Evolution Talk

When it comes to personal IDs, we have many.  There’s your driver’s license, passport, online username, among other human-made forms of proving who you are.  Then there are those that nature gave you that’s yours and yours alone.  Like your DNA. And then there are your fingerprints.  Other than leaving incriminating evidence behind if you’ve committed a crime and weren't careful enough to wipe them away or wear gloves, what are fingerprints good for?

Evolution Talk is also a book! You can find links to Amazon, Barnes & Noble and others on the front page of EvolutionTalk.com, or call your local bookstore and ask them to order a copy.

Music in this Episode

• Swingland by Frank Schroeter, Free download: https://filmmusic.io/song/6625-swingland, Licensed under CC BY 4.0: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

• Cinematic Suspense Series Episode 009 by Sascha Ende, Free download: https://filmmusic.io/song/8224-cinematic-suspense-series-episode-009, Licensed under CC BY 4.0: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

• Ambient Bongos by Alexander Nakarada, Free download: https://filmmusic.io/song/4726-ambient-bongos, Licensed under CC BY 4.0: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

• The Inspector by Frank Schroeter, Free download: https://filmmusic.io/song/9176-the-inspector, Licensed under CC BY 4.0: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

• Blue Sky U Liar 106 by Doudoo, Free download: https://filmmusic.io/song/11436-blue-sky-u-liar-106, Licensed under CC BY 4.0: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Attics aren’t the only places you’ll find old secrets from the past, begging to be rediscovered or let out. You have them in you as well. I’m not talking about the the type of secrets you keep to yourself and only tell close friends. I’m talking about those like the ones you’ll find in old attics.  Secrets you don't even know are there.  These secrets are locked in your DNA. Every once in a while, those secrets come back to haunt us.

Evolution Talk is also a book! You can find links to Amazon, Barnes & Noble and others on the front page of EvolutionTalk.com, or call your local bookstore and ask them to order a copy.

Music in this Episode

• Swingland by Frank Schroeter, Free download: https://filmmusic.io/song/6625-swingland, Licensed under CC BY 4.0: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

• Cinematic Suspense Series Episode 009 by Sascha Ende, Free download: https://filmmusic.io/song/8224-cinematic-suspense-series-episode-009, Licensed under CC BY 4.0: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

• Ambient Bongos by Alexander Nakarada, Free download: https://filmmusic.io/song/4726-ambient-bongos, Licensed under CC BY 4.0: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

• The Inspector by Frank Schroeter, Free download: https://filmmusic.io/song/9176-the-inspector, Licensed under CC BY 4.0: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

• Blue Sky U Liar 106 by Doudoo, Free download: https://filmmusic.io/song/11436-blue-sky-u-liar-106, Licensed under CC BY 4.0: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Ants have mastered the art of cooperation.  They have highly organized social structures, caste systems, and with everything they do, they do for the colony.  They are in a sense, a superorganism with each ant contributing to benefit of colony, like cells in a functioning body.

Evolution Talk is also a book! You can find links to Amazon, Barnes & Noble and others on the front page of EvolutionTalk.com, or call your local bookstore and ask them to order a copy.

Music in this Episode

• Winjammer by Podington Bear, License (CC BY 3.0): Artist website: soundofpicture.com
• Mute Groove by Podington Bear, License (CC BY 3.0): Artist website: soundofpicture.com
• Memory Wind by Podington Bear, License (CC BY 3.0): Artist website: soundofpicture.com

Evolution by natural selection is not perfect, nor does it strive to be.  It doesn't strive to be anything at all.  An adaptation that is beneficial under one set of circumstances may be a detriment under another. There are also some wonderful by products - like reading and writing.  Did we evolve to read and write? Once again, imperfection reigns.

Evolution Talk is also a book! You can find links to Amazon, Barnes & Noble and others on the front page of EvolutionTalk.com, or call your local bookstore and ask them to order a copy.

Music in this Episode

• Gathering by Podington Bear, License (CC BY 3.0): Artist website: soundofpicture.com
• Ideas by Podington Bear, License (CC BY 3.0): Artist website: soundofpicture.com
• In And Out by Podington Bear, License (CC BY 3.0): Artist website: soundofpicture.com
• Bright White by Podington Bear, License (CC BY 3.0): Artist website: soundofpicture.com
• Go Little Car by Podington Bear, License (CC BY 3.0): Artist website: soundofpicture.com

If you've ever heard the phrase "play possum", you may know it means to feign death. It's real thing. Possums do it, as do sharks, ants, and a multitude of other animals. It's a defense mechanisms shaped by evolution.

Evolution Talk is also a book! You can find links to Amazon, Barnes & Noble and others on the front page of EvolutionTalk.com, or call your local bookstore and ask them to order a copy.

Music in this Episode

• Go Little Car by Podington Bear, License (CC BY 3.0): Artist website: soundofpicture.com
• Dinky by Podington Bear, License (CC BY 3.0): Artist website: soundofpicture.com
• Arp Arc by Podington Bear, License (CC BY 3.0): Artist website: soundofpicture.com
• Ant Party by Podington Bear, License (CC BY 3.0): Artist website: soundofpicture.com

With the start of a new season of episodes, I thought it appropriate to revisit why I created this podcast in the first place with the question - "Why Teach Evolution?"

Evolution Talk is also a book! You can find links to Amazon, Barnes & Noble and others on the front page of EvolutionTalk.com, or call your local bookstore and ask them to order a copy.

Music in this Episode

• Kingston Town by Podington Bear, License (CC BY 3.0): Artist website: soundofpicture.com

• Breezin by Podington Bear, License (CC BY 3.0): Artist website: soundofpicture.com

• Wook by Podington Bear, License (CC BY 3.0): Artist website: soundofpicture.com

• Mute Groove by Podington Bear, License (CC BY 3.0): Artist website: soundofpicture.com

It's time for a summer break.  There will be some exciting new video content coming up as well.  You can keep up to date on all that is happening at Evolutiontalk.com !  

Evolution Talk is also a book! You can find links to Amazon, Barnes & Noble and others on the front page of EvolutionTalk.com, or call your local bookstore and ask them to order a copy.

The Homo Naledi have been intriguing scientists since their discovery in 2013, challenging our understanding of early human life. In this episode, we explore the burning question: how did they end up in the incredibly difficult-to-reach Dinaledi chamber? From the possibility of using fire to lighting their way to the evidence of intentional burial, we are slowly uncovering the secrets Homo Naledi left behind. We delve into their potential cognitive abilities, including abstract thinking and symbolic thought, and what their burial rituals could mean about their understanding of mortality.

Evolution Talk is also a book! You can find links to Amazon, Barnes & Noble and others on the front page of EvolutionTalk.com, or call your local bookstore and ask them to order a copy.

