Peyton Wilson's Evolution Blog

 Phylogenetic Tree A phylogenetic tree is an illustration of how species are related to one another through evolution that has occurred for as long as millions (and billions) of years! The diagram that illustrates these relationships connects species through branching, hence the name "tree". Monophyletic is all the organisms of a single common recent ancestor as well as the ancestor. The diagram above depicts a monophyletic group because it contains all the organisms of the common recent ancestor as well as the ancestor. In this example, we see a made-up illustration of how the avian pokemon are related through evolution (real evolution, not pokemon's version of evolution)! Paraphyletic is very similar to monophyletic except it does NOT include all of the descendant organisms. The diagram above depicts a paraphyletic group because the recent common ancestor (Squirtle) is included but not all the organisms (Kingler and Psyduck) are included. This example uses water pokemon...

       I was aware that evolution occurred on the two scales of macro and micro but I was not very knowledgeable about how to exactly distinguish the two and more so just vaguely knew that there were two different types. Microevolution and macroevolution go hand in hand with one another. Macroevolution cannot occur unless microevolution has occurred over and over for a very long time and microevolution requires to have a term to describe when its evolutions have surpassed a single species and have evolved into something completely different.       Fitness is the quantitatively measured concept of the ability to survive and reproduce. If an animal has higher fitness than another, that means that the higher fitness animal has a higher likelihood to reproduce and pass on its genes. This concept can be misunderstood because of its conceptual similarity to what is evolution. When you research fitness it is easy for blurred lines to appear between the h...

     I really enjoyed the first two lectures the most (the lecture from Dr. Wiggins and the Ted Talk from Dr. Barbara Oakley) because they helped in giving that reassurance that all students need every now and again to keep chugging along towards their respective aspirations. Especially in a time like this, self-doubt can easily creep into the mind and once you have allowed that self-doubt to creep in, it’s hard to get it out. It is very important, now more than ever, to be able to step back, take a breath, and go back at it one day at a time. I enjoyed the fourth lecture about “What Is Science” because in a 4000 level course, we have all taken many previous science courses and all had our individual journeys in science and it was comforting to be able to revert back to the basics of what IS science and how is it conducted in the real world.       I think what surprised me the most in the lectures, or maybe I should say what I enjoyed the most , was d...

     My name is Peyton Wilson, I am a senior majoring in Physiology and minoring in Microbiology. I hope to use this degree to attend medical school and someday become a physician. I volunteer at Stillwater Medical Center in the emergency room and am an officer for  Global Medical Bridges . I’m from the small town of Cashion, Oklahoma where I graduated in a class of 43 people. I love to spend my free time doing anything and everything I can do outdoors but I ended up spending the majority of my summer inside studying for the MCAT which was not a good time, to say the least! Thankfully, I have had a few weeks since then to relax and enjoy a lot of time outdoors doing things I love like fishing or going to the lake and wakeboarding.      I am very excited to get to the point of the semester where I feel well acclimated with all these crazy changes as well as honestly ready for the classes to go fully online (not wishing for anyone to get COVID-19 of cour...