Evolution of the Striped Skunk
Skunks appeared 40 million years ago, evolving from common ancestors with weasels and polecats. While skunks are no longer found outside of the Americas, it does appear that they did originate outside of North and South America. Fossils tell us that skunks were alive in Germany about 11-12 million years ago but genetic data dates the origin of Skunks back to 30-40 million years ago. The creation of the species of the Striped Skunk occurred because of speciation which occurs in two different ways, allopatric speciation and sympatric speciation. Allopatric speciation is when two species are separated geographically and over time because of evolution they become different species (which applies to the Striped Skunk), while sympatric speciation is when two species live in the same area and a random change happens within one individual causing a new species to arise. Sympatric speciation can only occur in plants because they reproduce asexually. This alone is very clear evidence that Evolution exists but there continues to be people who do not believe in evolution. The theory of evolution, created by Charles Darwin, essentially is the idea that over time change of the inherited characteristics of different biological populations is what causes different species and animals to exist. This theory arose when Darwin visited the Galápagos Islands and each island had a different version of finches which all evolved to have different beaks to better suit their environment. This is an example of natural selection which is the basic idea that those best suited for their environment survive after small and gradual changes. An example of this is shown in skunks, where most species of skunk evolved in camouflaging different colors or markings, but the striped skunk instead of blending with its environment has evolved to stand out. The defined black and white stripes on the Striped Skunk are used to warn predators from the skunks strong musk which can be sprayed.
Sources
http://udel.edu/~prodrick/IronHill/FieldGuides/skunk.htm
http://news.softpedia.com/news/All-You-Need-to-Know-About-Skunks-68999.shtml
http://dragoo.org/
Sources
http://udel.edu/~prodrick/IronHill/FieldGuides/skunk.htm
http://news.softpedia.com/news/All-You-Need-to-Know-About-Skunks-68999.shtml
http://dragoo.org/