Music in this Episode

• Whimsy Groove by Kevin MacLeod, Free download: https://filmmusic.io/song/4623-whimsy-groove, License (CC BY 4.0): https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

• Nightdreams by Kevin MacLeod, Free download: https://filmmusic.io/song/4132-nightdreams, License (CC BY 4.0): https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

• Crowd Hammer by Kevin MacLeod, Free download: https://filmmusic.io/song/4983-crowd-hammer, License (CC BY 4.0): https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Dive into the mysterious world of Batesian mimicry, where harmless creatures masquerade as dangerous ones to survive. Journey with us from Britain’s south coast, where hoverflies fool predators with wasp-like outfits, to the deceptive bands of the scarlet kingsnake in southeastern US. Marvel at the daytime antics of clearwing moths, mistaken for bees, and question the taste of the Viceroy butterfly, a monarch look-alike. As the lines between disguise and reality blur, we explore the intriguing dance of adaptation and survival in the animal kingdom. It’s nature’s never-ending Halloween party.

Evolution Talk is also a book! You can find links to Amazon, Barnes & Noble and others on the front page of EvolutionTalk.com, or call your local bookstore and ask them to order a copy.

Music in this Episode

• Halloween Atmosphere 2018 by Sascha Ende, Free download: https://filmmusic.io/song/3234-halloween-atmosphere-2018, License (CC BY 4.0): https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

• Halloween Ghost Of The Dead Ballerina by Frank Schroeter, Free download: https://filmmusic.io/song/8269-halloween-ghost-of-the-dead-ballerina, License (CC BY 4.0): https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

• Halloween Theme 1 by Alexander Nakarada, Free download: https://filmmusic.io/song/4735-halloween-theme-1, License (CC BY 4.0): https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

• Halloween Atmosphere by Sascha Ende, Free download: https://filmmusic.io/song/87-halloween-atmosphere, License (CC BY 4.0): https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

• Halloween Haunted House by Frank Schroeter, Free download: https://filmmusic.io/song/6615-halloween-haunted-house, License (CC BY 4.0): https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

When a vibrant caravan of travelers arrives with new foods, traditions, and stories, a sleepy hamlet's culinary landscape is forever altered. We explore how this 'mixing of recipes' changes the DNA menu of a population, much like the newfound dishes in Heritage Hamlet. Here's to a feast for both your mind and your curiosity.

Evolution Talk is also a book! You can find links to Amazon, Barnes & Noble and others on the front page of EvolutionTalk.com, or call your local bookstore and ask them to order a copy.

Music in this Episode

• Le Baguette by Alexander Nakarada, Free download: https://filmmusic.io/song/4784-le-baguette, License (CC BY 4.0): https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Discover "Fossils, Feuds, and Fantastical Creatures: The Cope and Marsh Saga." Journey back to 1863 Berlin, where Edward Drinker Cope and Othniel Charles Marsh kickstart a rivalry for the ages. Originally friends, their bond fractures at a New Jersey fossil quarry, escalating into a public spat that seizes the paleontological world. Tune in for this thrilling ride into history, dinosaurs, and the power of human rivalry.

Evolution Talk is also a book! You can find links to Amazon, Barnes & Noble and others on the front page of EvolutionTalk.com, or call your local bookstore and ask them to order a copy.

Music in this Episode

• Meanwhile in Bavaria by Kevin MacLeod, Free download: https://filmmusic.io/song/4028-meanwhile-in-bavaria. License (CC BY 4.0): https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

• Lost In The Dark by Steven OBrien, Free download: https://filmmusic.io/song/10010-lost-in-the-dark, License (CC BY 4.0): https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

• Summer Swing 2018 by Sascha Ende, Free download: https://filmmusic.io/song/3160-summer-swing-2018, License (CC BY 4.0): https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

• Tick Tock Tick Tock Quarantine Time by WinnieTheMoog, Free download: https://filmmusic.io/song/6145-tick-tock-tick-tock-quarantine-time, License (CC BY 4.0): https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

• Jazzy Comping 1 by Agnese Valmaggia, Free download: https://filmmusic.io/song/7330-jazzy-comping-1, License (CC BY 4.0): https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

• Jazzi 3 by Frank Schroeter, Free download: https://filmmusic.io/song/8069-jazzi-3, License (CC BY 4.0): https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

You can get 25% off the Evolution Talk book at Amazon!  The discount is good until June 8th.  If you buy one let me know what you think!

Have a great week!

Rick

Link to Evolution Talk book: https://amzn.to/3MJTJ9h

From the quiet roads of New Hampshire, where snapping turtles are more common than lizards, to the depths of our evolutionary past, we'll grapple with the idea that we may still carry a piece of our reptilian ancestors within us. But don't be too quick to believe popular pop-psychology. We'll explore what the Triune Brain model tells us about our so-called "reptilian brain" and how it shapes our instinctual responses. We'll question if there's a lurking Allosaurus within our minds or if it's just an oversimplification of a complex organ.

Evolution Talk is also a book! You can find links to Amazon, Barnes & Noble and others on the front page of EvolutionTalk.com, or call your local bookstore and ask them to order a copy.

Music in this Episode

• Frogs by Podington Bear, License (CC BY 3.0): Artist website: soundofpicture.com

• Go Little Car by Podington Bear, License (CC BY 3.0): Artist website: soundofpicture.com

• Twinkle Toes by Podington Bear, License (CC BY 3.0): Artist website: soundofpicture.com

Using the metaphor of a simple beat evolving into a complex symphony, we explore how small-scale genetic changes within populations give rise to new species. From microevolution to macroevolution. Here, the role of natural selection is handed over to the discerning ears of different audiences to select the music that survives and evolves. From a simple beat to a grand symphony, we trace the evolution of life.

Evolution Talk is also a book! You can find links to Amazon, Barnes & Noble and others on the front page of EvolutionTalk.com, or call your local bookstore and ask them to order a copy.

