Charles Darwin

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Darwin's Theories and Concepts:

Evolution Did Occur:

When Darwin first claimed evolution actually happened, not many people believed him because it opposed 'creation'. In the 1800s, England was powered by the Anglican Church and nobody could disagree with their views/opinions. Everyone still believed the bible told the 'real' story of how life came to be. Since more and more people have read through Darwin's works, religion has been impacted by his theory of evolution.

Evolutionary change is gradual; it takes thousands to millions of years for species to evolve.

Natural Selection:

Natural Selection: The process in nature by which, according to Darwin's theory of evolution, only the organisms best adapted to their environment tend to survive and transmit their genetic characteristics in increasing numbers to succeeding generations while those less adapted tend to be eliminated. (www.dictionary.com)

The Peppered Moth is an example of how natural selection works. During the 19th century, industrial cities in England (ex: Manchester) produced a lot of dirty smoke because of coal burning furnaces.

Due to the soot killing the lichen (a fungus that grows on rocks, tree bark, etc), tree's bark began to darken. Whenever moths would land on these trees, the lighter moths would stand out and be eaten by birds, but the darker moths were less visible and began to live longer, resulting in them reproducing more. In the late 1800s, 98% of the moth population around industrial cities was black. More recently, air pollution has been reduced drastically causing the lichen to grow back on trees. Since dark moths are more visible now, their population is lowering while lighter moths are being favored by natural selection.

Quote from Darwin's book: "As many more individuals of each species are born than can possibly survive, and as consequently there is a frequently...