Darwin's Theory?

Question

How would you best describe Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection to someone who was not familiar with the subject? Be as clear and accurate as possible. What scientific evidence best supports evolution by natural selection?

Answer 1

mutation causes changes from ancestors to offspring. the bad change offsprings die out when good change offspring live on. the good change offspring makes more offspring than bad change offsprings. nature kills those are bad change and therefore "not fit"

Answer 2

Things that exist today as a result of evolution by natural selection proably equate to 1% of all things that have ever lived.
For every species, there are probably thousands that did not make it due to them not having the right features at the right time...survival of the fittest.
We have different versions of genes...or alleles....these are changes in the DNA......any change in the DNA is called a mutation....some mutations can be beneficial, some can have no effect ( but maybe will have a beneficial or negative affect in the future when conditions change again) but many often have negative effects....eg some genetic illnesses like cystic fibrosis, haemophilia, colour blindness etc etc are all the result of a mutation at some point in our past and it has been passed on thru our families for generations or like in the case of Queen Victoria occured in her first, and then passed it to her offspring!)

Natural selection is where those individuals that are best suited to an evironvioment, will survive the best...have the most offspring and pass on all those benefical traits to their pfspring......
"surviving the best" or suvival of the fittest, means things like having the best camoflague to not be seen from a predator, having good muscles so they can run faster to eat more prey, having good eyesight, strong teeth etc...nature is not kind to those that have features that allow it to be eaten quickly ( malformed linbs etc or even injuries) or will starve as they are unable to get a meal.
As I said those that survive the best ( or in the greatest numbers) will be the "strongest" and have lots of offspring ( or more chances to breed than those that die or have limited fertility due to disease, injury, etc) and pass on all these benficial alleles to their offsrping.....
If there is a particular allele that is very successful over another, you will see it more and more often in a population, while the less successful one will be seen less and less and may eventually not occur in the population any more.
you can also see new combinations of alleles ( due to things like mutations, crossing over at meiosis, immigration of new members into population bringing in new alleles etc) and these may prove advantageous and over time will be seen more and more.....
When you combine all these features, a new species may occur ( a new species is a group of interbreeding members that produce fertile offspring) ....once again changes will slowly occur and another or several new species may form over time......in the mean time the environment may have changed due to a myriad of reasons and the orginal species may now not be able to compete against the other species ( no 2 species can live and eat the same things...one will ALWAYS win)......and may even die out ( become extinct like the other 99% of organisms that have lived).

Answer 3

Darwin outlined 3 major pieces of evolutionary change.
1) Organisms produce many offspring, but only a few survive to reproduce themselves.
2) There are chance variations between individuals in a species, some of which are inheritable. Those whose variations that help it survive better and reproduce more are considered more fit.
3) More fit individuals are more likely to live longer and produce more offspring. Those who can reproduce more are more fit.

Remember that Darwin's ideas were before genetics came into widespread knowledge. The integration of genetics into evolution is called Neo-Darwinism or the Modern Synthesis.

To see natural selection in action, just go to your local bar or club. Those individuals who are more fit for survival (stronger, wealthier, etc) are more successful at attracting a mate. This will help them to date more and (not considering contraceptives) reproduce more. This is not to say those who aren't as strong or wealthy will never mate and reproduce. It will simplier be harder and more effort, making it less likely.

Answer 4

Darwin's Theory states that natural selection made things excel in the enviorment they were placed in. So species came from species because they need longer necks and the ones with longer necks made more babies and their island had longer necks. Like on the islands that Darwin studied on, there were turtles doing this. They were seperated and mated only on their islands so there were different species that can't mate now.

Evidance to this is eveywhere. And disease had to survive and if they didn't they went extinct. dog breeding is all around us and that's in this theory. The links have been found everywhere. The water to land link, everything.

Answer 5

Evolution occurs within a species. No two organisms are exactly alike in a species. Each one of them have genetic mutations that they developed. Sometimes these mutations can cause a specific trait to appear. If that trait is favourable or useful then that organism lives to breed. We call that 'survival of the fittest'. If the newly developed trait is bad then that organism will die and no pass on its traits.

Natural selections mean that nature and the environment allows better adapted organisms to survive and breed. The favourable trait is passed along and slowly but surely it becomes a part of the species. This happens little by little with tiny mutations in DNA. This explains why organisms today are much more evolved and advanced than earlier organisms.

I hope this helps some.

Answer 6

Natural selection is also known as "survival of the fittest", which would probably be easier to understand for someone who isn't familiar with this.

Individuals that are better able to cope with environmental challenges tend to leave more offspring than those less suited to the environment.