Music in this Episode

• Jazzi by Frank Schroeter, Free download: https://filmmusic.io/song/6469-jazzi, License (CC BY 4.0): https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

• Road Trip by Frank Schroeter, Free download: https://filmmusic.io/song/9761-road-trip, License (CC BY 4.0): https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

• Trickster by Phat Sounds, Free download: https://filmmusic.io/song/10864-trickster, License (CC BY 4.0): https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

• Midsummer's Night In The Woods by Justin Allan Arnold, Free download: https://filmmusic.io/song/10882-midsummers-night-in-the-woods, License (CC BY 4.0): https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

• We Love Punk Rock by WinnieTheMoog, Free download: https://filmmusic.io/song/6369-we-love-punk-rock, License (CC BY 4.0): https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

• Summer Swing 2018 by Sascha Ende, Free download: https://filmmusic.io/song/3160-summer-swing-2018, License (CC BY 4.0): https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

• Funkorama by Kevin MacLeod, Free download: https://filmmusic.io/song/3788-funkorama, License (CC BY 4.0): https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

   

In this episode, the focus is on macroevolution, which deals with larger scale evolutionary changes compared to microevolution. Macroevolutionary changes can give rise to new species, and its results can be seen in the fossil record. By piecing together fossils, researchers can observe macroevolutionary patterns, predict transitional organisms, and even locate potential fossil sites. Whales provide a compelling look at macroevolution, as their evolution from land-dwelling mammals to aquatic giants is documented in the fossil record. The journey of whales, from the wolf-sized Pakicetus to the fully aquatic Basilosaurus, showcases the power of macroevolution.

Evolution Talk is also a book! You can find links to Amazon, Barnes & Noble and others on the front page of EvolutionTalk.com, or call your local bookstore and ask them to order a copy.

The constant dance of microevolution is driven by alleles, different versions of genes that determine traits. Sexual reproduction results in organisms inheriting a unique combination of genetic material from both parents, creating genetic diversity within a population. New alleles can appear through mutations or gene flow between populations.

The dance of alleles will continue, introducing new traits and variations in the ongoing story of evolution.

Evolution Talk is also a book! You can find links to Amazon, Barnes & Noble and others on the front page of EvolutionTalk.com, or call your local bookstore and ask them to order a copy.

In 2015,a spelunker named Joachim Kreiselmaier discovered a troglobite, a species that lives in underground environments, in the Danube-Aach cave system in South Germany. This small, pale fish had an elongated body, large nostrils, and minuscule, non-functional eyes. It was the first species of cave fish found in Europe and was related to loaches from the nearby Danube River. These cave fish lost their eyesight and pigmentation not because they stopped needing them, but due to evolution by natural selection. 

Evolution Talk is also a book! You can find links to Amazon, Barnes & Noble and others on the front page of EvolutionTalk.com, or call your local bookstore and ask them to order a copy.

On September 15, 1835, the Galapagos Islands welcomed the arrival of a ship that had traversed South America, offering a strikingly different landscape. The vessel, HMS Beagle, still had just over a year before it would return to England. Aboard the ship was a young naturalist named Charles Darwin, who was unaware that his brief five-week exploration of the Galapagos Archipelago would ultimately inspire him to pen a world-altering book. This work would revolutionize our comprehension of the origins and diversity of the countless species that have existed and continue to exist on Earth.

Evolution Talk is also a book! You can find links to Amazon, Barnes & Noble and others on the front page of EvolutionTalk.com, or call your local bookstore and ask them to order a copy.

It can be straightforward to confuse facts and theories, but they remain distinct entities. Asserting that evolutoion by natural selection is not a fact does not diminish its significance as a theoretical framework. The theory is founded on empirical evidence and provides a deeper understanding of the subject matter.  Scientific theories evolve over time as new evidence and discoveries emerge. They continue to be refined and expanded as our knowledge of the natural world grows.

Evolution Talk is also a book! You can find links to Amazon, Barnes & Noble and others on the front page of EvolutionTalk.com, or call your local bookstore and ask them to order a copy.

Our diet has a direct impact on our quality of life, and this fact is not new. Throughout the evolution of our species, food availability and our diet have been influential factors. The Hominin River has provided insights into the dietary habits of our predecessors and how it affected their brain size and ability to walk on two legs. The transition from herbivores to omnivores, as well as learning how to cook food, caused a reduction in teeth size and gut size. Despite not documenting their meals or counting calories, our ancient hominin ancestors were keen on experimenting with what they ate. Their primary concern was avoiding predators, so we rely on archaeological findings to understand their diet.

Evolution Talk is also a book! You can find links to Amazon, Barnes & Noble and others on the front page of EvolutionTalk.com, or call your local bookstore and ask them to order a copy.

Our journey down the Hominin River in search of our ancestors and the evolution of our species has been extensive. Homo sapiens began exploring the world 300,000 years ago, and anatomically modern humans appeared 200,000 years ago. We, also known as Homosapiens sapiens, are the last surviving species of the Hominin family. However, as we speed along the river, we may overlook a significant change - the river is now narrower, with its tributaries gone. This river, which has been around for over 6 million years, may be nearing its end sooner than we anticipate. With millions of years behind us, we might only have a few centuries left to navigate.

Evolution Talk is also a book! You can find links to Amazon, Barnes & Noble and others on the front page of EvolutionTalk.com, or call your local bookstore and ask them to order a copy.

Music in this Episode

• Denouement by Podington Bear, License (CC BY 3.0): Artist website: soundofpicture.com

• Ghost by Podington Bear, License (CC BY 3.0): Artist website: soundofpicture.com

• Human Survivor by Podington Bear, License (CC BY 3.0): Artist website: soundofpicture.com

The discovery of a Homo erectus skull in 2005, known as Skull 5, marked a significant archaeological find. Among the five skulls found, estimated to be approximately 1.8 million years old, Skull 5 stands out as the most complete hominin skull ever uncovered. Remarkably, it had remained hidden within a cave for nearly two million years before its discovery.

Evolution Talk is also a book! You can find links to Amazon, Barnes & Noble and others on the front page of EvolutionTalk.com, or call your local bookstore and ask them to order a copy.

Music in this Episode

• River Fire by Kevin MacLeod, Free download: https://filmmusic.io/song/4294-river-fire, License (CC BY 4.0): https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

• Slow Heat by Kevin MacLeod, Free download: https://filmmusic.io/song/4373-slow-heat, License (CC BY 4.0): https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

• Allada by Kevin MacLeod, Free download: https://filmmusic.io/song/4981-allada, License (CC BY 4.0): https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

• Rite of Passage by Kevin MacLeod, Free download: https://filmmusic.io/song/4291-rite-of-passage, License (CC BY 4.0): https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

In 1959, a significant event took place when teeth were discovered at Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania. These teeth were identified as belonging to a hominin species known as Homo habilis, which for decades held a special place as the first hominin to be given the title of Homo and considered as our earliest Homo ancestor. However, as more evidence and research emerge, the question arises: is Homo habilis truly the first Homo species, or is there more to the story?

Evolution Talk is also a book! You can find links to Amazon, Barnes & Noble and others on the front page of EvolutionTalk.com, or call your local bookstore and ask them to order a copy.

