Episode 159

Mutation Celebration Day

Charles Darwin’s revolutionary observations of Galapagos tortoises and finches, explored how natural selection allows species to adapt over time. From the discovery of the hawk moth in Madagascar, predicted by Darwin, to the groundbreaking discovery of DNA by Rosalind Franklin, Francis Crick, and James Watson, we look at how genetic changes drive evolution.

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Works Cited

  • “Are Mutations Harmful?” Article © 1999-2003 by Listed Richard Harter , Site and HTML Coding © 1998-2005 by the Talk.Origins Archive, www.talkorigins.org/faqs/mutations.html.
  • Butler, Rhett. “Why Does Madagascar Have so Many Unique Animals?” Mongabay Environmental News, 24 May 2006, news.mongabay.com/2006/05/why-does-madagascar-have-so-many-unique-animals.
  • Chromosomes, Mutation, and the Birth of Modern Genetics: Thomas Hunt Morgan. evolution.berkeley.edu/the-history-of-evolutionary-thought/1800s/chromosomes-mutation-and-the-birth-of-modern-genetics-thomas-hunt-morgan.
  • “Darwin’s Hawkmoth | California Academy of Sciences.” California Academy of Sciences, www.calacademy.org/learn-explore/specimens-in-focus/darwin%E2%80%99s-hawkmoth.
  • “https://www.science.org/content/article/our-last-common-ancestor-lived-4-2-billion-years-ago-perhaps-hundreds-millions-years.” Science.org, www.science.org/content/article/our-last-common-ancestor-lived-4-2-billion-years-ago-perhaps-hundreds-millions-years.
  • “https://www.worldwildlife.org/places/madagascar.” World Wildlife Org, www.worldwildlife.org/places/madagascar.
  • Mitchell, David T. “Mutation Theory | Genetics, Evolution and Mutagenesis.” Encyclopedia Britannica, 2 Dec. 2013, www.britannica.com/science/mutation-theory.
  • Wikipedia contributors. “Wildlife of Madagascar.” Wikipedia, 15 July 2024, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wildlife_of_Madagascar.

Music in this Episode

  • Bright White by Podington Bear, License (CC BY 3.0): Artist website: soundofpicture.com
  • Stars are Out by Podington Bear, License (CC BY 3.0): Artist website: soundofpicture.com