks let them get the nectar from the flower easier. This change occurred by the hummingbirds with the thinner beaks surviving better than the ones with the fatter beaks. This evolution is selective, but not random because the birds passed on the trait for a thinner beak. This change did not occur very fast, it happened over a long period of time. The source of variation is that the hummingbirds with fat beaks weren't able to compete and survive as well as the hummingbirds with thinner beaks were.

Natural Selection

My model depicts a prime example of natural selection.  The example deals with English peppered moths which come in two different colors: a light shade and a dark shade.  In England prior to being industrialized, the moths with the light shade were better adapted to the environment because they were more adept at camouflaging in order to hide from predators.  This made for a larger population of the light shaded peppered moths.  Once England became industrialized and numerous factories were built there was a lot of pollution in the air.  The factories mainly ran on coal which produced a thick black smoke.  The smoke inevitably reached and settled on the plant life making the trees considerably darker.  The dark trees made the light shaded moths visible, and more prone to predation; allowing for the dark shaded moths to survive and reproduce.  Ultimately there was a greater population of dark shaded moths than light shaded moths.  Natural selection allows more the more fit member of a species at the given time reproduce at a higher rate, due to less predation or the ability to easily obtain resources, which increases the frequency of the given trait that makes that member more fit.

Modeling Evolution

I modeled the evolution of Sexual Selection. Sexual Selection is a variant of natural selection, it is the favor  of a mate over another  based on certain characteristics. The species with these desirable traits will have a high reproductive success throughout their population. Female peacocks are species that tend to choose mates that possess the desirable traits such as elaborate feather colors. To show his superiority compared to the other peacocks the peacock will perform a courtship ritual of peafowl. The peacock will show his intentions by fully displaying his feathers. However the peahen may not find that specific peacock attractive she will only recognize his actions that he is ready to mate and may or may not choose to pursue him. My model shows a male peacock trying his hardest to impress the female peahen, but she is still questionable. I chose this model because it successfully how certain species produce and with whom they produce with effectively. My model is selective because only the species with the desired traits are chosen and reproduce more than those who don't posses these traits.

Genetic Drift and Parrots

Pre-Evolution: 50% of the Parrots are blue, 50% of the Parrots are green.

Fire! Half of the Parrot population is killed.

Post-Evolution: 80% of the Parrots are blue, 20% of the Parrots are green.

My model shows the effects of genetic drift on a population of parrots in a rainforest.  I chose to model genetic drift by creating a "snapshot" of the area that a population of parrots is living in.  I then created two more "snapshots" of the area: one showing a fire raging through the rainforest, the source of genetic drift, and another one showing the the area after the fire had occurred.  I choose to model the evolutionary process this way because one can clearly see the differences in the Parrot population before and after the fire.  The Pre-Evolution model depicts a population of parrots.  50% of the parrots have blue feathers, while the other 50% have green feathers.  Neither the blue nor the green parrots have any special advantage over the other.  Also, all of the parrots in the population are randomly distributed throughout their habitat.  The "Fire" model depicts a massive fire burning down part of the parrots' habitat.  Since genetic drift is a random mode of evolution, the fire randomly kills both blue and green parrots.  The Post-Evolution model depicts the aftermath of the fire and genetic drift.  Due to the random killing off of parrots, the population is no longer 50% blue, 50% green.  Instead, since more green parrots were killed than blue ones, the population is now 80% blue, 20% green.  The source of the variation that lead to the evolution in the parrots was the different color feathers the parrots had.  The parrots could have either blue feathers or green feathers, and no color had an advantage over the other color.

Natural Selection In Giraffes

I chose to model the evolutionary process of natural selection and how it affected giraffes.  I chose to model it by showing the changes before and after of the giraffe due to the natural selection. I chose to represent it in this way because you can easily and clearly see the drastic change that occurred in the giraffe, from short neck to long neck. Natural selection though didn't make this change suddenly, the length of the giraffes necks increased in increments over time through evolution and eventually increased to the current long neck size. The reason for this evolutionary process as shown above in the picture is because the short neck giraffes couldn't reach the leaves in the trees and therefore couldn't survive. This evolution is selective because only the giraffes that had longer necks were able to successfully compete, and then be able to reproduce with other long neck giraffes, and thus producing offspring with more long necks, and fewer with short necks. This isn't random evolution because only the long neck giraffes would survive so they would be the only ones reproducing and making more long neck giraffes, because that is the favorable trait in their environment. The source of variation that lead to the evolution was that there were giraffes in the same area that had shorter and longer necks, and the ones with longer necks were able to reach the trees to eat and survive, so the ones with the shorter necks couldn't compete as well and therefore wouldn't reproduce to create more short necks.