Music in this Episode

• Infados by Kevin MacLeod. Free download: https://filmmusic.io/song/3914-infados, License (CC BY 4.0): https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

• Artifact by Kevin MacLeod, Free download: https://filmmusic.io/song/3382-artifact, License (CC BY 4.0): https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

• Accralate by Kevin MacLeod, Free download: https://filmmusic.io/song/3336-accralate, License (CC BY 4.0): https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

• Drums of the Deep by Kevin MacLeod, Free download: https://filmmusic.io/song/3681-drums-of-the-deep, License (CC BY 4.0): https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Thomas Plummer, an archaeologist, had received information about the discovery of stone tools on the Homa Peninsula hillsides in Kenya. In an attempt to gain more knowledge, he initiated an excavation. However, instead of discovering more stone tools, he and his team came across numerous fossils of various animals such as crocodiles, antelopes, horses, and hippos. The fossils were accompanied by stone tools. But who made them?

Evolution Talk is also a book! You can find links to Amazon, Barnes & Noble and others on the front page of EvolutionTalk.com, or call your local bookstore and ask them to order a copy.

For show notes and more, please visit https://EvolutionTalk.com

Music:

• Criminals (DECISION) by Sascha Ende, Free download: https://filmmusic.io/song/248-criminals-decision, License (CC BY 4.0): https://filmmusic.io/standard-license
• Lurking Sloth by Alexander Nakarada, Free download: https://filmmusic.io/song/4785-lurking-sloth, License (CC BY 4.0): https://filmmusic.io/standard-license
• Until Then My Friend by Euan Ford, Free download: https://filmmusic.io/song/8692-until-then-my-friend, License (CC BY 4.0): https://filmmusic.io/standard-license
• Blockbuster Atmosphere 5 (African Spirit) by Sascha Ende, Free download: https://filmmusic.io/song/133-blockbuster-atmosphere-5-african-spirit, License (CC BY 4.0): https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

We’ve come quite a long way along the Hominin River.  We’ve passed tributaries and navigated some pretty large bends.  On the way we’ve heard rumors about what was ahead.  A name actually.  You’ll recognize her name because she's been mentioned on this show more than once.  She’s perhaps the most famous ancestor(?) of all.

Evolution Talk is also a book! You can find links to Amazon, Barnes & Noble and others on the front page of EvolutionTalk.com, or call your local bookstore and ask them to order a copy.

For show notes and more, please visit https://EvolutionTalk.com

Music in this Episode:

• Ghost by Podington Bear, License (CC BY 3.0): Artist website: soundofpicture.com

• Pythagoras by Podington Bear, License (CC BY 3.0): Artist website: soundofpicture.com

• Gentle Chase by Podington Bear, License (CC BY 3.0): Artist website: soundofpicture.com

• Twine by Podington Bear, License (CC BY 3.0): Artist website: soundofpicture.com

• Clay by Podington Bear, License (CC BY 3.0): Artist website: soundofpicture.com

Between 1992 and 1994, working in the Awash region of Ethiopia, the same region that Ardipithecus kadabba would be found a few years later, paleoanthropologist Tim White unearthed well over 100 specimens of something new.  

What was it?

Evolution Talk is also a book! You can find links to Amazon, Barnes & Noble and others on the front page of EvolutionTalk.com, or call your local bookstore and ask them to order a copy.

For show notes and more, please visit https://EvolutionTalk.com

Music:

• Caravan by Podington Bear, License (CC BY 3.0): Artist website: soundofpicture.com

• Bit Rio by Podington Bear, License (CC BY 3.0): Artist website: soundofpicture.com

• Gamma Ray by Podington Bear, License (CC BY 3.0): Artist website: soundofpicture.com

• Climbing the Mountain by Podington Bear, License (CC BY 3.0): Artist website: soundofpicture.com

• Toboggan (Smooth Run) by Podington Bear, License (CC BY 3.0): Artist website: soundofpicture.com

In the last couple of episodes we’ve met two early travellers along the Hominin River.  Today, we will meet yet another one.  This one lived approximately 5.5 million years ago.  It is know as Ardipithecus kadabba, and this is its story.

Evolution Talk is also a book! You can find links to Amazon, Barnes & Noble and others on the front page of EvolutionTalk.com, or call your local bookstore and ask them to order a copy.

For show notes and more, please visit https://EvolutionTalk.com

We continue with our exploration into hominin history by introducing one who once walked the earth six million years ago - the Orrorin tugenensis. It was bipedal, a mix of ape-like and human-like traits, and may be a direct ancestor... of us!

Evolution Talk is also a book! You can find links to Amazon, Barnes & Noble and others on the front page of EvolutionTalk.com, or call your local bookstore and ask them to order a copy.

For show notes and more, please visit https://EvolutionTalk.com

We begin our exploration into hominin history with an introduction to what is arguably the oldest hominin fossil yet found.  Does Sahelanthropus tchadensis represent our earliest hominin ancestor or is it something else? 

Evolution Talk is also a book! You can find links to Amazon, Barnes & Noble and others on the front page of EvolutionTalk.com, or call your local bookstore and ask them to order a copy.

For show notes and more, please visit https://EvolutionTalk.com

When talking about our ancient anscestors the question often comes up over how we refer to them.  Are they hominins or hominids?  It's a good question and it depends on how it is being used and what "hominid" branch is being discussed.  

Over the next few episodes we'll be looking at some of those ancestors, so it's a good idea to address this terminology and what will be used going forward to avoid confusion.  It might also answer some questions!

Evolution Talk is also a book! You can find links to Amazon, Barnes & Noble and others on the front page of EvolutionTalk.com, or call your local bookstore and ask them to order a copy.

For show notes and more, please visit https://EvolutionTalk.com

When did our ancestors descend from the trees and walk on two legs instead of four?  How exactly did bipedalism develop?  We have some ideas but that's all they are - ideas.  We may never know, but we can certainly have some fun hypothesizing!

Evolution Talk is also a book! You can find links to Amazon, Barnes & Noble and others on the front page of EvolutionTalk.com, or call your local bookstore and ask them to order a copy.

For show notes and more, please visit https://EvolutionTalk.com

Our study of the Homo Naledi continues to surprise us.  In December 2022, Professor Lee Berger announced yet another insight into the mystery surrounding the presence of the Naledi in the Rising Star Cave System.

Evolution Talk is also a book! You can find links to Amazon, Barnes & Noble and others on the front page of EvolutionTalk.com, or call your local bookstore and ask them to order a copy.

For show notes and more, please visit https://EvolutionTalk.com

In 1979 Stephen Jay Gould and genetecist Richard C. Lewontin presented the paper “The Spandrels of San Marco and the Panglossian Paradigm: A Critique of the Adaptationist Programme”.  What do spandrels have to do with evolution and biology?  Sometimes, things are there simply because they are.

Evolution Talk is also a book! You can find links to Amazon, Barnes & Noble and others on the front page of EvolutionTalk.com, or call your local bookstore and ask them to order a copy.

