Homologous vs Analogous

1. Frog & Rabbit 

a. A frog and a rabbit; they look totally different and have different skin, colors and eat different things but they have homologous traits when it comes to their forelimbs and certain bones in their bodies. 

b.  They have very similar functions when it comes to their forelimbs and how it developed because a frog uses their limbs as much as a rabbit, except that some frogs jump higher and faster distances then rabbits. This is due to their prey being quicker then a rabbits prey. We can see that a frog has longer forelimbs, hands, legs, and fingers because it uses and lives off of them and its tongue. It needs these long and sticky hands along with long fingers to stick onto the trees and leaves of its habitat. A rabbit has smaller forelimbs and bigger legs for fast rapid movements; a very fast hop instead of high jumps. A rabbit usually has bigger prey and bigger teeth to chew it down with as well. 

c. Generally the common ancestor of these two would have been a fish with homologous structures which went on to land and then evolved by its needs and environment around it. A lizard could have also been a possible ancestor but could have also came from a fish long ago. They all have similar forelimbs as a homologous trait and all evolved differently due to their placement or adaptation.

d.  

2. Shark Fin and Dolphin Flipper

a. Both the Shark and the Dolphin live in the sea and both seem to be very similar in structure because of their color shape and size. However they are not quite similar when it comes to ancestry or common descendant. 

b. They may have just developed similarly due to being in a similar environment. They have similar fins except the dolphin has a flipper and their is a difference in bone structure there. The dolphins use their flippers quite more often the the shark uses his fin. The dolphin needs its flippers to due the long jumps it does in and out of the sea. sharks just need the fins to swim same traits different attributes. 

c. First off the dolphin is a mammal so it is probably more closely related to another animal; rather then the shark which is a fish. So in this case we cannot say they had a common descent. We know that these traits are analogous because not only is the bone structure different in their fins/flippers but one one of these animals is a fish the other is considered a mammal still so they obviously evolved looking so alike because they both were raised up in the sea. 

d. 

DNA Molecule

AGGTTACCGUTAAGCTATGCTGTTATGGAGTTCAAATATACCCATCGACC

Darwin & Lamarck

Kevin Mundo

1. I think an individual who had one of the greatest influences on Darwin' development of his theory Natural Selection was Jean-Baptiste Lamarck. He has somewhat of a positive influence towards Darwin's ideas because he too believed that evolution occurred and proceeded in accordance with natural laws which was similar to what Darwin had said with Natural Selection which stated that those animals that were better equipped with traits that adapted to the society were selected naturally by nature to survive and have better access to resources due to their stronger genes. 

2. Jean-Baptiste Lamarck contributed to the scientific community because he was one of the early proponents of the idea that evolution occurred and proceeded in accordance with natural laws, which was something similar to what Darwin was trying to explain with Natural Selection. Lamarck also gave the term biology a broader meaning and he established the theory of inheritance of acquired characteristics, which was called soft inheritance. They both thought life had changed slowly over time and was still changing over time. 

3. The bullet points that can be related to Jean-Baptiste Lamarck are the ones that say "if the environment changes, the traits that are helpful or adaptive to that environment will be different," and "Who gets better access to these limited resources?" as well as "Organisms with better access to resources will be more successful in their reproductive efforts." This all relates to Jean's theory of Soft Inheritance as well as his belief that evolution occurred due to and according with natural laws. This strongly supported Darwin's views and could have been a strong reason why Darwin believed in Natural Selection. Although they both had very similar ideas they also had very different ideas as well. 

4. At first Darwin was hesitant to present his ideas to the world and it took him about 23 years to build a good foundation on his ideas and his thoughts. So maybe Darwin still would have developed his theory of natural selection but Lamarck definitely had an impact on him gaining confidence and then sharing his concept with the world. So I think yes, Lamarck had a positive impact on Darwin and his theory at the time because he was another person who believed somewhat what Darwin believed.

5.  The attitude of the church affected Darwin and the publication of his book in many ways. First of all since what he believed kind of contradicted and went against what the church believed he knew he could be looked down upon and his reputation as a naturalist and coming from of a family of physicists and scientist, would be ruined. Darwin was afraid this would happen so he withheld his concept from the public for quite some while. If he was wrong he knew it would be embarrassing so he waited until he was more certain and got ideas and concepts from others that were very similar like Lamarck's theory. 

What the Question Tells Us .

The question "do you believe in evolution?" can tell us a lot about the questioner, it tells us that they know about some type of order or pattern and they have seen this pattern evolve over-time.  It tells us that the questioner is sophisticated themselves and study or know about science and nature. It also tells us that the questioner is unsure himself about the question or else he would not be asking the queston. Another way that the question could be asked in order to narrow it down and not let it be so broad is by asking if one believes in living things adapting to nature and or weather. This in some sense entitles evolution because people and living things can adapt which can enable a theory of evolution but perhaps be misperceived by the adaptation to different environments and not actually evolving.