Misconceptions of Evolution

2. Humans evolved from apes

Despite the evidence about evolution that allows
relating organisms to one another, groups of No, your great-great-great-ancestor was not a
individuals still battle about the reality of evolution monkey. Evolution theory indicates that we have
yielding various myths and misconceptions. common ancestors with monkeys and apes —
According to Mark Twain, "The trouble with the among the existing species, they are our closest
world is not that people know too little; it's that relatives. Humans and chimpanzees share more
they know so many things that just aren't so". This than 90% of their genetic sequence. But this
is a manifestation that people know many things common ancestor, which roamed the earth
but without basis and evidence. approximately 7m years ago was neither a monkey
nor a human, but an ape-like creature that recent
Evolution is one of the cornerstones of the life research suggests had traits that favored the use of
sciences. It has been demonstrated countless times tools.
in different ways, and it is supported by multiple
items of evidence. People take issue with evolution
for all sorts of non-scientific reasons and present
faulty arguments against it. Advocates of the
pseudo-scientific "Intelligent Design" theory go as
far as claiming that features in forms of life on
earth were designed by an intelligent being, and
were created as we find them today.

I. Evolution Is Just a Theory

Critics of the theory of evolution dismiss its

importance by purposefully confounding the
everyday usage of the word "theory" with the way
scientists use the word. In science, we understand a
"theory" to be a body of thoroughly tested and
verified explanations for a set of observations of
the natural world. Scientists have a theory of the 3. Evolution Explains the Origin of Life
atom, a theory of gravity, and the theory of
relativity, each of which describes understood facts It is a common misunderstanding that evolution
about the world. In the same way, the theory of includes an explanation of life's origins.
evolution describes facts about the living world. As Conversely, some of the theory's critics believe
such, a theory in science has survived significant that it cannot explain the origin of life. The theory
efforts to discredit it by scientists. In contrast, a does not try to explain the origin of life. The theory
"theory" in the common vernacular is a word of evolution explains how populations change over
meaning a guess or suggested explanation. This time and how life diversifies the origin of species.
meaning is more akin to the scientific concept of It does not shed light on the beginnings of life
"hypothesis." When critics of evolution say it is including the origins of the first cells, which define
"just a theory," they are implying that there is little life. Importantly, biologists believe that the
evidence supporting it and that it is still in the presence of life on Earth precludes the possibility
process of rigorous testing. This is a that the events that led to life on Earth can repeat
mischaracterization. themselves because the intermediate stages would
immediately become food for existing living
things.
 civilizations tried to distinguish edible from
4. Evolution can't explain complex organs poisonous plants. This early form of classification
was important, as it communicated to other
A common argument in favor of creationism is the humans which plants are safe to eat.
evolution of the eye. A half-developed eye would History of Taxonomy
serve no function, so how can natural selection With the astounding diversity of creatures on
slowly create a functional eye in a stepwise Earth, we have to find ways to properly name
manner? Darwin himself suggested that the eye them. Thus, taxonomy was established. Taxonomy
could have had its origins in organs with different (from ancient Greek words taxis, which means
functions. Organs that allow the detection of light "arrangement," and Nomia, which means
could then have been favored by natural selection, "method") is a science that deals with the
even if they did not provide full vision. These ideas classification of organisms based on shared
have been proven correct many years later by characteristics. This field is sometimes called
researchers studying primitive light-sensing organs systematics, or biosystematics.
in animals.
In mollusks like snails and segmented worms, Importance of Classifying Organisms
light-sense cells spread across the body surface can
tell the difference between light and dark. Because of the contributions of taxonomists, many
organisms can now be classified based on different
characteristics. Taxonomy has classified organisms
into groups that have biological meaning. This
modern way of classifying helps scientists study
different organisms easily. Also, our goal to
protect and conserve different species of organisms
can be achieved because we can easily identify the
species that are threatened and endangered.
At present, different characteristics are used to
classify and name organisms. Some of these
include form, color, size, chemical structure, and
5. Where do new species come from? even genetic makeup. Earlier attempts in
classifying organisms used general appearances
A biological species is a group of organisms that such as anatomical and physiological
can reproduce with one another. As soon as characteristics. However, the most recent ways of
organisms from one group cannot reproduce with classifying and naming organisms focus more on
organisms from another group, they are defined as genetic and molecular similarities. The arrival of
two separate populations of two separate species. modern technology has helped scientists provide
better ways of classifying organisms.

Importance of Naming Organisms

In Filipino, a dog is called aso. In other countries,

it is called inu (Japanese), gae (Korean), Chien
(French), and anjing (Malaysia), to name a few.
The word "dog" can be translated into over 80
different languages around the world.
Basic Taxonomic Concepts and Principles, In this example, note that a single species, the dog,
Description, Nomenclature, can be called using different names. Without a
Identification, and Classification specific or unique name for that species, it is
impossible to have a proper reference for that
Life on Earth has been constantly changing since it specific organism. By creating a system of naming
began several billion years ago. The changes have organisms, confusion can be avoided. Common
led to a variety of organisms all around us. To date, names vary among languages and even regions
biologists have identified and named at least.5 within a single country. The animal shown below
million species. This number IS just small can be called a cougar, a puma, a panther, or a
compared to the species that have yet to be mountain lion. To avoid confusion, scientists use
discovered. Interestingly, at least 13 000 new the scientific name Puma concolor for this species.
species are identified each year.
The scientific name uses Latin and Greek words,
Classifying organisms is as old as the time when the languages understood by 18th-century scientists.
humans learned their language. Early human This practice is still followed today in naming
newly discovered species, such as the Apomys also known as the Mindoro crocodile, has the
brownorum, a newly discovered rodent species scientific name Crocodylus mindorensis.
discovered in The first part of the scientific name of the
Luzon. crocodile is Crocodylus. This represents the genus
to which the organism belongs. A genus is a group
of closely related species. The genus Crocodylus
includes other kinds of crocodiles, including its
extinct species. The second part of the scientific
name of the crocodile is mindorensis. The name is
unique to the species within the genus Crocodylus.
This second name is called the specific epithet. It
describes an important trait or the location where
the organism lives. The specific epithet
mindorensis means that the crocodile in the
illustration was originally found in Mindoro,
Philippines.