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In Part 4 of a 4 Part Series on "The Eclipse of Darwinism", we take a look at William Paley's watch analogy and how it evolved into another explanation for the abundance and intricacies of life around us. 

Evolution Talk is also a book! You can find links to Amazon, Barnes & Noble and others on the front page of EvolutionTalk.com, or call your local bookstore and ask them to order a copy.

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In Part 3 of a 4 Part Series on "The Eclipse of Darwinism", we take a look at "Mutationism".  Can a new species evolve in a single step or is it a series of gradual, accumulated changes as Darwinian evolution suggests?

Evolution Talk is also a book! You can find links to Amazon, Barnes & Noble and others on the front page of EvolutionTalk.com, or call your local bookstore and ask them to order a copy.

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In Part 2 of a 4 Part Series on "The Eclipse of Darwinism", we take a look at "Neo-Lamarkism" as proposed by Jean-Baptiste Lamark.  Proponents hoped it would push Darwinian evolution aside as the principal force behind the evolution of species.

Evolution Talk is also a book! You can find links to Amazon, Barnes & Noble and others on the front page of EvolutionTalk.com, or call your local bookstore and ask them to order a copy.

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After Charles Darwin's death, the period from the 1880s to the 1920s is known as "The Eclipse of Darwinism".  Coined by Julian Huxley, it was a time where alternative theories to explain evolution sought to push Natural Selection aside.

Evolution Talk is also a book! You can find links to Amazon, Barnes & Noble and others on the front page of EvolutionTalk.com, or call your local bookstore and ask them to order a copy.

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In this continuation of the look at speciation we began in the last episode, we will tackle some more "not so obvious" causes.

Evolution Talk is also a book! You can find links to Amazon, Barnes & Noble and others on the front page of EvolutionTalk.com, or call your local bookstore and ask them to order a copy.

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It's been awhile since we took a look at speciation and its causes.  In the first of two parts we'll jump right in with Allopatric speciation.

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For decades, ever since we first began to study and understand our cell’s biology and the coding sequences of DNA, we saw bits and pieces that didn’t seem to make sense.  Strings of DNA that didn’t appear to do anything at all. It appears, they do quite a lot.

Evolution Talk is also a book! You can find links to Amazon, Barnes & Noble and others on the front page of EvolutionTalk.com, or call your local bookstore and ask them to order a copy.

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Written, Produced, & Narrated by: Rick Coste

In 1893, the German zoologist Wilhelm Haacke published  Design and Inheritance. In it, Haacke introduced the concept of orthogenesis.  According to Haacke, changes in organisms are directed toward perfection.  

Evolution Talk is also a book! You can find links to Amazon, Barnes & Noble and others on the front page of EvolutionTalk.com, or call your local bookstore and ask them to order a copy.

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Written, Produced, & Narrated by: Rick Coste

Consider this episode a memorial to the millions of extinct animals that once walked the earth long before we inherited it.  Like fragments of novels and poems that have been found over the years, hinting at what might have been, we have fossils and shards of bones to tell us what once was.

Evolution Talk is also a book! You can find links to Amazon, Barnes & Noble and others on the front page of EvolutionTalk.com, or call your local bookstore and ask them to order a copy.

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Written, Produced, & Narrated by: Rick Coste

Great idea don't spring out of a vacuum, but they do sometimes seem to.  In this episode we take a look at a few.

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Written, Produced, & Narrated by: Rick Coste

Evolution Talk - the book is now available at your local bookstore!

If you love the show, and have listened to the last 100 episodes this book is for you.  If you’re a student, or want to learn more about evolution by natural selection it’s the perfect introduction.  If you’re a teacher, your class will love it. Just like the show, it’s meant to be accessible and easy to grasp.

You can find links to Amazon, Barnes & Noble and others on the front page of EvolutionTalk.com, or call your local bookstore and ask them to order a copy.

What came first, the chicken or the egg?  It's an age old question.  How about another one?  What stored genetic information first?  DNA or RNA?

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Written, Produced, & Narrated by: Rick Coste

Colossal Biosciences hopes to reintroduce the wooly mammoth to the world, thousands of years after the last one walked the earth.  If successful they will have paved the way for a "de-extinction pipeline" for other lost species.

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Written, Produced, & Narrated by: Rick Coste

Evolution by Natural Selection has assisted many amazing symbiotic relationships.  Here's one you may not be familiar with, and which you're a participant in.  It involves your gut microbiome.

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Written, Produced, & Narrated by: Rick Coste

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In 1976, British evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins published The Selfish Gene.  It made exactly the splash he’d intended, but people were confused. How can genes be selfish?

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Written, Produced, & Narrated by: Rick Coste

Stephen Jay Gould once asked what would happen if the evolution of life on Earth were to take the same path if we had the ability to start it all over again?  In this episode we'll ask the question again ...

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Written, Produced, & Narrated by: Rick Coste

Imagine a world without mutants. I don’t mean those super-powered heroes that populate the comics and movies from Marvel. I’m talking about you, me, and everyone else we know.  We are all mutants trying to survive.

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Written, Produced, & Narrated by: Rick Coste

Just what does the act of chewing have to do with brain size and evolution?  Perhaps nothing or everything.  A team of researchers is helping us to understand exactly how much energy is involved when we use our jaws.

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Written, Produced, & Narrated by: Rick Coste

It has long been believed that an early oxygenation even gave rise to the eukaryotes.  Perhaps oxygen had nothing to do with it. A castle deep beneath the ocean waves might hold the answer.

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If you were somehow in control of repopulating and regenerating an area that had essentially been wiped clean of life, how would you do it?  With limited resources at your disposal would you decide to throw all your effort into producing as many offspring as possible, as quickly as possible?  Or would you take a different tactic and produce a one or two offspring, protecting and nourishing them until they can take care of themselves?

Both strategies might work.  And that’s what nature had to do.  It had two strategies to chose from.  They are known as the r and K selection estrategies.

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How do we find life in a galaxy, or galaxies, far far away while sitting here on Earth? It’s not just by looking through telescopes or sending probes.  Those will tell us a few things, but not everything.  We need a multi-disciplinary approach.  One that combines astronomy, biology, oceanography and chemistry - and that’s just to name a few.

Enter Astrobiology.

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Written, Produced, & Narrated by: Rick Coste

A friend of mine recently posed a question on his podcast about carrion plants.  If you don't know what one is, the carrion plant emits an odor that is very similar to rotting flesh.This odor attracts flies which serve to pollinate the flower.  The question posed on my friend’s show was how?  How does the plant know to do this?  

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Written, Produced, & Narrated by: Rick Coste

We don’t know why dogs became man’s best friend, but we have some ideas.  And those ideas take us back anywhere from 10,000 to 40,000 years ago.They are perhaps the perfect visual example when it comes to witnessing the power of the gene pool and how a selection process, whether natural or artificial, can affect it. 

