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Similarities Between Darwin And Natural Selection

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Darwin and Natural Selection
Contrary to the popular belief that Charles Darwin first thought of the theory of biological evolution, it was actually an idea that had been around since the ancient Greeks. Though the idea had been apparent since then, the term “Evolution” first appeared in 1647 but wasn’t talking about the evolution of organisms. Instead evolution was used to describe the progression of something from simpler beings. However, it was Darwin who introduced the idea of Natural Selection. Natural selection is a process in which species slowly evolve by gaining heritable traits that help them survive better in their ecosystem. This idea helped push the ideal of “survival of the fittest” which is the continued existence of organisms …show more content…

Peppered moths is mostly found in Britain and Ireland and is a quite common moth. These moths are typically white with black spots across their wings which helped them blend into trees during the day time. There was a genetic mutation that made moths all black with a few white spots but this was not a desirable trait because it made it more difficult to camouflage making the black moths less likely to survive. However, during industrialization, coal fires and pollution had created more soot and smoke in the air which made the trees darker because it stuck to their trunks. This made the white moth more susceptible to being caught by a predator. As a result, the black moths lived longer and reproduced more making the black based moths the majority as their out-numbered the white moths. Again, in the mid-twentieth century the moth species changed again since the industrial age was over and there was less air pollution. The few remaining white based moths thrived and now the white moth population is significantly larger than the black moth population. These are just a couple of examples of Darwin’s theory of natural selection. Proof of his theory can be found all over and has helped many scientists explain why species differ based on location

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