[moved] How-did-humans-evolve-so-successfully?

[Khalliqa]

LINK: https://www.quora.com/How-did-human...her-animals-lacked-in-the-process-of-evolving

COOL ANSWER:

Steven Witcher, Unpaid Stowaway Intern at Consiglio Devastations (2017-present)


This is a tardigrade:

Tardigrades came about during the cambrian explosion (a rapid diversification of species in the cambrian period), and have not only survived 5 (FIVE!!!!!) mass extinctions, but thrived during them. There are hundreds of distinct species of tardigrades, living on every continent and in every ocean, surviving in every climate.

The reason tardigrades are so tough is that they will dry out and exist in a desiccated state, its metabolic rate dropping to 0.1% of normal. The creature’s natural lifespan is less than a year, but species can survive decades under a rock in the desert or frozen in ice in the antarctic, get hit with a raindrop, and be up and copulating in the amount of time it takes you to put on socks. We slapped some on the outside of a spaceship for 10 minutes, and 68% of them survived (that’s a lethal dose of cold and a lethal dose of radiation and a lethal dose of nothing to breathe for pretty much everything else living).

The reason I’m droning on about this microscopic marvel is that the only advantage humans have over a tardigrade is a fairly impressive brain. We have done a lot with that single evolutionary trait, but it really isn’t as unique as we like to make it out to be. Other species use tools, other species have communities, and other species have language. Being educated isn’t evolution. Given enough time another species could very well be the next set of scribes and builders, and humans could be extinct. Tardigrades will still be thriving, though, and that’s the goal of a species. They won evolution before the dinosaurs even came about.

Edit: It is wise to note that every species is equally evolved. It’s not a process with an end goal in mind, it’s ongoing and random. Traits can come and go, some are beneficial, some are not, some are specialized, others are pretty general. Species that survive something like a mass extinction tend to be highly flexible in the biomes they can live in, and it’s a trait we see in many species across the world today. Those species that can survive the largest range of calamities have the best chances at survival, and that’s probably the highest evolutionary trait, if you want to place them in a completely subjective hierarchy.

Can you imagine how many species of single celled organisms died off before the first multicellular organism came into being? One of them simply had to have enough survivability to evolve into something vastly different…

 

[SeventyOne]

Very interesting about the tardigrade. I don't recall ever hearing about those before.

To answer the initial question, I'll have to say we were created successfully, not evolved successfully.

 

[Widlast]

Any species that breeds faster than it dies out (reproduction/mortality >1) can be considered to be successful.
Mice outnumber us hundreds to one, ants outnumber us millions to one.
Tardigrades (your example) billions? to one. And don't forget the bacteria and algae which are essentially uncountable in their endless numbers.

 

[jayem]

Let's remember that reproductive success occurs within a given environmental niche. Environmental change is the primary driver of evolution. And sudden environmental change is what causes extinction. Unless the species has the necessary genetic variation so that enough of the population can survive and proliferate in a different environment. That's what evolution by natural selection really is--a change in the frequency of a population's alleles in response to an altered environment.

 

[lesliedellow]

LINK: https://www.quora.com/How-did-human...her-animals-lacked-in-the-process-of-evolving

COOL ANSWER:

Steven Witcher, Unpaid Stowaway Intern at Consiglio Devastations (2017-present)


This is a tardigrade:

Tardigrades came about during the cambrian explosion (a rapid diversification of species in the cambrian period), and have not only survived 5 (FIVE!!!!!) mass extinctions, but thrived during them. There are hundreds of distinct species of tardigrades, living on every continent and in every ocean, surviving in every climate.

The reason tardigrades are so tough is that they will dry out and exist in a desiccated state, its metabolic rate dropping to 0.1% of normal. The creature’s natural lifespan is less than a year, but species can survive decades under a rock in the desert or frozen in ice in the antarctic, get hit with a raindrop, and be up and copulating in the amount of time it takes you to put on socks. We slapped some on the outside of a spaceship for 10 minutes, and 68% of them survived (that’s a lethal dose of cold and a lethal dose of radiation and a lethal dose of nothing to breathe for pretty much everything else living).

