Do species evolve or do genes evolve creating new species?

Question

I have seen a lot of questions saying things like
"if we evolved from apes why are there still apes" as odd as I think the question is sometimes I think the answers are equally odd.
So I just want a quick tally of thinking on evolution.
I have always considered evolution to occur on a molecular level and therefor species dont actually evolve but thier genes do hence creating a new species.
What are your actually thoughts on evolution...species or genetic evolution?

Please list any resources pertaining to your thoughts as I like to read up more on different theories?

Answer 1

the genes mutate. the animals with the more advanced or adapted genes will survive and the animals with more primitive genes do not. thats how new species evolve.

the reason there are apes around today even tho we evolved from them is that we shared a common ancestor. the common ancestor split into to different species

Answer 2

Evolution acts indirectly on genes via the phenotypic expressions in the individuals of a species. That is, natural selection cares only about what your genotype provides for you in the environment, and does not care about the actual genotype. So, in the case where a homozygous dominant and a heterozygote have the same phenotype, they'll have equal chances of survival.

Richard Dawkins says that bodies are just a mode for genes to perpetuate themselves (The Selfish Gene). If you look at it from his point of view, genes are judged by the other genes with which they choose to unite. So, if a gene places itself in a successful individual - one with other good genes - then that gene has a greater chance of going on to the next generation. In this sense, genes would be the ones evolving.

More about species evolving: kin altruism is an example where the species as a whole are more important than the actual genes. It is common that a mother (or father, or both) will put forth a lot of energy in order to protect her children. However, it is also common that individuals will sacrifice themselves in order to save their relatives. For example, one individuals might call out when it sees a predator, warning its relatives to flee, but leaving himself more open to attack. In this way, it doesn't really matter what genes the relatives had - they were preserved by the action of an individual.

Mutations are an interesting aspect. While they happen on the molecular level and can not be controlled by an individual within the species, they are still acted upon at the phenotypic level. It seems that both genetic and species driven evolution happens here.

Answer 3

Wow. An intelligent question! What's Yahoo Answers coming to?!

Your concept that *genes* are the evolving entity sounds very close to the classic thesis promoted by Richard Dawkins in "The Selfish Gene". The process of natural selection operates on genes ... in other words, it doesn't care about survival of the individual, only about survival of the gene ... a gene that produces individuals that die young but reproduces better, is going to propagate faster than a gene that creates a long-lived individual, but reproduces less effectively.

But the important part of your question is to remember that evolution is a *statistical* process. It has to do with whether the frequency of the gene (or more correctly, the allele) in a population goes up or down in the population (the species).

So I would not agree that evolution occurs at the molecular level. *Mutation* occurs at the molecular level, but no evolution has occurred unless the mutation becomes more frequent in the population. And new species don't arise just by mutation + evolution ... it also requires some branching event that causes genetic isolation between two subpopulations (e.g. in a world with a homogeneous, constant environment, such branching events might never occur).

But if the gene evolves (changes in a way that becomes more advantageous), then the species evolves. So both the gene and the species evolve. They need each other ... the gene cannot propagate without the species, and it cannot experience environmental pressures without the species. And of course, the species cannot change without the gene ... i.e. without the unit of inheritance that gets passed down between generations.

So *both* evolve.

BTW, another tricky part of your question is the difference between "gene" and "allele". (E.g. there is a gene for eye color, but blue-eyes, brown-eyes, green-eyes are three alleles for that gene.) Technically, it is the *allele* that changes in frequency in a population, not the gene. So when we speak of a gene "evolving", I assume you mean a gene that develops a more advantageous allele, or set of alleles.

Answer 4

Genes mutate all the time. The mutations which result in an advantage in survival will be retained and increase in the population. If, by some chance, these mutations can not be shared with the entire population of a species, (generally by geographic isolation), then the mutations, over time as they increase, may lead to a separate sub-species being formed, as an offshoot of the original group. This may lead to eventually a new species entirely, given enough time and separation.
So, the answer is : genes mutate leading to new species, eventually. Species evolve.
These are just my views, others may see things differently, or explain it better. Below is a good site for evolutionary explanations.

Answer 5

Well they have prewrinkled Levi's now

The way things have worked in the past is that genes have slowly changed over time in secluded groups of species until that species is no longer part of the same species it originated from. The important part here is that the same species may have several groups that evolve into a different set of evolved species, all different from one another.

Answer 6

it's easy to get confused, but genes mutate. Sometimes for the better, and sometimes for the worse. When it is an improvement ( i.e. makes the animal more popular with the ladies) that gene mutation keeps getting passed on until it becomes dominant and you have a new species based on alot of good mutations being bred forward. species evolve through genes mutating

Answer 7

Evolution is a big lie, The Flying spaghetti monster created us with his noodly appendage. In the begining he created a mountain, some trees and a midget. Genes were just put there as entertainment, he made the world seem complex so we humans wouldn't get bored.