What is Evolution, and how do fossils explain the theory of

Evolution?

Evolution is like an incomplete book, some chapters are filled out while others
still need to be written. To this day scientists are still trying to complete this book, but
there is always more to be written. Although scientists have not completed this book
they have gained a strong understanding of Evolution, Fossils, and how Fossils are
important to the understanding of evolution.

Scientific understanding requires both facts and theories that can be explained in
a coherent manner. Evolution, in this context, is both a fact and a theory. It is a given
fact that organisms have changed, or evolved, during the history on the Earth. The most
important thing to know about evolution is that individual organisms dont evolve,
populations evolve because, individuals in a population vary, some in the populations
are better able to survive and reproduce given a particular set of environmental
conditions(ActionBioScience, 2012). This basically means that individuals generally
survive and produce more offspring, thus passing their advantageous traits on the next
generation. Over time, the population changes. One really important factor in evolution
is the process of natural selection, individuals in a population who are well-adapted to a
particular set of environmental conditions have an advantage over those who are not so
well adapted. The advantage comes in the form of survival and reproductive success.

(As shown in the image above, transitional fossils of cynodonts had two jaw
hinges. These fossils date from a time when the dentary and squamosal bones
were beginning to take over the role of jaw hinge (hinge #2). This allowed the
articular and quadrate bones to evolve).
For example, those individuals who are better able to find and use a food
resource, on average, live longer, and produce more offspring than those who are less
successful at finding food(ActionBioScience, 2012). This basically means that those
who are fit for their environment will evolve their species [pass down their traits].
Evolution is only possible to observe through different reasoning, such as fossils.

Fossils provide a unique view into the history of live by showing the forms and
features of life in the past. Fossils tell us how species have changed across long
periods of the Earths history. Though the fossil record does not include every plant and
animal that ever lived, it provides substantial evidence for the common descent of
life[evolution]. The most important part about fossils is that, organisms have changed
significantly over time. In rocks more than 1 billion years old, only fossils of single-celled
organisms are found. Moving to rocks that are about 550 million years old, fossils of
simple, multicellular animals can be found. At 500 million years ago, ancient fish without
jawbones surface; and at 400 million years ago, fish with jaws are found. Gradually,
new animals appear: amphibians at 350 million years ago, reptiles at 300 million years
ago, mammals at 230 million years ago, and birds at 150 million years
ago(Biologos,2013). As the rocks become more and more recent, the fossils look
increasingly like the animals we observe today. Scientists were able to find the absolute
age of a fossil by determining the date of the fossil with radioactive isotopes.
Radioactive isotopes have unstable nuclei that break down, or decay, and form other
elements. These isotopes decay at a constant, known rate. The period of time it takes
for one-half of the radioactive material to decay is called the half-life of the isotope.
Remember that stopes of an element differ in number of neutrons. Carbon-12, the most
common and stable isotope of carbon, has 6 protons and 6 neutrons and therefore has
an atomic mass of 12. Carbon-14, an unstable radioactive isotope of carbon has 6
protons and 8 neutrons and an atomic mass of 14. Carbon-14 decays to nitrogen-14.
The half-life of carbon-14 is about 5,700(Bioweb, 2013). The ratio of carbon-14 to
carbon-12 in the atmosphere is assumed to be constant over time. Organisms take up
two isotopes of carbon in abou the same ration that the isotopes are found in the
atmosphere. Thus, when an organism dies, the ratio of carbon-14 to carbon-12 in its
remains will be the same as that in the atmosphere. As time goes by, the amount of
carbon-14 will decrease as it changes into nitrogen-14. However, carbon-12 does not
decay. By comparing the ratio of carbon-14 to carbon-12 in a fossil with the ration of
these isotopes in the atmosphere, scientists can date fossils that are up to 50,000 years
old(Bioweb, 2013). The scientific explanation is too hard to comprehend if you are not a
scientist or a science teacher. What is trying to be explained can be put in simpler
terms(For example I have 5 rocks in my hand and those rocks represented elements, if
I were to throw one of those rocks away I would have a missing element, but in addition
to not having an element I also gain X amount years. So if I keep discarding
rocks[elements] the years begin to get longer until I have no rocks left). As time goes
on, understanding the past through fossils and knowing how to date them will become
important in comprehending the Theory of Evolution.

Fossil evidence is important to the understanding of evolution; this is because
fossil evidence can easily be observed today, and the more that is discovered; more
pages are filled out in the book. The biggest piece of evidence that fossils provide for
evolution is The Fossil Record, this is essentially a record that contains many examples
that could be interpreted to mean that species evolved from more ancient organisms.
(This is an image of a Geological Time Scale, that begins with the first
organisms to when modern humans first appear).
Fossil evidence indicates that over time organisms of increasing complexity appeared
on the earth. Bacteria are the first fossils that were preserved from the Precambrian era.
During the beginning of the Paleozoic era, complex multicellular invertebrates
dominated life in the oceans. By the end of the Paleozoic era, plants and animals has
colonized the land and surface of the earth(Bioweb, 2013). This simply indicates that
there was an evolution of fossils that occurred over thousands of years. Some of the
most basic observations about fossils and the rock record were made long before
Darwin formulated his theory of descent with modification. The fossil record clearly
shows changes in life through almost any sequence of sedimentary rock layers.
Successive rock layers contain different groups of fossil species. It can be easily seen
that fossils and evolution go almost hand-to-hand, however there are still more pages
that explain what evolution can be support by.

Evolution may not be 100% solved, but the theory of Evolution provides a basic
outline of what it is, in addition to the theories there are many supporting facts that help
make Evolution understandable such as fossil evidence, and the geological time scale.
Although evolution is not completely understood, as time goes on the puzzle begins to
unravel.