Evolution

Evolution

Evolution is the theory that describes the way in which organisms evolve over time as a result of natural selection.

Developing the Theory

In the 1830s, Darwin carried out his most famous studies on the finches in the Galapagos Islands. He noticed that different islands have different finches that were simlar in many ways and thus must be closely related. He realised the design of their beaks was linked to the foods available on each island. He concluded birds with beaks more suitable to the food available would survive longer than a bird whose bead was not suitable. Therefore, it would have more offspring and pass on the beneficial characteristics. Over time, the finch population on that island would all have the same characteristic.

At the same time, Alfred Wallace was working on his own theory of evolution in Borneo. In 1858, he sent his ideas to Darwin  for peer review before publication. As they had similar ideas, they proposed the theory of evolution as a joint presentation of two papers.

A year later, Darwin published 'On the Origin of Species' . It names…