What are some of the unique ways in formulating

the scientific name of a new-found species of
organism?

The scientific name is sometimes followed by the

name of the author or scientist who first gave the
scientific name of the species. Different ways are
used to name organisms, such as descriptive
names, ecological names, geographical names, and
even names without any definite meaning. To
Binomial Nomenclature summarize, here are things to note when creating
Early efforts in naming organisms using -standard an organism's specific epithet:
scientific names entailed a specific description of
physical characteristics found in the organisms. As 1. The specific name may portray the
a result, the name could be more than 15 words organism's major characteristics or its
long because many characteristics could describe a common local name. One example is the
single species. Also, different scientists have common cat (Felis catus). The specific
varying ways to describe organisms. For example, epithet catus means that the species is a
one person would choose to highlight a particular domesticated cat.
characteristic of an organism, and another person (source:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Do
would choose another characteristic to describe mestic_shott-haired_cat)
that same organism. Thus, there was a need to
standardize how organisms are named.
Thus, Carl Linnaeus (or
Carolus Linnaeus) offered
the first comprehensive,
consistent, and much
simpler method of naming
and organizing species,
which is now called
binomial nomenclature.
The locality, collector, or eminent person can be
The binomial
used in the specific epithet. For example, Phyllium
nomenclature is a two-word naming system used to
bonifacioi is a leaf insect species found in the
name a species. In this naming system, each
Philippines. It bears the name of the Filipino
species is assigned a two-part scientific name,
revolutionary hero Andres Bonifacio. This species
wherein the first letter of the first word is
is the latest addition to the genus Phyllium, one of
capitalized and the second word is set in
the four genera of the family Phylliidae. (source:
lowercase. For example, the Philippine crocodile,
https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/658679/upI- Philippines. This santan species is an
scientistsname-new-insect-after-bonifacio evergreen shrub that can be specifically
found in the forests of central and
2. The locality, collector, or eminent person southern Luzon.
can be used in the specific epithet. For
example, Phyllium bonifacioi is a leaf
insect species found in the Philippines. It
bears the name of the Filipino
revolutionary hero Andres Bonifacio. This
species is the latest addition to the genus
Phyllium, one of the four genera of the
family Phylliidae. (source:
https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/658679/upI-
scientistsname-new-insect-after-bonifacio

3. The specific epithet may be used to

describe some of the characteristics of the
species. For example, Dendronotus albus
is the scientific name of a sea slug, which
is a marine gastropod. The specific epithet
albus is a Latin word that means "white."
The sea slug's scientific name is based on
its color. (h ://commons.wlkimedia.org/wi
ki/File:Dendronotus albus, 2.jpg)

4. The specific epithet may also be an

ecological name, the habitat in which the
organism was first observed. For
example, ++Ixora Philippines is is
commonly known as the Philippine
santan. Its specific epithet, Philippines is,
indicates that it can be found in the
 Species The species is the basic unit of class
the scientific name. This taxon is ma
produce fertile offspring.

The illustration below shows an example of the

seven taxa used in the Linnaean system of
classification. Can you think of nomenclature or an
easy way of mastering the different taxa?

Classification Description

Kingdom The kingdom is the largest and most inclusive among the Linnaean taxa. During
Linnaeus's time, he only classified two kingdoms, namely, Kingdom Animalia and
Kingdom Plantae. Taxon has the greatest variety of organisms. Kingdoms deal with
the main division where all organisms on Earth are classified. It includes the
following: eubacteria, archaebacteria, fungi, protists, plants, and animals. The
classification of this taxon is based mainly-on structure. Kingdoms consist of
different phyla.

Phylum Kingdoms are made up of different phyla (singular: phylum). Phylum is one of the
major taxa used in classifying organisms. This taxon includes many different
organisms that share important characteristics, which include their body plans. For
example, Phylum Chordata is composed of different organisms with vertebrae. This
phylum consists of one or more similar classes. The word division is a counterpart of
phylum, which is more commonly used in plants.

Class A class is a subdivision of a phylum. It is a taxon that broadly includes the major
organisms that are distinct from other organisms internally and externally. For
example, Class Mammalia includes warm-blooded animals, that can produce milk for
their young, and have body hair. A class is composed of similar orders.

Order An order is a broad taxon composed of some similar families. In this taxon,
organisms are generally classified based on their characteristics. Animals are
classified as carnivores, herbivores, or primates.

Family A family is a taxon that includes one more genus that shares a common phylogenetic
origin. This consists of several genera with similar characters. This designates a
category of classification that is fairly precise.

Genus A genus is a taxon that includes one or more species with common phylogenetic
traits. This is used as the first part of the scientific name.