Charles Darwin's Theory of Evolution is the widely known idea that all lives on earth are related, due to the factor of having descended from the same ancestor. The theory proposed that the complex creatures had evolved from more simplistic ancestors which had existed before them. From time to time, it is not rare to see random mutations to occur within an organism's genetic code, yet, some beneficial mutations are said to be preserved because they increase the rate of survival. This happens during a process known as "natural selection", whereas the beneficial mutations are passed down to the next generation. Over time, the traits resulted from the beneficial mutations tend to become permanent, creating an entirely different organism from its original species. [allaboutscience.org, 2002]
To simply explain the concept of natural selection, let’s use the classic example of the owl butterfly, by imagining the ancestor that might have developed into this species thousands of generations ago. The ancestors had several exceptions among them—a few butterflies had dark spots on their wings, which looked a little like eyes—making the predators avoid them and eat the ones with no spots instead. Overtime, the population of this species would include
…show more content…
However, Darwin had stated that it is not a fast process and may take much more time than predicted. As he himself had put it, “Natural selection acts only by taking advantage of slight successive variations; she can never take a great and sudden leap, but must advance by short and sure, though slow steps.” [Darwin, 1860] Not only is the process slow, Darwin also concluded that the traits must be inheritable in order for the next generation to multiply and thrive due to the higher chance of survival. Because of that reason, carriers of this certain type of trait would become more and more common. [Khan,