15.

1 Darwin’s Theory of
Evolution by Natural Selection
Darwin on the HMS Beagle
•  Darwin’s job on the Beagle was to be
a naturalist, and to collect biological
and geological specimens during the
travels.!
•  When Darwin began his journey in
1831, most people thought the world
was ~6000 years old, and that
animals and plants were unchanging. !
The Galápagos Islands
The different islands all had their
own, slightly different varieties of
animals. !
artificial selection
breeding to
produce offspring
with desired traits!
Darwin thought if humans could
change species by artificial
selection, then the same could
happen in nature.!
New species could appear through
small changes in ancestral species.!
Darwin described a process where
some competitors would be better
equipped for survival than others,
those less equipped would die. !
natural selection: organisms
with favorable variations
survive, reproduce, and pass
their variations to the next
generation !
Darwin’s 4 Principles of natural selection:
• Individuals show variation!
• Variations are inheritable!
• More offspring are born than can
survive!
• Variations that increase
reproductive success will be more
common in the next generation!
The Origin of Species
Darwin published On the Origin of
Species by Means of Natural
Selection in 1859. !
Evolution- change in a group of
organisms over time!
Natural selection ≠ evolution!
it is one way evolution can occur !