Momentum creates evolution

As part of my sustainable living diploma, we are looking at biodiversity. The first module has us reviewing a David Attenborough clip about extinction. It discusses what happened to the marine iguanas that now inhabit the Galápagos Islands.

See they didn’t originate from the Galapagos, in fact, millions of years ago, part of their plight was to be swept away by the currents in the oceans and be washed up on the rocks of this Ecuadorian island. Then in order to survive and be the fittest (most populous), they literally had to adapt to be able to forage for the seaweed, which would replace their vegetation diet from their former home thousands of kms away.

So instead of joining the extinct species list, this amazing creature learnt how to swim and dive to 20m, it over time adapted its snout shape, the length of its teeth and claws and it can amazingly now hold its breath for up to an hour. Now that’s some pretty hefty structural changes!

See the survival of the fittest is not about being muscular or able to fight, it’s being able to look at yourself and say, well if I want to survive in this new environment, I’m going to have to change and evolve if I want to keep my species alive, or just ensure you thrive personally.

Evolution only comes about when our DNA changes so our genes adapt. Interestingly, these are considered “mistakes” in the DNA, but without these “mistakes“ humans would not exist. In fact, the earth would still be a land of swampy sponges and single-cell organisms just floating in the ocean and waterways waiting to decide to diversify.

The moral of this story is that change is the key to evolution, but ensuring that you have enough momentum to keep the chain reaction going is the most important thing.

Sit still and you’ll stagnate. Keep moving, keep evolving and realise that it’s all part of this game we call life.

Embrace it and keep up your momentum!