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Written, Produced, & Narrated by: Rick Coste

In this episode I want to introduce you to someone.  Actually, this someone is a thing, and this thing wiggled its way through life between two to four billion years ago.

Listener, meet LUCA. Your Last Universal Common Ancestor.

LUCA, meet your descendant.

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Written, Produced, & Narrated by: Rick Coste

As a kid I was fascinated by the idea of cavemen.  Of course, all I had to go on were a few poorly produced movies that depicted cavemen battling dinosaurs, which of course never happened.  I even owned an early plastic model of a Cro-Magnon man and woman.  To me the Cro-Magnon were indistinguishable from the Neanderthals.  As far as I knew they both lived in caves, wore skins of the animals they slaughtered and fought with spears.  

Spoiler alert - we really don’t refer to them as Cro-Magnon anymore.

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Written, Produced, & Narrated by: Rick Coste

Many years ago, in 1977, astronomer and author Carl Sagan offered us the concept of a “Cosmic Calendar” in his book The Dragons of Eden.  It’s a fun thought experiment in which you take the entire history of the universe, from the Big Bang until now, and represent it as calendar year. 

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Written, Produced, & Narrated by: Rick Coste

It's time to look at fossil dating again!  The last episode mentioned two dating methods used to estimate how old the Homo Naledi bones found the Rising Star cave system might be. To do so, researchers used a Uranium-thorium method as well as electron spin resonance, or “ESR”.  Let's take a brief look at what each of these entail. 

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Written, Produced, & Narrated by: Rick Coste

Quite a few episodes back, I produced a show that looked at a new hominin species discovered in 2013. This history-changing discovery happened when paleoanthropologist Lee Berger, assisted by cavers Rick Hunter and Steve Tucker, explored the Rising Star Cave in the Cradle of Humankind, South Africa. I thought it’s about time we revisited that earlier hominin species. Think of it as an update on what science has to say about them now.  

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Written, Produced, & Narrated by: Rick Coste

Natural selection isn't perfect. It only cares that something works. If it works and is not harmful to its host, then that something is passed on.  

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Written, Produced, & Narrated by: Rick Coste

There is more than random mutations when it comes to evolution by natural selection. You also have to look at other variables outside of a genetic mutation. Variables such as the environment the organism lives in, the challenges it has to face, and its ability to find food. 

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Written, Produced, & Narrated by: Rick Coste

Please join me for a brief update on the show, it's future, and what you can do to help.

Evolution by Natural Selection is a beautiful theory.  But as wonderful a theory as it is, it does have its detractors.  One argument states that evolution violates the second law of thermodynamics.  Is this true?

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Written, Produced, & Narrated by: Rick Coste

Evolution by natural selection can build complex features through small, incremental changes. But can it build an eye?

Caves hide many things.  Be it shards of glass, arrowheads... or bones.  It's to whom these bones might have belonged to which often leads us on a path to great discoveries... and forgotten 'cousins'.

Consider this a 'lost episode' of Evolution Talk.  In it I talk with Stephanie Keep of BiteScis.org about the origins and misconceptions around the term 'survival of the fittest'.

In 1811 , or 1812, a young girl by the name of Mary Anning, along with her little brother, happened upon an incredible find while digging around the cliffs of Lyme Regis in England. It was a skull. A very large skull.

It’s safe to say, and very few would disagree, that without Rosalind Franklin the double helix structure would not have been discovered when it was, nor perhaps by the same team of discoverers.

Way back in Episode 30 I stepped into a time machine and traveled back to 1869 in order to interview Charles Darwin. This time around I brought someone forward in time... his wife Emma Darwin.

Convergent evolution has shown us that nature will find similar solutions under similar conditions. So too might it be on other planets. Life might not look that much different that it does here

A cladogram will show those animals that share similar form and structures. It’s not about animals which have evolved from one another. In this episode we are going to look at clades and cladistics. We will also create a cladogram... an audio cladogram.

Jonathan Tweet has authored a very remarkable book for children. He wasn’t just trying to make evolution and its concepts easier to understand for kids in elementary school, Jonathan was shooting for an even younger audience. The result is the book 'Grandmother Fish'.

There are some who say that evolution by natural selection, at least when it applies to you and I, is no longer a driving force. The argument is that we are no longer evolving and that we’ve pushed natural selection aside and taken the reign of our own development.

Over the course of billions of years a small region of specialized cells began to develop sensory organs. These light sensitive cells slowly developed into eyes. Behind them another organ began to develop. It’s still there, buried beneath everything else that has developed to become your brain today.

In 2013 a secret that had been hidden for hundreds of thousands of years in a South African cave was discovered. Bones... many bones. Upon inspection by a team of specialists a picture began to emerge. At the center of it all is a new species of hominin - Homo Naledi.

In this episode of Evolution Talk we take a look at some of the theories which have attempted to trace the evolution of music, from Charles Darwin to philosopher Daniel Dennett.

Pierre-Louis Moreau de Maupertuis was fascinated with the origin and evolution of life. If there was a creator, finding the keys to his work had to involve careful study of the facts and an examination of the natural world with critical eyes.

Coevolution often involves an arms race. You have a predator and prey both upping the game. Like a bat and a moth. Each one trying to outdo the other. If the change in one organism is linked to a change in another organism, genetically speaking, then coevolution is said to have occurred.

Without water there would be no life. We are lucky. Extremely lucky that it is here at all. Especially in its liquid form. It doesn’t need to be. In fact, as far as the universe is concerned, water in its liquid form is almost a rarity.

In this episode of 'Evolution Talk' I am joined by a very special guest - Stephanie Keep from the National Center for Science Education (NCSE). Among her many talents as a writer and educator, Stephanie also loves to correct misconceptions that involve the science and study of evolution.

In the era known as the Cambrian, an era which kicked off 541 million years ago, life exploded. Natural Selection began to produce new creatures, one after the other. A parade of unique forms and shapes that had never been seen before.

For years the appendix has been considered a vestigial organ. In 2007 researchers at Duke University began to take another look at the appendix. While taking their closer look something interesting began to emerge. Something that had always been there but had remained hidden, or unobserved for centuries. Your appendix, that little organ that we so often remove and forget, just might be useful after all.

What does radiation do to us exactly and why do we care? The American geneticist Hermann Joseph Muller worried about it back in the 1920s.

In 1865 Gregor Mendel pulled together his work on heredity in peas and produced a paper which he read to a group of his peers. Unfortunately for Mendel, the world would't be ready to listen until decades after his death.

