Lizards Evolution From Snakes Essays - Snake, Lizard, Monitor

Lizards Evolution From Snakes Many millions of years the planet was dominated by lizards great and small. It was a place ruled by the laws of natural selection where the only way to survive was to be able to defend yourself with what you had. It was a constant struggle for food, shelter, and supremacy. It was about survival of the fittest, because only if you were best suited to your environment would you have a chance at living to reproduce. Sometimes adapting to one's environment could create a whole new species altogether. During the time when dinosaurs walked the earth smaller lizards had to be creative to insure their survival. The dinosaurs, because of their size where the bullies of the earth. If lizards wanted food they had to some how sneak around the big dinosaurs in order to avoid becoming food themselves. A species of lizard known as the Ear-less Monitor seemed very well adapted to counteract this problem. Their eyes had a clear protective lens which allowed them to go into the water in search of food and bypass the land roaming dinosaurs all together. One major problem soon faced the Ear-less Monitors in their quest for nourishment. It seemed that the sea dwelling creatures had begun to catch on to the fact that these lizards were invading their territory for food. The sea dwellers reacted by praying on the lizards who came into the water to eat. After many deaths at sea one smart little Ear-less Monitor decided to try another approach at obtaining food. This particular Monitor was picked on by all of the other Monitors because he and his family had arms and legs that were shorter and smaller than everyone else's. The would tease him and his family saying that their gene pool had little genetic variation. But he did not let that get him down. He figured that with his stubby arms and legs that he could burrow under ground to find food. He used his clear protective lenses over his eyes to keep out dirt and rocks. He was sure that he could find some delicious earthworms and other things to feed himself. It was like an all you can eat buffet until all of the other short armed Monitors got the word. The short armed Monitors lived happily under ground while the rest of the species quickly died off. Over time genetic mutations occurred which eventually left the Monitors with no limbs at all. They just had long slender bodies which enabled them to burrow easily and quickly. In order to forget about the torment that their ancestors had been subjected to by the long armed Monitors the group decided to be known from that point on as snakes. The snakes soon decided to give life on Earth's surface another chance because now they were much quicker than the dinosaurs who had devoured the Monitors. They adapted to their new environment quickly with a leg-less mode of locomotion. Over time they evolved and developed more defense mechanisms to become the Snakes we know them as today. Many millions of years ago the planet was dominated by lizards great and small. It was a place ruled by the laws of natural selection where the only way to survive was to be able to defend yourself with what you had. It was a constant struggle for food, shelter, and supremacy. It was about survival of the fittest, because only if you were best suited to your environment would you have a chance at living to reproduce. Sometimes adapting to one's environment could create a whole new species altogether. During the time when dinosaurs walked the earth smaller lizards had to be creative to insure their survival. The dinosaurs, because of their size where the bullies of the earth. If lizards wanted food they had to some how sneak around the big dinosaurs in order to avoid becoming food themselves. A species of lizard known as the Ear-less Monitor seemed very well adapted to counteract this problem. Their eyes had a clear protective lens, which allowed them to go into the water in search of food and bypass the land. Roaming dinosaurs all together. One major problem soon faced the Ear-less Monitors in their quest for nourishment. It seemed that the sea dwelling creatures had begun to catch on to the fact that these lizards were invading their territory for food. The sea dwellers reacted by praying on the lizards who came into the water to eat. After many

Enigmas, Puzzles, and Riddles

Enigmas, Puzzles, and Riddles Enigmas, Puzzles, and Riddles Enigmas, Puzzles, and Riddles By Maeve Maddox On the day of the Iowa Caucus, pollster Ann Selzer made the following comment about Donald Trump: He’s just this riddle inside a puzzle. I immediately thought of Winston Churchill’s oft-repeated comment about Russia at the beginning of World War II: a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma. I couldn’t help wondering if Ms. Selzer chose the word puzzle because she felt that the general American public in 2016 were less likely to understand the word enigma than a general British public in 1939. But, I’m probably being uncharitable. Puzzle is a valid synonym for enigma, although not nearly as classy. Enigma is from Latin aenigma, â€Å"a riddle or a mystery.† The Latin noun is from a Greek verb meaning, â€Å"to speak allusively or obscurely.† Riddle is a word inherited from German. In Old English, riddle was the usual English translation of Latin aenigma and referred to what modern speakers, especially children, mean by riddle: â€Å"a question or statement intentionally phrased to require ingenuity in ascertaining its answer or meaning. For example, â€Å"How many psychiatrists does it take to change a light bulb?† Puzzle is of unknown origin. Its earliest English use was as a verb meaning, â€Å"to cause a person to be at a loss what to do; to create difficulties for someone.† The verb came to have several meanings, including these: to cause someone to feel confused because they cannot understand something. to perplex or bewilder the brain. to be at a loss how to act or decide to search in a bewildered or perplexed way The noun puzzle is derived from the verb and means â€Å"a perplexing question or a difficult problem.† It can also signify â€Å"a person who is difficult to understand.† Note: Selzer’s remark referred not so much to the man, but to his apparently inexplicable popularity with â€Å"moderate and mainstream† Republicans as well as with extremists. English has numerous words to convey something that is baffling or mentally challenging. Here are some others: mystery conundrum paradox quandary brainteaser Most are near synonyms. All imply something baffling or challenging, but they carry different connotations. A mystery invites speculation. A conundrum, like a riddle, is often phrased as a question. The answer usually involves a play on words or a twist in thinking. For example: What is greater than God, more evil than the devil, the poor have it, the rich need it, and if you eat it, youll die? (Answer: Nothing) A paradox seems absurd, but in reality expresses a certain truth. For example, â€Å"Youth is wasted on the young.† A quandary is a state of extreme perplexity. A person or a group is said to be â€Å"in a quandary,† as in this headline from The Gaffney Ledger: â€Å"Council still in a quandary over healthcare insurance.† Of the three words in the title of this post, puzzle is most frequent in a Google search (296,000,000), riddle next (140,200,000), and enigma last (64,400,000). The figure for enigma is no doubt inflated because of the popularity of the word in the entertainment industry. References to the German â€Å"enigma machine† probably also account for some of the results. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:4 Types of Gerunds and Gerund Phrases"Have" vs "Having" in Certain ExpressionsWood vs. Wooden