Can someone help me understand the theory of evolution a little

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>>8336717

>>8336727
Sorry. I know that a random mutation can bring something new to the table, but the individual has to be lucky enough to procreate for the mutation to carry on. And it has to be a useful one too.

>>8336717
Its original purpose likely was not to attract prey.
It might have started as a little bit of extra sensitivity to water movements near its mouth. Imagine that it evolves a whisker type of thing on it's snout that helps it sense movement(prey) better. That evolves larger to sense movement even better. Some freak variations later it gets a little bit glowy. The glowy-ness may outweigh the benefits of sensing. The glowy-ness gets more adapted towards while the sensing becomes vestigial. And everyone lived happily ever after. The End. Thanks for Watching!

A mutation that gives a 0.1% illumination is better than a fish that has 0.0% illumination. The 0.1% fish will survive and have more offspring. Now, a new mutation will give a 0.2% illumination which is better than the 0.1% fish. After enough generations you have what you see today. And what you see today is still changing.

>>8336735
>And it has to be a useful one too.

Wrong.

>but the individual has to be lucky enough to procreate for the mutation to carry on.

True. Luck is a sizable part of natural selection. Those with beneficial mutations simply have a better chance of surviving and dropping off their beneficial genes to the next generation, and thus a snowball effect takes place.

>>8336752
>>8336744
>>8336743
I feel like I'm oversimplifying what you just told me, but, since I forgot to take in the large amount of time into the equation, even the slightest difference can mean a real lot in the long run?

>True. Luck is a sizable part of natural selection.
Could this possibly mean that they could have evolved much, much more weirder stuff, this is just what we're stuck with?

>>8336764
>could have evolved much, much more weirder stuff

Dude, have you see what we have on this planet? Shit man, go to your local park and flip over a rock and check out the weird shit living underneath.

And that's just your everyday weird shit. Hit the tropics or the deep ocean to see the real weird stuff.

>>8336774
I was thinking of glowy fish evolution. But still, I should have given more thought to all of this. I feel no better than those people that still believe the earth is round but go "makes you think" after those flat earth videos.

>>8336764
>Could this possibly mean that they could have evolved much, much more weirder stuff

Check out the Ediacaran and Cambrian fauna for a greater variety of forms life can take.

http://www.pnas.org/content/111/36/13122.full

>>8336764
>even the slightest difference can mean a real lot in the long run
Yes. Its also important to remember that radical changes do not happen in a single step, your angler fish lure for example likely started as just a patch of forehead that produced a tiny amount of light

>>8336795
*for a wider variety of forms life can be