In the last episode I asked the question ‘Are we unique?’ and then set about showing why it is we are not by looking at the animal kingdom. From tool use to altruism it appears that we are not as special as we might think. But, of all of earth’s creatures we seem to be the only species cursed with the ability to ask ‘why ?’ We alone appear to have the ability to look back into the past to help us to explain the present and to prepare for the future. Is it, as Darwin said, only a matter of degree, or is it something more?

In what ways are we special or unique? Is it because we can think, like Rene Descartes said? Or is thinking just a chemical process that directs our actions as La Mettrie would have us believe? You might be shocked to know that we don’t really know. Science hasn’t been able to touch it.

If chimps are our closest relative why aren’t we hairy like they are? The answer lies somewhere in the far distant past. Imagine how hot it must have been on the savannah after our ancestors left the safety of the trees to hunt for food. Homo Erectus did this almost 2 million years ago, and perhaps as recently as 70,000 years ago. They made their homes on the savannahs. They ran, played, and hunted. They fought for survival. And one of the byproducts of all of that activity is sweat. Wouldn’t it be a benefit to have less hair?

Nestled comfortably within our DNA are a set of switches. Like the light switches you casually flip on and off in your home, they are responsible for making you who you are. And just like that one regulating switch which controls the current of electricity to your home, you have one which controls certain sets of genes. It’s called the PAX gene.

We can make broad predictive strokes when it comes to how an organism will evolve. But that’s all we can do. What those changes will look like, if they happen at all, is beyond our power to know. Does this mean that theories about evolution are outside of the realm of true science?

Every good story needs a villain. And there has been quite a few in the history of evolution theory. History has not been kind to Richard Owen. But just like the story of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, Owen had his good side. Not that his good side cared about the proper treatment of his fellow man, his good side cared more about the proper treatment, and appreciation of, science.

In 2005 biologist Michael Skinner witnessed something that shouldn’t have happened. His mice were exposed to a toxin. A toxin which caused the children of these mice to experience birth defects. This wasn’t the surprise since the mice could easily have been exposed while in their mother’s womb. This could explain the defects. What it couldn’t explain was the fact that the next generation also had this defect.

If you’ve ever wondered why mice have been, and continue to be, science’s favorite research tools it’s becaus we are a lot a like. Yes, that little four legged furry bundle of whiskers and pink feet shares 99% of its genes with us. 75-80 million years ago that 99% was 100%. That was when our most recent common ancestor walked the earth. That ancestor split off into different directions. One lineage led to and the other led to mice.

In 2003 something was found in a large limestone cave located in Liang Bua, Flores. It was a small skull which was at first identified as being that of a small child. Upon further examination there was something odd about the skull. It didn’t appear to be exactly what the researchers assumed it to be.

Evolutionary psychology seeks to explain why we feel the way we do in certain situations. It also looks to understand what psychological adaptations were naturally selected to accompany us on our journey forward through time. Just like an archaeologist digs into the sands of time to piece together the physical world, it may be possible to do the same for the psychological world.

Darwin himself never used the term ‘missing link’. He wasn't concerned with a missing link but he was concerned with gaps in the fossil record. It wasn’t that he thought these gaps hurt his theory. So where did this term come from and why is it still used?

Mankind has only just begun to unlock the secrets hidden within our DNA. As we move from gene to gene we will begin to see how it all ties together, and where evolution made a few mistakes. It will be within our power to correct those mistakes.

Mitochondrial DNA is only inherited from your mother. Everyone alive on earth today can trace their lineage back to Mitochondrial Eve. We know this because we’ve all received our Mitochondrial DNA from her. It has been passed down generation by generation from mother to daughter.

The Cretaceous period ended 65 million years ago as did the reign of the dinosaurs. According to the International Union of Geological Sciences, we are currently in the Holocene. The Holocene has seen a number of changes. It’s seen us cultivate the land, store food, and build long standing shelters. It’s also seen us craft tools to shape the world around us. Some scientists have proposed calling this era the Anthropocene.

It’s probably safe to say that everyone enjoys a good laugh. But where did it come from? What is it about laughter that gave us an advantage over our ancient competitors?

In 1972 Stephen Jay Gould and Niles Eldridge published a paper that immediately went viral among biologists. Gould and Eldridge pointed out, using the fossil record as evidence, that evolution by natural selection worked in a series of starts and stops. There were periods of stasis where no changes occurred. They called this theory Punctuated Equilibrium.

In the late 19th century, Europe was having a grand old time when it came to fossils of ancient hominids. The problem was - nothing was being discovered in England. Germany had the Neanderthal and France had the Cro-Magnon. In the summer of 1912 all of that changed.

On June 30, 1860 a great debate took place at the Oxford University Museum. This debate helped to launch Thomas Huxley's career as 'Darwin's Bulldog".

In the last episode we came face to face with the Neanderthal. What happened to the Neanderthal? Did they die on the battlefield or did they live out their lives in a quiet struggle for survival while modern humans settled around them? Was they killed... or assimilated?

In the Neander valley, limestone miners found something which shocked them. They had found bones which they first thought belonged to a bear. Once Professor Schaafhausen had seen the bones he recognized them for what they were. Shortly after that the Neanderthal Man stepped into the spotlight. Were Neanderthals our early ancestors or were they a separate species?

Frog populations remained pretty much the same in Podville until the Great Fire of 2015. After the fire the population of blue frogs increased. Welcome to genetic drift, the subject of this week's episode of 'Evolution Talk'.

In 1997 Professor Stephen Jay Gould published an essay in Natural History which also appeared in his book Rocks of Ages. This essay was titled ‘Non-Overlapping Magisteria’. It’s commonly referred to as NOMA. The concept behind NOMA is that science and religion operate in two different, non-overlapping, realms.

Where does altruism come from? How did it evolve in a world ruled by 'selfish genes'?

The term 'Survival of the Fittest' was unleashed on the world in 1864 by Herbert Spencer when he published his work Principles of Biology. It was later picked up by Charles Darwin who used it himself in the fifth edition of On the Origin of Species five years later. But is it fair to say that the term "Survival of the Fittest" is synonymous with evolution by natural selection? In this episode of Evolution Talk we explore this very question.

For Charles Darwin, the idea of sexual selection explained a lot of what he saw in the animal kingdom. He gave sexual selection just as much importance as natural selection.

In 1986 Professor Robert Bakker, a paleontologist, published 'The Dinosaur Heresies'. According to Professor Bakker there have been waves of extinction, and these extinction events mainly attacked, or affected, one particular type of animal... warm blooded animals.

What killed off the dinosaurs? There are many competing theories yet there is no ‘smoking gun’. There is evidence however, and with each bit of evidence comes another theory. Dinosaurs didn’t disappear overnight. It took a few millions years for them to die out. Perhaps six million years.

