- #1
Sundu
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Are "selected for" mutations simply random occurences?
I just read Carl Sagan's and Ann Druyan's Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors and there is something that I am not fully clear about. I will give an example:
Let us suppose that there is a zebra-like creature. Over time, the zebra-like creature evolves into a mammal that is much harder for predators to detect; it loses its contrasting black and white stripes and takes on a tanish color, letting it camoflauge easier in the African savanah.
How did this tanish color evolve? Was it simply a completely random mutation that one or two animals were born with, passing the mutation on to future generations and having the mutation being "selected for" throughout the species because many other of these creatures simply die due to being easy prey, thus being unable to pass THEIR genes on? Or does something in the DNA say "Look, we need to develop a new survival strategy"? I tend to think that it is the former, as the latter does not make much sense to me, but I just want to be sure.
Thanks.
I just read Carl Sagan's and Ann Druyan's Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors and there is something that I am not fully clear about. I will give an example:
Let us suppose that there is a zebra-like creature. Over time, the zebra-like creature evolves into a mammal that is much harder for predators to detect; it loses its contrasting black and white stripes and takes on a tanish color, letting it camoflauge easier in the African savanah.
How did this tanish color evolve? Was it simply a completely random mutation that one or two animals were born with, passing the mutation on to future generations and having the mutation being "selected for" throughout the species because many other of these creatures simply die due to being easy prey, thus being unable to pass THEIR genes on? Or does something in the DNA say "Look, we need to develop a new survival strategy"? I tend to think that it is the former, as the latter does not make much sense to me, but I just want to be sure.
Thanks.