Week 11 Evolution

http://discovermagazine.com/2006/jul/evolutionmap#.UpIXRo0Uckg

If you click on the image to the left you'll see that it's a map of the evolution of wikipedia entries on evolution from 2001 to 2005. For some, evolution is a controversial idea; the page was edited -- and vandalized --  over 2000 times by 68 editors over that period. 

Choose ONE of the following and tell us what was interesting.

1) 2009 marked the 150th anniversary of the publication of the Origin of Species.  Listen to one of the podcasts at this link. Tell us which one you chose and write about what you learned. 

2) The New Normal? "Evolution results from the ability of organisms to change. But how do you tell the difference between a sea change and a ripple in the water? Is a peacenik baboon, a man in a dress, or a cuddly fox a sign of things to come? Or just a flukey outlier from the norm? And is there ever really a norm?"

3) Sleep podcast. "Every creature on the planet sleeps--from giant humpback whales to teeny fruit flies. What does it do for us, and what happens when we go without? We take a peek at iguanas sleeping with one eye open, get in bed with a pair of sleep-deprived new parents, and eavesdrop on the uneasy dreams of rats."

4) Listen to this podcast (the part about elephants) Whale Songs and Elephant Loves, from On Being.
In the course of the interview, they discuss this article, An Elephant Crack Up? (read if you'd rather do that). Elephants are profoundly social beings. The article suggests that belligerent behavior witnessed in African elephants is the result of post-traumatic stress brought on by the break up of elephants' social groups through culling and poaching.

Optional: Elephant empathy

Passenger Pigeon now extinct