B1.8 Natural Selection and Evolution

Darwin's Theory of Evolution

Darwin proposed a theory of evolution based on his observations of finches in the Galapogos:

• Organisms produce more offspring than survive into adulthood.
• There was variation in the individuals of a aspecies and their offspring.
• There is a struggle for existance - those organisms best suited to the environment survive the longest and have mor offspring, passing on the more beneficial characteristics. This is known as the survival of the fittest.
• He called this process Natural Selection because he suggested that nature is selecting which characteristics are the most sucessful.
• He believed that after many generations, the characteristics in a population would have changed so much that we would consider the organisms to have become a new species.

Accepting Darwin's Ideas

At first, Darwins ideas were challenged and not accepted:

• Because he had no evidence
• They had no knowledge of species
• Religion had an important place…