Essay On Charles Darwin's Theory Of Natural Selection

In what he called the ‘survival of the fittest’, Darwin suggested that through the process of natural selection animals with particular characteristics, as a result of possessing advantageous alleles, will survive. However, those with maladaptive genes cannot adapt to changes in environmental conditions, so will die or become extinct. Dowling (1994) stated that this process depends on three principles: species diversity, interaction and the spread of a species as a result of differential amplification. Sexual selection is another component of Darwin’s research, which explains the best strategies adopted for passing on genes to offspring. Moreover, there are problems with Darwin’s theory such as his attempts to generalise animal behaviour to the way in which humans interact in their environment. However, he has presented compelling evidence which is very scientific in its approach and methodology. Furthermore, contrary to Darwin’s evolutionary idea of survival of an individual, Dawkins (1976) suggested that the survival of the genes is more important.

Evolution has been a very debatable topic since the theory of evolution first evolved. By definition, evolution is “the process by which different kinds of living organism are believed to have developed from earlier forms during the history of the earth”, but there are many different types of “evolution” such as coevolution, divergent, parallel and convergent – all with different theories. Jean Baptiste Lamarck was a French naturalist who invented the theory of inheritance of acquired characteristics (aka. “soft inheritance”). This evolutionary theory described how the natural environment affected the way an animal used their body parts. The features used regularly or for survival are passed onto the creatures offspring, and the parts that weren’t used, weren’t. On the other hand, another English naturalist Charles Darwin established a theory of “natural selection”. A process in which creatures that survived in their environment would pass their genes through the generations, compared to the weaker species with a lower survival rate, who reproduce less offspring or none.

Darwin wanted to further his studies in plant and animal life, and he also became interested in the similarities of plant and animal species to those of the human species. He noticed that humans too also had to develop new characteristics that would help them adapt to their environments. This made him want to look further into where humans came from and also question the idea of creationism. He argued that men are animals because they have to adapt to their surroundings just as animals do. He suggested that the stronger animals have a better survival chance and they produce offspring that carry this trait. A whole new population of species can derive from these offspring and traits that have evolved from older generations and species. This became known as Darwin’s Theory of Evolution.

Both Darwin and Wallace brought together a multitude of facts including the geographical distribution of organisms, comparative morphology of living organisms and their fossil precursors. They postulated that long-term environmental changes including movement of land

Natural Selection, a key mechanism of evolution is the progressive process by which biological traits either become more or less common in a community or population as a result of inherited traits on different reproductive success of organisms with their environment. Charles Darwin in fact put together an articulate theory of evolution and supported it with a good amount of body evidence in 1859 when he published his book. Natural selection is too however a basic mechanism of evolution like mutation, migration and genetic drift. In order for natural selection to work, Darwin came up with 5 different theories that brought about evolution. The five theories are: evolution, common descent, species multiply, gradualism, and natural selection itself. Evolution is when species come and go through time, while they exist they change. Common descent is organisms are descended from one, or several common ancestors and have diversified from this original stock. Species multiply is the diversification of life involving populations of one species diverging until they become two separate species; this has probably occurred billions of times on earth. Gradualism is evolutionary change occurring through incremental small changes within populations; new species are not created suddenly. Animals and plants of all sorts undergo changes through natural selection. The peacock is a unique animal that stood out to me that undergoes natural selection.

Charles Darwin's theory of evolution centres on the idea that species compete to survive, and favorable characteristics are passed on from one generation to the next. Darwin said that evolution took place by a process of natural selection or survival of the fittest. This meant that the animals and plants best suited to their surroundings survived and were able to pass on their genes to their offspring. The ones that weren't best suited died off and didn't get the chance to reproduce.

When the name Charles Darwin is uttered, an immediate association brings about the concept of Evolution. Although he was not the first to "discover" this phenomenon, he was the first to explain it. In his book, The Origin of Species, Darwin discusses evolution- through variation, why it occurs, the struggle for existence, natural selection, the geological record, and several other topics. This book brought him great recognition as well as many violent attacks. It was written in a time in history when the people were very strong believers in the Church and God. Darwin was the first to contradict their religious beliefs of Creation, and was pummeled with criticism. Although today some still disagree, his explanation of

Darwin’s theory of natural selection is the process of heritable genes or traits passed on from each generation that is best suited for the environment it is living in and that will able survive. These genes or traits that are reproduce will continue to be passed on while other genes and traits that are not able to survive in the environment will soon go extinct. New traits will be reproduced in different environments which essentially will be “selected” for. The theory of evolution is the process by which organisms change over time (Than, 2015). In evolution there will be change in the physical and behavioral traits that are passed on to the next generations. Natural selection and evolution correlate with each other by having a domino effect. What this means is that by having natural selection it automatically will have changed the evolution process. For example, natural selection had chosen for humans to walk on two legs, so as we evolved to be the species that we are today, we now walk in an upright position on two legs instead of four like a gorilla. Evolution can happen because of natural selection in that a trait is need for survival in a particular environment, so the organism living there had to evolve and change.

