ICY SCIENCE: SCIENCE SPACE ASTRONOMY Spring 2014 | Page 66

66 Consider a group of beetles which is predominantly bright green in colour. However due to mutation in their genes, some beetles end up being brown in colour. Brown colour gives a natural advantage to the beetles as they are camouflaged better. They pass this trait to their offspring. Over time, the ratio of brown to green beetles changes as brown beetles are better suited to survive than green beetles. This is how natural selection works and ensures that species which are more adapted to their surroundings survive, while others become extinct. Human Evolution: Each human is unique and a result of 3.5 billion years of evolution on Earth. We are primates. Our ancestors lived in the trees and many of our traits are adaptations to tree life – excellent hand-eye coordination, eyes in front to measure depth, limber arms and dexterous hands. ICY SCIENCE | QTR 2 SPRING 2014