If there is anything I have learned from this course, it is that humanity is ever-changing and has been on a winding pathway towards our current selves since the beginning of time. Evolution is such an immensely interesting subject which continues to progress with each and every discovery made. That is precisely what makes it such an engrossing field, as the exact history of human evolution will never truly be certain and complete, as there will always be the possibility of a new species yet to be discovered that may provide a new link in our ancestry. For me, this works as both a humbling as well as genuinely concerning thought, as the changes being seen in our environment today are quite extreme, and have already been seen to be causing great devastation and death to a multitudinous amount of humans as well as flora and fauna. Thus, the thought of contributing to the demise of species which took millions of years to evolve into their current state is troubling, to say the least. Yet, the studies on evolution we have examined in this course have provided me with a plethora of information regarding the challenges humanity has faced in the past as well as the actions they deemed necessary to implement in order to continue survival. This knowledge also allows me to take notice of the continuation of evolution that can be seen on a daily basis in a multitude of ways.

One such way evolution can be seen as still occurring is through the process of natural selection. Natural selection can often be seen as a distant procedure which allowed all current species to exist in the ways they do now. However, this process can be seen influencing species of all types even in today’s world. One of the most common examples of this is the peppered moth, which until the mid-1800s was simply known as the white-colored moth. Then, when heavy industrialization began to occur and dark coal and smog began to encompass entire cities, the moths evolved to possess black spots on their wings in order to blend in with the black cityscape, hence their new name. Through this example, the concept of how this evolutionary process can directly affect the survivability of a species is clearly seen. A way in which humans have also evolved in order to survive relatively new environmental and societal constraints can be seen in the range of lactose intolerance between nations and cultures. Lactose intolerance is far more common than lactose tolerance, for many parts of the world did not adapt to cows milk in their diets. This leads to the body ceasing the intestinal production of lactase, which is an enzyme that works to digest the sugar in milk. It is interesting to note that lactose tolerance did in fact originate due to an inherited mutation that induced the production of lactase to continue into adulthood, instead of halting after infancy. 

Another example of evolution seen in modern-day humans is the existence, or rather lack thereof, of wisdom teeth. Wisdom teeth were originally a necessity due to our previous diets consisting of harder, more difficult to chew foods. As we as a species began to develop agricultural techniques and overall changed our hunter-gatherer ways, we no longer needed to develop such strong muscles in our jaws, thus producing softer muscle which encased our wisdom teeth in such a way that they did not emerge as they once needed to. This is what now causes the often obligatory removal of these molars, as their encasement in the muscle tends to cause pain and infection. This lack of usage also has allowed some to not develop wisdom teeth at all, leading to a fourth of humans today not possessing at least one of their wisdom teeth. This can lead to the assumption that one day, humans will no longer be born with these particular teeth at all, as their purpose is no longer being served due to the dietary habits of humans today. 

With all the ways in which humans are currently evolving, it is fascinating to think of the traits we may see in those born in the not-so-distant future, as well as the implications of those changes. One thing for certain is that change is an unavoidable part of life, and through the process of evolution these changes may be entirely necessary for the continuation of our species and the betterment of our lives.