Can humans devolve?

From a biological perspective, there is no such thing as devolution. All changes in the gene frequencies of populations--and quite often in the traits those genes influence--are by definition evolutionary changes.

scientificamerican.com - Is the human race evolving or devolving? - Scientific American

Can I put a PS3 disc in a PS5?

No, using a PS3 game disk will not work on the PS5. Do I need a PS Plus Premium membership? Yes, you will need this subscription tier to play PS3...

Last updated Feb 5, 2022

What are signs of social anxiety in a child?

For children, anxiety about interacting with adults or peers may be shown by crying, having temper tantrums, clinging to parents or refusing to...

Last updated Jan 5, 2022

Promotion

A similar question was previously answered by Meredith F. Small, associate professor in the anthropology department at Cornell University. This time we asked Michael J. Dougherty, assistant director and senior staff biologist at Biological Sciences Curriculum Study in Colorado Springs, Colo., to offer his opinion. From a biological perspective, there is no such thing as devolution. All changes in the gene frequencies of populations--and quite often in the traits those genes influence--are by definition evolutionary changes. The notion that humans might regress or "devolve" presumes that there is a preferred hierarchy of structure and function--say, that legs with feet are better than legs with hooves or that breathing with lungs is better than breathing with gills. But for the organisms possessing those structures, each is a useful adaptation. Nonetheless, many people evaluate nonhuman organisms according to human anatomy and physiology and mistakenly conclude that humans are the ultimate product, even goal, of evolution. That attitude probably stems from the tendency of humans to think anthropocentrically, but the scholarship of natural theology, which was prominent in 18th-and 19th-century England, codified it even before Lamarck defined biology in the modern sense. Unfortunately, anthropocentric thinking is at the root of many common misconceptions in biology. Chief among these misconceptions is that species evolve or change because they need to change to adapt to shifting environmental demands; biologists refer to this fallacy as teleology. In fact, more than 99 percent of all species that ever lived are extinct, so clearly there is no requirement that species always adapt successfully. As the fossil record demonstrates, extinction is a perfectly natural--and indeed quite common--response to changing environmental conditions. When species do evolve, it is not out of need but rather because their populations contain organisms with variants of traits that offer a reproductive advantage in a changing environment. Another misconception is that increasing complexity is the necessary outcome of evolution. In fact, decreasing complexity is common in the record of evolution. For example, the lower jaw in vertebrates shows decreasing complexity, as measured by the numbers of bones, from fish to reptiles to mammals. (Evolution adapted the extra jaw bones into ear bones.) Likewise, ancestral horses had several toes on each foot; modern horses have a single toe with a hoof.

Evolution, not devolution, selected for those adaptations.

Can you tame Frabbits The Survivalists?

Players are now able to tame the following animals: Big Cats, Wolves, Elephant Birds, Boars, Deer & Stags, rabbits. Certain objects are required to...

Last updated Oct 29, 2019

What is the best selling game of all time?

Grand Theft Auto V – 170 million+ Grand Theft Auto 5 is the best-selling console/PC-only game of all time (the top two entries on this list have...

Last updated Nov 4, 2021

Promotion

What are self-preservation skills?

the ability of animals or people to protect themselves from danger or destruction: an instinct for self-preservation.

dictionary.cambridge.org - SELF-PRESERVATION definition | Cambridge English Dictionary

self-preservation

I found this unremarkably biased and a bit on the side of temporary self-preservation for the school district. From Huffington Post Either way, questioning the ethics of making bionic bugs might just be a desperate act of self-preservation. From Gizmodo Stories communicate real or fictional events and experiences by improvising as well as embellishing and are shared in all cultures for entertainment, education and self-preservation. From Huffington Post As an act of self-preservation, if nothing else, it was necessary to conceal it. From Huffington Post Hope isn't just a campaign slogan, she argues; it's an instinct of self-preservation. From NPR It's more a study in self-preservation, for both of the parties involved. From TIME In a moment of self-preservation, and because of a strong aversion to peeling mountains of potatoes, the concept of hash brown potato latkes was born. From Chicago Tribune For ages, everyone thought that the two partners were a joint self-preservation society. From National Geographic In this kind of sexist environment, an instinct for self-preservation is understandable. From The Verge

It's an adaptive evolutionary instinct, one of self-preservation. From The Atlantic

Revenge also was held of more account than self-preservation. From Foreign Policy

The climate of fear and self-preservation can affect all levels of society. From Huffington Post Their sense of self-preservation is stronger than their sense of justice. From NPR Jaw-dropping incompetence mixed with abject dereliction of duty coated in an impenetrable mantle of bureaucratic self-preservation spawned this debacle. From OCRegister These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors.

What food Cannot be taken on a plane?

Foods you can't pack in your carry-on Think: creamy cheeses, liquid chocolate, liquid coffee, creamy dips and spreads, gravy, honey, hummus, ice...

Last updated Jun 10, 2021

How far do you zero a rifle?

You may want to zero your rifle so it hits the center of a target at 100 yards if you know that your shots will be at that distance when hunting....

Last updated Feb 1, 2020

Promotion

What time should you stop eating to lose belly fat?

There's no set time you should stop eating to lose belly fat, but, as a guideline, you should avoid eating two to three hours before bed to stop it...

Last updated Apr 15, 2022

Promotion

What is Earth as a Japanese name?

chikyū – 地球 (ちきゅう) : a noun meaning 'the earth' in Japanese. Jun 17, 2020

Last updated Apr 28, 2019