Darwins theory of

Evolution

Evolution is the change that takes place over a period of time.

About Charles
Darwin
Full name : Charles Robert Darwin
Birth place: England
Birth date: 12th February, 1809
He was the great English naturalist.
His work mainly focused in understanding the life on the Earth.

Darwins work
He wrote 20 books of different volumes on nature
including Origin of species, Voyage of Beagle.
Thousands of letters.
More than 200 articles.
Manuscripts.

Trip to HMS Beagle

Turning point in Darwins life.
Trip started on 27th December, 1831 and lasted for five years.
Trip conducted under the supervision of captain FitzROy.
Lots of observation made by Darwin during the trip.
Collected several evidences to support the observations.

Darwins observations during

the trip
Adaptation of plants in the natural
environment.
Birth and survival of different species.
Fossils of different species that got extinct.
Fossils of species that have similarity to
the existing species.

The Galapagos islands

Landed on Galapagos island on 15th September , 1835.
Important fauna for Darwins study: iguanas, giant
tortoise and finches.
Different islands of Galapagos with tortoise variable in
looks and weight.
Iguanas on different island had variable appearance.
The beak of finches and their feeding habit differ in
islands of Galapagos.

Finches with modified beak

Darwins study
After he returned from trip, he closely studied all the
specimens and evidences that he collected from
different island. His study included deep research and
findings on each species.
He was highly motivated by Hutton and Lyell theory on
earth in geology.
Hence, he linked all his findings with past theories
given by many other biologist and naturalist.
He got a letter from Alfred Russel Wallace on his
findings.

Darwins result
Finally after lots of research and
findings, Darwin came to the
conclusion on origin and evolution
of species.

Darwins theory
Common descent
Gradualism
Multiplication
Natural selection

Common descent
All the organism have one common ancestor in the past
and with the change in climate and habitat, they
descended from that unknown ancestor.
Over a period of time, the changes within them got
collected resulting in their survival for the changing
environment also termed as adaptation.

Gradualism
Origin and evolution of new species
depends on the accumulation of
changes. After a period of time when
different changes get piled up
resulting in adaptation, then the
species is said to evolve. Hence,
evolution is a slow and gradual
process.

Multiplication
Over a time period, changes takes place. These
changes can result in the species with similar in
appearance or completely different in
appearance and behavior. Hence, species
multiply either having similar characteristics to
their ancestor or different characteristics than
that of them.

Natural selection
Darwin termed natural selection as the major mechanism in origin
and evolution of species.

Overproduction
Every species in this planet have potential to
give birth to young ones and increase in its
number. This is known as overproduction where
there is no limit set for any species to give birth
a particular number of offspring's.

Competition
More the number of species , higher will be the
competition for their survival. It is because, our
environment have finite resources that supports the
survival of only some species. Hence, those offspring
who meets the environmental criteria can survive. Thus
even after overproduction the population of species
generally remain constant with slight variation in the
overall data.

Variation
Variation is the key ingredient for survival of the
species. Those species who have suitable
variation that benefits them have higher
chances of survival than those species who have
no variation or who lack beneficial variation.
Hence, as a result of variation species possess
morphological and character differences.

Survival of the fittest

Species that have variation and can tackle the
environmental condition are fit for reproduction and
survival. Hence, fitness depends upon the adaptation of
species to the particular environment. Therefore, any
species with low fitness die and that with higher fitness
can survive.

selection
After a particular time period, the changes or
variation acquired by the species results in natural
selection. This means that nature selects the
beneficial variation and increase the survival rate of
offspring having those characters.

Example of natural
selection
Drug resistance in
bacteria.
Shape of beak in
finches.
The peppered moth
Differential color in
beetles

Natural selection and artificial

selection
Natural selection
It operates in the natural method.

Artificial selection

It is a slow process and takes time.

It operates in the artificial or man

made method.

It does not require human

interference.
Moth color, beak shape of finches.

It is fast process.
It requires human ideas and effort.
Breeding, artificial insemination.

Outline of Evolution
Convergent evolution
Divergent evolution
Co-evolution

Convergent evolution
Convergent means to converge at a point. Hence, species that
have no common origin but looks or behaves in similar way due
to adaptation to same environmental condition comes under this
group.

The best example for this is humming bird and sunbirds. Both
these birds are from different family but their feeding habit is
same. Other examples include silk spider and silk moth, bat and
birds etc.

Divergent evolution
Divergent means landing at different points.
Hence, species that have common origin but
have difference in morphology or show
difference in their behavior comes under this
group. Example include limbs with five digit of
bat and whale; that evolved from common
ancestor but their use and function are different.

Co-evolution
Co-evolution refers to effect of two species
on each others evolution. This can be seen
in insects and plants where one act as
predator and other as prey thus affecting
the morphology of each other.

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