Is it true that it takes millions and millions of years for evolution to occur?

Question

I have to do homework that includes a bunch of questions.... this is one of them though... PLEASE help me! I'm in desperate need of your help!

Answer 1

Yes.

In biology, evolution is the change in the heritable traits of a population over successive generations, as determined by shifts in the allele frequencies of genes. Through the course of time, this process results in the origin of new species from existing ones (speciation). All contemporary organisms are related to each other through common descent, the products of cumulative evolutionary changes over billions of years. Evolution is the source of the vast diversity of extant and extinct life on Earth.[1][2]

The basic mechanisms that produce evolutionary change are natural selection (which includes ecological, sexual, and kin selection) and genetic drift; these two mechanisms act on the genetic variation created by mutation, genetic recombination and gene flow. Natural selection is the process by which individual organisms with favorable traits are more likely to survive and reproduce. If those traits are heritable, they are passed to succeeding generations, with the result that beneficial heritable traits become more common in the next generation.[3][4][5] Given enough time, this passive process can result in varied adaptations to changing environmental conditions.[6]

The modern understanding of evolution is based on the theory of natural selection, which was first set out in a joint 1858 paper by Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace and popularized in Darwin's 1859 book The Origin of Species. In the 1930s, Darwinian natural selection was combined with the theory of Mendelian heredity to form the modern evolutionary synthesis, also known as "Neo-Darwinism". The modern synthesis describes evolution as a change in the allele frequency within a population from one generation to the next.[6]

The theory of evolution has become the central organizing principle of modern biology, relating directly to topics such as the origin of antibiotic resistance in bacteria, eusociality in insects, and the staggering biodiversity of the living world. The modern evolutionary synthesis is broadly received as scientific consensus and has replaced earlier explanations for the origin of species, including Lamarckism, and is currently the most powerful theory explaining biology.

Answer 2

A single dominant mutation with survival benefits can effectively become an evolution in just a few generations, depending on the length of a generation this could be hours or many tens of years. Generally such mutations will be small but they might be noticeable.

Usually different species are the culmination of many mutations and many mutations generally will take thousands if not millions of years to happen.

For a single evolutionary mutation the answer to your question is no. For one species to evolve into another through the culmination of many mutations, the answer would usually (though not always) be yes.

Answer 3

Billions and Billions.
And it is still occuring.
Actually evolution occurs when there is a mutation in genetic mapping of an organism wether it is through parentage or a flaw in the gene. this new organism will be tested by its environment and if it is successful will reproduce and pass on the genetic trait. If it is unsucessful its trait will die with it. So evolution actually takes very little time, however to see a significant amount of change in a species takes many generations. For roaches and rodents this can be a matter of months for humans hundreds of years.

Answer 4

No, that's not the case There have been some recent (within the last few weeks) articles that stated that Darwin's finches evolved in just a few tens of years, while we have all seen cockroaches, that have not changed since Day One, however long ago that was.

Yeah, it's confusing to me, too. And I bet that, because I didn't just parrot the party line a moment ago and insist that evolution is the one real, only way to eternal whatever, that because I admitted that it's confusing, someone is going to jump up and call me ignorant or foolish or accuse me of being a hypocrite. Go figure. I guess I must have threatened their belief system or something.

Answer 5

Not always. There have been micro-evolution events that appear to have caused speciation in a single generation.

Consider: A mini-dachshund isn't much like a gray wolf, but only a few thousand years separate the mini-doxie from the gray wolf.

And, if you're okay with polyploidy events, modern corn isn't anything like its wild ancestor teosinte, and yet only a few thousand years separate them.

Finally, there's true-breeding triticale, a new species for sure, only a hundred years old.

Answer 6

you're making assumptions about the earliest date of written language. purely because there aren't any examples exhibiting written language or stepped forward societies (on a similar time as stepped forward as this present day society) does not advise that they have got not existed contained in the previous. How lengthy do you assume the entire compilation of written textile would very last given international wide disaster? A e book left outdoors uncovered to climate would not very last a year. 1000 years will be sufficient to get rid of any lines of advancements made through historic guy. So in this context it really is difficult to completely say that there have not been thousands and thousands of societies which have reached or handed our present day element progression. each progression we've made will be thoroughly eliminated and entirely forgotten in a 100,000 years...

Answer 7

Not always. Species that reproduce frequently will evolve faster. A good example is drug-resistant bacteria, which is a result of evolution over only a few years.

Answer 8

For a major change YES. But studies show the human brain is slowly evolving very tiny bits all the time.

Answer 9

No...
Much much faster than that..
Mankind has only been what we currently recognize as being
modern man ( Homo Sapiens ) for 200,000 - 250,000 years...
Bacteria can evolve in just decades.

Answer 10

no. like it takes only several generations to produce ddt resistant mosquitos. but for major changes, it takes a lot of years.