Charles Robert Darwin, born on the 12th of February in 1809. Born in the tiny merchant town of Shrewsbury, England. Darwin was a naturalist and biologist known for his theory of evolution and the process of natural selection. Darwin's theory of evolution meant that species survived through a process called natural selection, where those that successfully adapted, or evolved, to meet the changing requirements of their habitat. He studied birds, plants, and fossils. He noticed similarities among the species all over the globe, along with variations based on specific locations, leading him to believe that species we know today has gradually evolved from common ancestors. In 1858, Darwin publicly introduced his revolutionary theory of evolution

Charles Darwin broached the theory of natural selection in his book the Origin of Species, which has been considered the basis of evolutionary biology to this day. Natural selection is when populations of a species evolve over the course of many generations. Darwin believed that species were not created separately, but instead, species were derived from one another. In other words, the evolution of species creates many variations among creatures, and this is because all of those species came from a common ancestor, and characteristics changed to increase the species chance of survival.

When Charles Darwin first developed his theory of Natural selection, he discovered that “Individuals in populations vary their “heritable” traits” (Leicht and McAllister, 2006. p. 157). And that “if a particular inherited trait confers a higher likelihood of survival and reproduction, individuals with that trait will leave more offspring than other individuals in the population” (Leicht and McAllister, 2006. p.157). With this in mind, during project 3 we took pooled data of the entire class in order to analyze extracted DNA to evaluate the genetic variation between the genes TAS2R38 and PV92. The gene TAS2R38 is located on chromosome seven, while PV92 is located on chromosome sixteen. TAS2R38 encodes a protein that is responsible for some people being able to taste bitter things like Phenylthiocarbamide paper also known as “PTC paper” (Wooding, 2006). Unlike the TAS2R38 gene, PV92 “does not encode a protein” (Leicht and McAllister, 2006). It, instead, is an Alu element and uses primers to insert itself in PCR products in order to determine whether or not it is present (Batzer et al., 1994). Since the TAS2R38 and PV92 genes are well known to be easily distinguishable using gel electrophoresis for PCR products, we used them because neither loci will express any fixation or any loss of an allele in small populations (Leicht and McAllister, 2006).

2. Darwin put forth an unheard of chain of logic for his theory of natural selection during his time. This theory while unlike the many naturalist before him proposed a reasonable mechanism for change among species. His logic presents that each species will produce far more offspring than will actual survive to maturity. This leads to the population remaining at a fairly consistent size over time. This implies that competitions is present for survival and that individuals differ in their traits leading “survival of the fittest”. The specie which survives then passes its traits along leading to the separation of traits from the common ancestor and leads to new species being created or evolving. This is where is thought process for evolution was derived from.

Charles Darwin was born in Shrewsbury, England, on February 12, 1809. He died on April 19, 1882 in Kent, England (Biography.com Editors). Charles Darwin brought many revolutionary visions to the world of science, including evolution. Charles Darwin was an English naturalist and geologist. He is best known for his theory of evolution, and natural selection. Darwin learned most of his information on the Voyage of the Beagle, and from this trip he wrote a book, Of the Origin of Species. From this book, came the saying “Survival of the Fittest.” Charles Darwin accomplished many things with his life. He still has many fans and followers because of his discoveries.

Darwin’s notion that existing species, including man, had developed over time due to constant and random change seemed to be in clear opposition to the idea that all creatures had been created “according to their kind” by God, as described in the first chapter of the biblical book of Genesis. Before Darwin, the prevailing scientific theory of life’s origins and development had held that species were fixed and that they never changed.

Charles Darwin, the man who started the idea of animals adapting and changing with the environment. I agree completely with darwin and his idea of evolution, natural selection and the relations with other animals. The idea of natural selection,evolution and relations with other animals are evidently shown through similar bones and shapes. Through the years scientists have proven that natural selection and evolution have been proven to be true with the galapagos finches and the other animals on the island. The Idea of evolution and animals adapting have been here for years and it will go on till the end of time.