Evolutionary Analysis, Fifth Edition(2014)- Part3：Chapter 2- The Pattern of Evolution

发布时间：2016-04-29 11:28:15

37This 220-million-year-old fossil turtle,Odontochelys semitestacea ,has a full shell covering its belly (above) and expanded ribs protecting its back (below). Its anatomy is consistent with a hypothesis of turtle origins based on how the shell develops in living embryonic turtles. From Li et al. (2008); see also Burke (2009), Nagashima et al. (2009).Reprinted by permission from Macmillan Publishers Ltd:Nature 456: 497–501, copyright 2008.2The Pattern of Evolution W here do we come from, we humans and the myriad other organisms, turtles included, that share our planet? Biologists have established the answer, but members of the general public remain divided.For an international view of public sentiment, Jon D. Miller and colleagues (2006) assembled data from recent surveys conducted in 32 European countries, the United States, and Japan. All the polls had included this question:True or False? Human beings, as we know them, developed from earlier species of animals.Iceland, Sweden, Denmark, and France ranked highest. In these countries, 80% or more of adults affirmed descent with modification (Figure 2.1, next page).Japan was next, at 78%. The United States ranked second to last: 40% accepted evolution, 39% rejected it, and 21% were unsure. (Turkey, where scarcely one in four adults accepted evolution, was last.)All readers, even in countries with high levels of acceptance, are bound to find themselves in conversation with individuals who remain unconvinced or reject evolution outright. Some of the doubters will be school board members, legisla-tors, or teachers (see Berkman et al. 2008; Forrest 2008; Branch and Scott 2009). This alone is sufficient reason for covering the evidence for evolution.© 2008 Nature Publishing Group© 2008 Nature Publishing Group

Evolutionary Analysis, Fifth Edition(2014)- Part3：Chapter 2- The Pattern of Evolution

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