Today’s episode of Evolution Talk is brought to you by all of those animals out there who exhibit vestigial features (which is pretty much every animal out there). Our DNA contains traces of our past - switches in our genes that have either been shut off or turned over the years while natural selection’s fingers hovers over the controls.

To mark the occasion of Evolution Talk's 30th episode, Rick Coste steps into the past to interview Charles Darwin.

In the X-Men movies the X-Men are mutants. Mistakes were made during DNA replications that brought out features and abilities which were not present in the population prior to their births. Defects which enhanced their chances of survival.

The Human genome project took 13 years to complete. Hundreds of scientists from all over the world were involved. What’s just as amazing as the completion of the project is the story that it tells when you begin to compare it with other chapters in the book of life.

How do we date fossils? There are a few ways and in this episode we will look at a couple.

Robert Chambers' masterpiece was titled 'Vestiges of the Natural History of Creation'. In it he explained how everything evolved. Everything from simple, less complex forms, to more complex forms over time.

Patrick Matthew published 'On Naval Timber and Arboriculture' in 1831. There were a few positive reviews but they were somewhat tepid in their praise. Only a couple reviewers happened to notice something else that Matthew had mentioned in his book. A certain passage that appeared in the book’s appendix. This passage would would later catch the eyes of Charles Darwin.

William Charles Wells, in no uncertain terms, pointed out that mankind is not immune to nature’s ability to modify an organism's features over time.

Jean Baptiste Lamarck's mechanism for evolution was wrong, as history shows, and that fact has haunted his memory ever since. But ideas and theories have ways of being resurrected and, in recent years, there are hints out there that Lamarck wasn’t completely off base when he proposed his theory for the evolution of species.

Erasmus was a country physician. He believed that women should have access to the same education that men did, and that slavery should be abolished. He also believed that life evolved from a single filament that wiggled out of the mud in the distant past.

James Hutton saw the power of natural selection, but he didn’t see how it could eventually, over vast spans of time, mold an animal into something completely different. That would have to wait until Charles Darwin entered the scene over 50 years later.

Diderot devoured the written word. It was food for his mind and he couldn’t get enough of it. He was ravenous when it came to ideas. Especially when those ideas took him into places that others feared to tread.

Benoit de Maillet believed that life, all life, came from the sea. And not only did it come from the sea, but it continued to evolve into different species as it encountered different environments. To present these ideas would be dangerous to him so he wrote it as a work of fiction called Telliamed.

In the first century BC the Roman poet Lucretius wrote On the Nature of Things. A poem with 7400 lines of verse that covered everything from the tiniest particles of matter and how they move, as well as the nature of time and space, consciousness, mortality, and the arrival of life from animals to man.

Aristotle actually came close to explaining natural selection, 2200 years before Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace did.

Charles Darwin questioned everything when it came to the origin of species and the evolution of life here on earth. That questioning led him into some pretty dark places. As he grew more and more certain that nature was fully capable of producing the abundance of life around us without the assistance of a deity, the more he became afraid to say anything on the subject.

As a young man, the more Charles Darwin learned about nature the more he began to question things. If species were immutable, meaning they never changed, then how was it that breeders were able to change the forms of dogs or pigeons? What if something similar occurred in nature? According to William Paley nature required a designer. Charles began to think that Nature was the designer. A blind designer with no goal in mind at all.

Throughout his life Charles Darwin suffered bouts of anxiety and often went off alone by himself to think. His work afforded him the perfect escape and he dove into it at every opportunity.

The sea was full of life a half a billion years ago. Arthropods fought to survive and there were some interesting things happening on land as well. We have here our first plants - and they spread like wildfire. The quiet life on land enjoyed by the plants looked appealing to that first vertebrate that poked its head out of the water as it supported itself with its new backbone and fins.

As predators evolved to better catch their prey, their prey evolved unique and efficient ways to avoid being eaten. It was because of this sudden arms race that we see the proliferation of body forms that mark the Cambrian Era. The real winners were the Trilobites.

The reason natural selection had such a grand old-time with multicellular organisms is because it gave it something to select for. These organisms increased in size, moved into new areas for food, and protected themselves against the environment. It is during this period that some peculiar forms began to emerge.

One day, millions of years ago, something occurred between two unsuspecting eukaryotes. When they bumped into one another something magical happened. They both left that encounter slightly different than they had been before. What passed from one to the other was a few microscopic bits of genetic material. Natural selection had new toys to play with.

3.5 billion years ago microbial organisms appeared on the earth. These organisms combined, split, and combined some more, until the formation of microbes and single-celled algae. One of these single-celled algae-like organisms were cyanobacteria.

In the beginning the Earth wasn’t exactly a hospitable place. It was hot, volcanic, and oxygen was a rare commodity. So the question now is how did life emerge from these conditions? We are still asking this 4.6 billion years later. Darwin proposed a primordial pond that was teeming with the just the right materials for life to form. If so, what happened in this little pond 3.9 billion years ago set the stage for everything the followed.

Charles Darwin had a hypothesis was that animals evolved due to a process he called natural selection. He strengthened his hypothesis with tests and observation. Evolution by natural selection has held up to every test. It is because of this that it long ago graduated from being a hypothesis to being a theory. It is a valid explanation for the fact of evolution.

In 1858, Charles Darwin received a paper authored by a young naturalist named Alfred Russel Wallace. In it, Darwin found that the young man had reached the same conclusions about evolution that he had been working to prove for the previous two decades.

Over the last 150 plus years there is one subject which has caused its advocates and detractors to butt heads, often with incredulity at their opponents stance, and sometimes with animosity. That subject of course is evolution by natural selection. But what does it mean?

On November 24, 1859, "On the Origin of Species" was published. To say that it made a splash would be an understatement. It changed the world.

In the years following his return from his voyage on the Beagle, Charles settled into a life as a naturalist. On all fronts, both personal and professional, things were looking up for Charles. His days were spent pouring over his notes and the specimens he had collected from his five year voyage. He would take long walks to gather his thoughts and rarely left Down House unless he had to attend a meeting. He wasn't in any rush to publish his book however. He knew that a possible backlash was in store for him when he did. Whether he liked it or not, his views were about to find themselves on the world's stage.

Charles Darwin, at 22, had never sailed before. With his notebooks, gear, rifles, and trunks loaded, he stood on the deck of the HMS Beagle to bid England farewell. The date was 12/27/1831.

Charles Darwin will be forever known as the man who came up with the brilliant, and magnificent, idea that life evolved on this planet from a common ancestor and that the driver, or the mechanism behind this, is natural selection.

If you've ever wondered what all of the fuss was about, or how evolution works, then you've come to the right place. Over the next few weeks, months, and years, we will look at Darwin's revolutionary theory and what it means to the life we see around us.