Natural Selection in Sharks

My model shows the evolutionary process of natural selection in a shark population.  I drew pictures of the shark population before and after natural selection occurred.  I chose to represent natural selection in this way because it shows how the colors of the sharks changed due to natural selection.  The change in color of the sharks was due to predators.  The gray color of the starting population was visible to the predators in the dark blue oceans.  As time passed, their color patterns changed.  The topside of the sharks turned into a dark blue or gray color that allows them to blend in with the sea.  Their bellies turned into a white color that protects them from predators below them.  When the predators look up, the sharks' bellies blend in with the bright colored surface water due to the sunlight.  This mode of evolution is selective, rather than random.  Only the sharks with the new color pattern would be able to camouflage and survive from the predators.  Other species of animals have also adapted to be able to camouflage in their environments.  Escaping from predators is the main source of this evolution.  Sharks that are better blended in the sea will be able to have a  higher successful hunting rate.

"Platypus" Natural Selection

The evolutionary process shown is natural selection. I used colored pencils and paper to draw the changes after natural selection. I chose to represent natural selection in this way because it shows a clear picture of how the population of “platypus” changed. What led to this change is a lack of food source. All of the food that was originally being consumed by the “platypus” was nearly gone and another food source was needed for survival. The only other food source was a crustacean that lived in small niches in rocks. The “platypus” with the sharper beaks were able to access this new food source, while the others were not. This is a selective mode of evolution; only the “platypus” with sharper beaks survived to reproduce. This is not random evolution. Ducks and other birds have had pointed beaks to help them access food. This characteristic is the source of variation in the “platypus” beak.

Evolutionary Changes

I modeled the evolutionary process of gene flow by showing a certain population of Chads that get separated because of an earthquake. There is gene flow out of the population. I chose to represent my evolutionary process with a diagram because I thought a visual diagram would make it easier to understand what happens. The "pre-evolution" model shows two different colored Chads living in the same area and reproducing with one another. One is yellow and the other is green. Their offspring are yellow and green. The portion of the land that contained most of the yellow Chads breaks off and seperates into it's own island. This creates a geographic barrier that prevents the Chads from reproducing.The green Chads begin to reproduce with each other more often and eventually the yellow colored gene flows out of the population. This mode of evolution is not selective, it is random. The effect on the population is that over time the yellow gene color is lost on the original island. The source of the variation that leads to this mode of evolution is the gene flow of the yellow colored gene out of the population due to a geographic barrier change.

The First step to fixing the problem, is to acknowledge it.

Plastic Ocean

           
(Sorry, the picture won't rotate)  In this picture, I drew many animals being affected by this ocean pollution. The bird (Sea gull) is trapped by a piece of string that got caught under a rock. The bird, unfortunately can die from this since it can't move around. I also drew many fish on their way inside of  a coke bottle. The coke bottle serves as a site where fish THINK they're going to find food. However, the fish coming out of the coke bottle has a plastic ring around it which only proves that it's a hazardous site. At the bottom, a sea turtle has gotten caught in another plastic ring where you can see it has become deformed. As a whole, the garbage in the ocean is only causing it to become a grave site to all sea animals. Evidently, everyone in the ecosystem will be affected.

Destruction of the Appalachian Mountains & Families As Well

I had the article about the destruction of the Appalachian mountains from mountaintop mining. Mountaintop mining is being used on this mountains to escavate coal as opposed to underground mining. Not as many workers lose their lives at work now but the lives of countless families surrounding the area have become completely destroyed. Countless families have had to move away because staying there became a matter of life and death. The "lucky" families were bought out by the Massey coal company for their plot of land. Others, who couldn't sell their homes, had to leave everything behind; homeless and penniless. But a select few refused to leave and let go of everything. They stayed behind and lost their entire family to save the land that was being torn apart by these coal companies. My project is about such a family. It is a scrapbook page from a little girl who was forced to leave the home that was in her family for generations, but whose father didnt leave with her. I also put a diary entry that the little girl wrote after moving into her new home describing how her family was torn apart because her father wouldn't leave the home and her mother wouldn't live there any longer.

Plastic Ocean

In my drawing, i am depicting what is happening in the article "Our oceans are turning into plastic..are we?", but in a very literal sense. The person on the boat S.S. Idiot is dumping an abundance of garbage into the ocean, which accounts for the extremely polluted gyre spoken about in the article. The fish is saying to her children to watch out for all the garbage, because unfortunately many marine animals get caught or eat the garbage, which leads to their death. Then the dolphin is saying that every bit of plastic ever made still exists, showing that this pollution will always remain there, and will ultimately always negatively effect the marine animals, and everyone on the planet; once one ecosystem is destroyed then this effects other ecosystems as well.

Say No To Mining

This is a picture of a sign I would use to protest the mining of the Appalachian Mountains. Its a sign to show that this is becoming a big problem and its time for the government to take action and shut these types of works down. They must find an alternative. The picture wouldn't rotate but in the poster I drew a mining tractor and a shovel with a big X going through it. The saying says "Say
No To Mining".