Evolution by Kate

 Type 2 Diabetes is a huge problem in the world today but especially in the United States. Type 1 Diabetes is genetic and causes the pancreatic Beta cells to be destroyed which means the body cannot produce insulin. When the body cannot produce insulin it is essentially starving because it is not able to take up the glucose ingested through food and turn that into energy. Conversely, Type 2 Diabetes is when the body is resistant to insulin. The insulin is being produced but the receptors do not take it up as well causing the body to feel like its starving because it cannot take up the glucose. If this goes on for a long time, eventually pancreatic beta cells will be destroyed and insulin production will also decrease. If caught in a state of pre-diabetes or early in type 2 Diabetes the disease can be fully reversed with lifestyle management options. But if it goes too far then those beta cells cannot be brought back and insulin injections will become a staple for the person.  ...

 This blog post I thought I would mix it up a bit and talk about something kind of fund discussed in the last module. We talked a lot about the different physiological aspects of different species that could help them attract a mate, so I wanted to search around and find some of the ones I thought was the coolest.  Blue Footed Booby's - You have probably heard of them for their fun name but did you know that the bluer their feet the more impressive they are to the females? Aegean Wall Lizards - These lizards do something similar to the Boobys by displaying bright colors that attract females of their species. However what is interesting is that the brighter the color, the more likely they are to be caught by bird predators around them. So it is interesting that they would almost risk their own life in order to mate. Additionally it is interesting that the females would choose a mate that does not survive well but looks pretty.  Beta Fish - Their coloring is almost strictly...

First off I will start this discussion talking about my favorite plant species, the Ginkgo bilboa !! It is the last of its order and has the cutest little leaves! Its ancestors are so old that it has outlived the dinosaurs. Here are the Ginkgos pretty leaves. You have probably seen them all over campus at this time of year.  Now back to the discussion.... whenever I think of speciation I think of how it is likely a long drawn out process that takes hundreds or more of years. But knowing that many species have very high reproductive rates, I imagine this initial thought is a bit naïve. There are many different modes of speciation definitions and between each one there is a different definition which could lead to a faster or slower speciation. Using the ecological species concept, speciation could happen much faster. This concept says that a species comes from a group that live in a specific niche. Just going off species being able to occupy a specific niche could allow for more spe...

Okay woah. These pipefish are super cool!! The purple color on the one looks like a helix of DNA almost. Also the way the spin/swim around each other in this courtship display is really interesting. If only human displays of "courting" were this pretty!! lol From my knowledge from this class and others, I would guess that something like this evolves from mutation. Maybe a long time ago this a form of this particular shape and color pattern allowed these fish to survive in their environment. But as time went on it became more of a "wow" factor to the male fish in choosing their mate. Additionally, this mutation and color display could have some sort of other evolutionary advantage that I am unaware of. Thus my hypothesis for why female courtship may have evolved in this species is that maybe the males are the choosier ones. This could be because they are the ones that give birth or care for the young. Thus choosing a female with a better or more elaborate color patte...