Charles Darwin's Theory Of Natural Selection

Evolution is the process in which organisms adapt to the needs of their environment and then pass on those adaptations to their descendants. Charles Darwin proposed the initial theory of evolution, but many scientists influenced his discovery. Darwin established that when an organism evolves, it occurs because the organisms specific environment. He believed that the evolution of the species is not affected due to the changes of an organism. Their adaptations grant them survival and allow their offspring to be just as efficient. He hypothesized that evolution does not happen according to any sort of plan. Lamarck believed that an organism changes so that it adapts to its environment and those changes are then passed down to its offspring. He …show more content…
He embarked on a five-year journey around the world simply keeping the captain company. He studied specimens, which led him to formulate his theory of evolution and his views on the process of natural selection. He proposed the theory of evolution due to his curiosity of the configurations he had seen. A group of species could belong together, but contain special features that help it to survive in its specific environment. For example, Darwin examined the tree finches, which contained beaks that were different sizes and shapes from one another. Even though they were apart of the same species, they were different in certain ways because they adapted to their environment. Due to the fact that the birds looked completely different from each other, Darwin hypothesized that they were descendants from a common ancestor. Darwin published all of his scientific investigations in a book titled, On the Origin of …show more content…
Mutation is an alteration in the DNA, which is the hereditary material in life. The DNA affects the physical characteristics of the organism. Any changes that occur to an organism may cause changes in all aspects in their life. For example, if an apple is originally red, but half of it yellow, then it is caused by a somatic mutation. Another term is recombination, which is caused when new genetic varieties are created during meiosis. Recombination produces genetic combinations that are not found from past generations. Gene flow is when organisms transfer from one population to another. For example, if there is a group of green beetle and a group of brown beetles and one of the green beetles crosses over to the population of the brown beetles, then this is called gene flow. Another very important mechanism in evolution is genetic drift. Genetic drift is a random change in an organism. By chance, an organism may leave more descendants than others. These unique characteristics can cause an organism to be less or more common in an area. For example, if the last red bird in a city died, then the city would be left with every colored bird except red. Artificial selection is the deliberate breeding of selected species. These organisms will have certain traits that the breeder wants to perceive. For example, if a wolf and a dog were to mate and produce offspring, then it would be called artificial