The reason I’m droning on about this microscopic marvel is that the only advantage humans have over a tardigrade is a fairly impressive brain. We have done a lot with that single evolutionary trait, but it really isn’t as unique as we like to make it out to be. Other species use tools, other species have communities, and other species have language. Being educated isn’t evolution. Given enough time another species could very well be the next set of scribes and builders, and humans could be extinct. Tardigrades will still be thriving, though, and that’s the goal of a species. They won evolution before the dinosaurs even came about.

Edit: It is wise to note that every species is equally evolved. It’s not a process with an end goal in mind, it’s ongoing and random. Traits can come and go, some are beneficial, some are not, some are specialized, others are pretty general. Species that survive something like a mass extinction tend to be highly flexible in the biomes they can live in, and it’s a trait we see in many species across the world today. Those species that can survive the largest range of calamities have the best chances at survival, and that’s probably the highest evolutionary trait, if you want to place them in a completely subjective hierarchy.

Can you imagine how many species of single celled organisms died off before the first multicellular organism came into being? One of them simply had to have enough survivability to evolve into something vastly different…

The thing which made us the dominant species on the planet was undoubtedly language. Not just any old language, but language sophisticated enough to communicate complicated and abstract ideas. Once you have that ability, technology is just a matter of time.

 

[Armoured]

The thing which made us the dominant species on the planet was undoubtedly language. Not just any old language, but language sophisticated enough to communicate complicated and abstract ideas. Once you have that ability, technology is just a matter of time.

Depends how you define "dominant species on the planet". I know we certainly like to think of ourselves that way, but depending on the criteria you use, we can come quite far down the list. Which life form dominates Earth?

 

[jayem]

It would be more accurate to say that language, and having hands not needed for locomotion and capable of precise tool use, are what made complex civilization possible.

 

[Khalliqa]

The thing which made us the dominant species on the planet was undoubtedly language. Not just any old language, but language sophisticated enough to communicate complicated and abstract ideas. Once you have that ability, technology is just a matter of time.

Never really thought about this before.. But true.. This reminds me of that scene in Rise of the Planet of the Apes when Caesar says "No!!".. *haunting*

 

[Khalliqa]

I can talk but I'm scared of lions though.. I don't feel so dominant in the wilderness.. lol

 

[TagliatelliMonster]

I think the single biggest turning point in human history / evolution, was the "invention" of agriculture / farming. That practice set so much in motion that it almost defines who we are as a species.

For starters, it removed the need for constantly being on the move. Now, we had to settle somewhere, close the the fields. That in turn set off a wave of innovation in construction of homes.

Secondly, it gave us loads more free time - whereas before we were in a constant search for food. This allowed for more creativity and learning. Society and the concept of "progress" was born.

Third, pretty soon, it resulted in having "more stuff" then we could actually carry. Back in the nomad days, since we were constantly on the move, we typically couldn't have much posessions. After all, we had to take everything we owned with us wherever we were going. Pretty soon, "more stuff" became "much stuff". Some of that "stuff" would have been the harvest of the fields. This harvast was not for any single person, but for the entire group. Suddenly, it also became important to have some system of "tracking" what stuff we had and where it went. So we developed a symbolic representation of language called "writing".

Once all that was in place, it defined us as who we are as a species. From that point on, it was pretty much a straight line towards engineering a rocket that put a man on the moon.

 

[Ophiolite]

From that point on, it was pretty much a straight line towards engineering a rocket that put a man on the moon.

It is interesting that the moon landing, while involving science and engineering was primarily a political act and a military based one at that. Machiavelli would have praised JFK.

 

[ewq1938]

 

[Cearbhall]

(I know your post isn't advocating for Creationism or anything, but just to address the question for anyone who might ask it genuinely)

Well, there is no "success" in evolution. There's no goal.

Also, the question is just survivorship bias. We're here to ask that question because we're the ones who "succeeded."

 

[Jordan Mays]

Also, the question is just survivorship bias. We're here to ask that question because we're the ones who "succeeded."

More life forms have not succeeded than have succeeded and if some disease came along that science could not come up with an answer for we would go the same way as the Dodo and become extinct, nature could not care either way and like it or not we are just part of nature.
Why some people think we are somehow different from the rest just because we have an imagination is beyond me, we are not special just because we can imagine ourselves to be special, when the time comes we will die just as every other living thing dies, some live for a day (Mayflies) and others like some trees can live for thouands of years but they all die eventually.