Charles Darwin's Theory Of Evolution And Natural Selection

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There are many theories of evolution that have emerged even before Charles Darwin's time. Surprisingly, many of the theories, including Darwin's own, were spot on to what we know today. In fact, Charles Darwin's grandfather, Erasmus Darwin, had the idea that species evolved from a common ancestor. Of course, Darwin is the most famous theorists of all with his theory of natural selection. Darwin is also the only one of the many evolution theorists to have evidence of evolution and natural selection. Darwin's theory of evolution is supported by a multitude of evidence that he found, observed, or dug up on his expedition on the H.M.S. Beagle. Before Darwin had even begun thinking about the origin of species, or even before humans,…show more content…
Land areas that are isolated form their own unique plant and animal life. Before humans arose, islands like Hawaii and New Zealand had no land animals. “Each of these places had a great number of plant, insect, and bird species that were found nowhere else in the world. The most likely explanation for the existence of Australia's, New Zealand's, and Hawaii's mostly unique biotic environments is that the life forms in these areas have been evolving in isolation from the rest of the world for millions of years.” [6] This partially applies to what Darwin observed with the tortoises and finches on the different Galapagos Islands. Survival of the Fittest Survival of the fittest means that that species is best adapted to their environment. “Charles Darwin suggested that “Survival of the fittest” was the basis for organic evolution.” He also believed that many people did not fully understand this meaning. Many think right away that this means the fastest, strongest, and the biggest, but it is the species that are the best traits that help them best survive in their environment. This means they can be a weak species in general but they still have the best chance of surviving in their environment. Herbert Spencer coined the phrase “survival of the fittest.” He was a biologist and wrote about his findings of evolution way before Darwin’s time just as many others at the time…show more content…
Natural selection is the process by which organisms adapt to their environment so they can survive longer and pass off their genetic characteristics to future generations that are less adapted. An example of how natural selection affects organisms is: A cheetah is born with longer legs so it can be faster and beat competitors to its prey so it can eat and survive. Vice versa a gazelle could be born with different colored hair so it can blend in with its environment and hide from predators like the cheetah. Camouflage would increase the gazelles chances of surviving longer because it would help them blend in and hide in the environment. Another example is the peppered moths that lived in an area with dirty air. The darker colored moths would survive because they blended in with the dark and dirty air while the lighter colored moths stood out and were easy picks for predators. Later on when the air became cleaner the lighter colored moths thrived while the darker colored moths had a harder time surviving in that environment. In all of these cases each of these organisms had to go through the long process of natural selection so they could adapt to their environment and survive longer in its environment. Without natural selection there would be no competition between organisms because they would all have similar strengths and characteristics. Natural selection creates competition because it
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