Question

Write a short essay (about 100–150 words) evaluating whether changes to an organism’s physical environment are likely to result in evolutionary change. Use an example to support your reasoning.

Answer 1

Changes to an organism's physical environment can lead to evolutionary change within a population through the process of natural selection. The example of the peppered moth during the Industrial Revolution demonstrates this, where the dark-colored moths became more prevalent due to their increased camouflage against pollution-darkened trees.

Step-by-step explanation:

Changes to an organism's physical environment can indeed catalyze evolutionary change within a population. This process, described by the theory of natural selection, posits that individuals with phenotypes best suited to the new environment will survive and produce more offspring. Over time, these genetic traits become more common within the population, leading to evolutionary change.

For example, the peppered moth (Biston betularia) during the Industrial Revolution provided evidence of this process. Prior to industrialization, the white-colored moths were more common due to their camouflage against lichen-covered trees. Once pollution darkened the trees, the once rare dark-colored moths became more common because they were less visible to predators.

This example clearly illustrates how a population, not individual organisms, evolves over generations through changes led by environmental pressures, which in turn affects the prevalence of certain genetic traits.

Answer 2

Step-by-step explanation:

Change in an organism's physical environment will cause the organism to adapt to fit in the surrounding environment. This process is called as adaptation. This process causes the evolution of the organism into a new species. The environment affects the evolution of the species , because change in environment put pressure on the species to adapt in change environmental conditions. Natural selection brings the change in the organism as the organism best suited for the environment survives.The example of evolution is the giraffe neck. Giraffe evolved by the development of tall neck slowly by increasing their neck length, so that they can eat leaf from the tall plants.