Model 1 study questions –Tina Huang

The first argument Darwin made was how humans and other mammals can transmit the same diseases, which means they have similar reproductive systems. “Man is liable to receive from the lower animals, and to communicate to them, certain diseases, as hydrophobia, variola, cholera and herpes, and this fact proves the close similarity of their tissues and blood, both in minute structure and composition.” (Darwin, 1880) For example, monkeys can get the same contagious diseases as humans get and the medicine that works on humans can also work as a cure for the monkeys. Another example is that monkeys can also get drunk off of alcohol the same way humans do and that they also receive hangovers the next morning. “They held their aching heads with both hands, and wore a most pitiable expression: when beer or wine was offered to them, they turned away with disgust but relished the juice of lemons.” (Darwin, 1880) Darwin used this example to prove how similar the whole nervous system and is between monkeys (higher mammals) and man.
The second argument Darwin made is how humans and other mammals have the same reproduction process. “The process of reproduction is strikingly the same in all mammals, from the first act of courtship by male, to the birth and nurturing of the young.” (Darwin, 1880) In both humans and higher mammals, the infants are always helpless and need intense care from the parents in order to survive. And he showed that all mammals start off being completely helpless until they get older. Another argument is that when comparing the sexes of higher mammals and humans, the males and females always differ in “size, bodily strength, hairiness and the mind.” The male is always the dominant one that takes care of everyone while the female is always the nurture one that tends after the children. The general structure and roles of different sexes also suggests a close evolutionary relationship between humans and higher mammals.
Darwin made another argument when he compared a sketch of a human embryo to a dog’s embryo. He noticed, “The embryo of man closely resembles that of other mammals.” The only difference is that the human embryo is a more complex version than the dog’s embryo with more vessels and passages. This example shows that all mammals share a similar