Darwin's Theory Of Natural Selection

Evolution is “a gradual process in which something changes into a different and usually more complex or better form over a number of successful generations (Farlex, 2015).” It is the theory that all living things are related and come from a common ancestor (allaboutscience.org, 2002-2015). Charles Darwin was a British Naturalist. In 1831, he boarded the HMS Beagle for a five year voyage. Darwin’s theory created a lot of disagreement. This is because his theory clashes with religious views of how the world and all living things were created (BBC, 2015). In 1835, the Beagle had arrived at the Galapagos Islands (see figure 1). At these islands, he noticed the significant differences in the species. He had noticed that each island had different

Darwin recommended the theory of evolution happening by the process of natural selection and changed the way many people think of the natural world. He proposed the theory that the animals which are best suited to their environment are more likely to survive and produce offspring, passing on the characteristics which helped them survive. Gradually, the species change over time (BBC, 2015). After discovering that Alfred Russel Wallace had developed a similar idea, the two made a joint announcement of their discovery in 1858. In 1859, Darwin published his book ‘On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection’. Natural Selection functions on the phenotype of individuals, produced by their particular combinations of alleles. In natural selection, the allele combinations of some individuals are perpetuated at the expense of other genotypes. Homologous structure is the characteristics that have the same basic structure. Vestigial are leftovers of structures found in the family species. Both of these support Darwin’s theory of evolution. (Douglas Futuyma,

Vestigial structures are body parts that seemingly have no purpose or function due to change of habitat and diet (Rodriguez, 2015). Perhaps they once had a purpose but somewhere along the way they lost their functions and are now basically useless (Nyu.edu, 2015). Charles Darwin had proposed that if an organ or bone structure is no longer needed, over time natural selection will occur to reduce the size until it completely disappears from the body or just to reduce to the size (Rodriguez, 2015). Vestigial structures may come in many forms. For example, it can be patterns of behaviour, bone structures or organs. Many other structures in the human body are thought to have once been vestigial, but now they have a new function such as eyelashes that once were vestigial but now have use to the human body, protecting the eyes from getting things into it (Nyu.edu, 2015). Today, it is believed that some vestigial structures do a minor role (Answers in Genesis, 2015). Take the appendix for an example; it still has minor immunological roles and is useful in maintain gut