Writing in Biology

Religious forms of knowledge are more of the exaggerated ways in which people give explanations to what goes on in the world. This is why different religions started in different parts of the world, but seem to have somewhat similar beliefs in a way. This reminds of of convergent evolution, but in the form of religion. Despite living and growing up in different parts of the world, we still manage to come up with a certain religion in which we believe in. 

Scientific forms of knowledge are more of the evidential ways in which people give explanations to what goes on in the world. Science is for the most part, able to be proven true or not true. This is why I think scientists lean more towards to scientific explanations instead of religion explanations. Regardless there are still some knowledgeable people such as that MD in the video who uses the ways of religion to live his life. There are also popes like the one in the video who try to explain religion by using science. 

In the end I believe it's just what is said in Chapter 3 Evolution vs. Creationism is true. We humans always try to find explanations for everything that go on in this world. We believe whatever we hear or see for the most part. We can be skeptical but sometimes the need to want to know the reason for something outweighs the skepticism. 

There have been many proposed solutions to the educational, maternal and social influences affecting women’s wages, however, implementation of these policies has not corrected the wage gap as predicted. In fact, further education has been shown to negatively impact the wage gap as women who have graduated college, on average, make 75.2 cents on the dollar compared to their male counterparts. This value is argued to be secondary to the majors that are predominantly by females such as the humanitaires or education as these majors, when compared to the STEM (science, technologies, engineering and mathematics) majors pay less on average. Movements have been implemented to increase the female presence in these majors, however, data also supports that females within even these majors are also subject to inequality that accounts for up to 68% of the occupational wage gap.  Despite the persistent issues, education can partially reduce the disparity between men and women, however, there are secondary post graduate circumstances that further inhibit equal treatment.

The results for experiment 2 were as expected, and strongly support the hypothesis. In the experiment there were 5 various levels of predation tested. All the data show that as predation increases, spot brightness will decrease over time. This is because the guppies with elaborate colors are more apt to attract predators, thus high spot brightness results in a lower fitness. For the first four levels of predation, the spot brightness still increased. However, the net increase became smaller as predation increased. Finally, with enough predators present, the spot brightness decreased. This is likely because the effects of predation on fitness were stronger than those of sexual selection. Without predation, the data show that spot brightness should increase
substantially over time, due to sexual selection. Therefore, the guppies unknowingly play a fitness balancing game between higher predation and more potential mates.

 As I examined the diet of this species, I found that the species diet consisted of grass. I looked at the structure of the teeth, and observed hypsodont teeth. These teeth were also occulusal, lophodont teeth consistent with the diet of grazer such as horses. The digestive system also pointed in the direction of a grazers’ diet. The esophagus was 5-7 feet long. The stomach was could hold between 10-22 quarts. The small intestine was around feet and could hold 72 quarts. The cecum was around 6 feet long and could hold 30-38 quarts. The large colon and small were 12-14 feet and held 86 quarts and 16 quarts. The colon also contained commensal bacteria which helped with the breakdown of the grass in the digestive tract. The rectum of this animal was 2 feet. The length of each part of the digestive tract had resembled that of the Equidae family, although, due to this animal being larger the tract was also larger.

During my travels in the continent of South America in the diverse country of Brazil I encounter an unusual creature, one I have never seen before and was intrigued. This organism was located in the tropical rainforest. Where precipitation exceeds 70 inches annually. This biome contains approximately 50 % of the world species in simply about 11% of its terrestrial vegetation cover so I was really excited to have found it here. This biome experiences warm seasonally invariant temperatures. This habitat contains broad leveled evergreens and deciduous trees with sunlight being a key resource that contributes to the vegetation structure (Cain et al. 2014). 

Plants species are known to grow continuously throughout the year. In this biome there are also emergent trees that rise above the other trees that make up the canopy of the forest. The canopy being made up primarily by evergreen tree leaves, that make a constant layer about 30-40 meters above ground (Cain et al. 2014). Woody vines and the plants species that grow on the branches of the trees draped or clinging over the canopy and emergent trees There are also shrubs and forbs present that make up a majority of the forest floor (Cain et al. 2014). I first spotted this creature hanging from one of the evergreen trees and that’s when it all started. It caught my attention   

As I examined the diet of this animal, I found that the species diet consisted of grass. I looked at the structure of the teeth, and observed hypsodont teeth. These teeth were also occulusal, lophodont teeth consistent with the diet of grazer such as horses. The digestive system also pointed in the direction of a grazers’ diet. The esophagus was 5-7 feet long. The stomach was could hold between 10-22 quarts. The small intestine was around feet and could hold 72 quarts. The cecum was around 6 feet long and could hold 30-38 quarts

The first glance of this new unique species occurred as I was looking for the dens of prairie dogs. At first I had thought I found a newly colored horses, although, while looking more closely at this majestic animal, I had realized this animal was significantly larger than an average horse. I would say this animal was about 10 feet high off the ground and weighed between 600-1500 pounds. The structure of the face of the animal looked similar to that of a giraffe. The coloring of this animal was brown with large spots of orange. The animal had pointed ears, although, what caught my eye was the projections next to the ears. These projections were ossicones which I had only seen on the family of Giraffidae. As I continued to look at this animal, I realized that the structure of the animal’s legs were most similar to that of the family of Equidae. The foot of this animal was very much elongated. The calcaneum was located on the posterior of the hind limbs. The animal had a single pulley astragalus, which is common of the order Perissodactyla. The most intriguing was the mesaxonic foot that this animal had. The animals had cursorial locomotion, and was aided by the fact that the animal contained a cannon bone, therefore, this animal is able to run as efficient as the horses, which are known as the more cursorial perissodactyl. After this first encounter with this new species I decided I would tag the animal and examine it further.

As I was exploring the Great Plains of North America, I stumbled upon the most important discovery of my career, a new animal species. I had come to the Great Plains to record the behavior of the local prairie dogs in the area, although, instead I found a different type of animal. The Great Plains are part of the Temperate Grassland Biome. In this environment the average temperature is 9.1^oC, although there is great variations of seasonal changes including wet summers and dry winters. The total amount of precipitation in this environment is 727 mm of rain fall per year. The high precipitation is perfect for grasses to grow on this flat region. In this biome, one would not be able to find trees due to frequent fires and the herbivorous diet of the animals that inhabit this area.  

The Tasmanian Devil is an iconic, and charismatic species that lives on the Island of Tasmania off the coast of Australia. Reports started 1996 of Tasmanian Devils with large facial and neck tumors. The cancer is transmitted through an infected individual by biting a healthy individual. Due to the Tasmanian Devil’s tendency to fight, and bite each other over territory, food and sex the tumors are passed fairly quickly through populations. The tumors begin to proliferate and can prevent the Tasmanian Devil from breathing, and eating; however, it may take time for the tumors to get large enough to do kill the infected individual giving the cancer plenty of time to get passed on. The tumors are killing many Tasmanian Devils and certain populations throughout Tasmania have been reduced more than 90% in the last 20 years and is now considered endangered.