Father of Evolution
- POSTED ON: 6 Jan, 2023
- TOTAL VIEWS: 145 Views
- POSTED BY: Madhumitha Srinivasan
- ARTICLE POINTS: 150 Points
Charles Robert Darwin was an English geologist, naturalist, and biologist. He is famously known as the ‘Father of Evolution’ as he was the first to propose the theory that all species descended from a common ancestor.
He identified the process that enabled evolution as ‘natural selection’. With limited resources available in nature, organisms with traits favourable for survival and reproduction will tend to leave more offspring than their peers. Thus, these traits will be replicated over generations, becoming a prominent feature in that species.
For example, the ancestors of modern giraffes were animals with much smaller necks, similar to deer. But because their habitat had tall trees, giraffes with slightly longer necks had an advantage. These longer-necked giraffes survived better and reproduced more. Thus, over the years and in subsequent generations, longer necks became more common resulting in the giraffes we know today.