Is their different rates of evolution?

Answer 1

There are different rates of evolution which have been proposed by a few scientists, namely Stephen Gould, following the initial darwiniam revolution. A uniformity to these rates of evolution seems unlikely. What has been found is 'Punctuated Equilibrium", whereby species that have displayed evolutionary stasis throughout their history will suddenly evolve into new forms that may be called species. In effect, a punctuation in the evolutionary time clock.
Darwin believed in a very, very, ....., very, slow process of successul and unsucessful mutations that were passed on to generations. These 'succesful' mutations stuck if they embued a selective advantage to X living thing who is living in niche Y (you get the point). The traditional Darwinists subscribe to a notion of stable evolutions over large swaths of time. The so-called Neo-Darwinists feel that these stable evolutions are punctuated by periods of rapid 'Speciation'. This speciation can arise over only a few generations(a peice of sand in the evolutionary time scale) and generally occur via:
1) geographical barriers->genetic drift
2) small populations get seperated from larger population to survive with new selective pressures->genetic drift 3) when a population enters a new niche or habitat within the range of the parent species(usually due to env.change in initial habitat)->NO genetic drift; behaviours prevents breeding btwn. the 2 species
4)Sympatric speciation in which pop. is not seperated->the causes of speciation are still debatable

There is tons of info and debate regarding this topic, specifically findings in Developmental Biology. The theories of quantum evolution and saltationism have been cast aside as being unsound in theory. Of course, animal husbandry IS speciation, and it CAN occur over a single generation, but it could not be called a natural process.

Answer 2

Kind of - evolution occurs at the rate by which there are new generations. There can be new generations of some kinds of bacteria v quickly eg. every 20 mins - so they evolve quickly by our standards; but bacteria and people will evolve around about the same amount in the same no. of generations. Remember that evolution is random and requires an environmental pressure to manifest itself (ie. the genetic trait could already be present but you wouldn't know about it unless something killed the individuals without the gene).

Answer 3

Yes. The rate of evolution depends a lot on the rate of reproduction, and environmental factors. There would be very little evolution if the environmental factors were completely perfect for the organism.

Answer 4

Dont believe or disbelieve in evolution. They dont have answers to everything but pretend to do so. Where are the intermediate links for other animals like elephants, pigs, dinosaurs and so on. Only fully formed structures are found. If neck of girrafe got long to reach out for the trees, there should be skulls showing that right, small to medium to long...but there are only skulls with long neck. Just because there are many types of Apes , some of whom have got extinct, it is wrong to interpret them as our ancestors. Besides everytime they find a skull, they declare missing link found, only to declare later.. that it was just an extinct ape species...many species supposed to be extinct may still be in the wilderness.. If the first organism was asexual, during the process of forming sexes , reproduction would have stopped and life would have ceased to be, cause evlution/forming of sexes obviously takes a long time...according to their own theory. how did the nervpus system form, how did the organs start evolving around a single cell.. can they answer that? no , all they say is " It happened by evolution" Unlike other subjects like physics,chemistry where there is clear cut explanation for phenomenon,, evolution is not convincing.

Answer 5

There aren't different rates of evolution. There is adaptation through natural selection. As an environment changes, the species of that environment will adapt accordingly.

Answer 6

i think some species need to change more so then others due to climate , habitat an other reasons... it may seem one animal is changeing more-so then anouther but the other animal may be able to exsist just fine without makeing any evolutionary changes at the time

Answer 7

Yes....the environment and it's effect and way in which it meets the need of a species. Species learn to adapt and
evolve.

Answer 8

Of course there is; the simplest way to see it is 100 years ago we used a quill to convey our thoughts to paper to transfer information to others. Now we use a computer. We are becoming smarter in some ways and ignorant in others.

Answer 9

Sure - how could there not be????