Evolution involves the changes to the properties of an organism that go beyond the life span of a single individual and it generally occurs as a result of either natural selection, mutation, genetic drift, or by the process of gene flow or migration. The evolution theory is regarded as one of the immense intellectual revolution in the history of the human beings and it has considerably changed the world’s view of the process of evolution. Charles Darwin is credited to have played a significant role in the development of the natural selection theory that supports evolution. As a result, the natural selection theory is the basis that Darwin used in explaining the origin of species and other theories of evolution. The Darwin’s theory explains about the adaptations of organisms through their infinite features so that they can survive and reproduce and also the divergence of species with a shared ancestry (Gould 76).
Natural selection is regarded as the method through which species or organisms adjust to their changing natural environment as proposed by Charles Darwin. Accordingly, the process of natural selection results in evolutionary changes when some species with particular features possess an enhanced survival and reproductive rate as compared to other species in the population. Consequently, the distinct inheritable genetic features or characteristics of the species are passed to their offspring and this is responsible for the process of evolution in an organism so as to adapt to the environment (Darwin and Bert 153).
Charles Darwin's Role in Natural Selection
During the early years of Darwin, he made several observations that occur in nature during his youthful voyage. For instance, during the voyage, Darwin identified some slight variations on the island tortoises that made them to be distinct from other tortoises apart from also observing a wide range of unique finches that showed some small differences from one area to another. As a result, these slight variations in organisms from one region to another influenced Darwin to come up with the natural selection natural selection. In the year 1859, Charles Darwin explained the process of organism’s adaptation and speciation using his evolution theory of natural selection by defining that the theory is the standard through which slight variations are preserved. The idea of natural selection was very plain but yet powerful as it explains that the best adapted organisms to the environment are usually expected to survive and also reproduce as compared to the less adapted organisms (Vincent and Joel 5).
Darwin’s theory in explaining the process of evolution involved three essential ideas such as the knowledge that species usually change with time and environment. As a result, the species in the present world and different geographic regions differ to a great extent with the species that existed over the last few centuries as supported by the fossil records. Secondly, Darwin’s theory is based on the idea that all species share a common ancestry with other species. As a result, with time, the species usually divide further into diverse species although they share a common ancestry which explains the similarities of the species that are classified together. Thirdly, Darwin reveals that the process of evolutionary change is usually steady and slow as revealed by the long periods of slow changes in the species in the fossil records (Vinicius 56).
Darwin’s theory of natural selection is established on four components that include variations, inheritance, high population growth rate and differential survival and reproduction. According to Vincent and Joel, organisms within a population demonstrate characteristic variations with regards to their appearance and behaviour (7). The variations among the species usually consist of body sizes, hair colour, facial marks, voice characteristics and their progeny. Inheritance in natural selection involves some unique traits that are constantly passed on from the parents to their progeny while the environmental induced traits usually show weak heritability.
The third component is the high population growth rate where some populations produce more offspring that the local natural resources cannot effectively sustain. This usually results in a struggle for resources and consequently the subsequent generations often experience considerable mortality to the species. Finally, Darwin’s theory of natural selection has a component of differential survival and reproduction where the species that possess traits that are well equipped in the struggle for the local natural resources contribute a high number of progeny for the consecutive generations (Vincent and Joel 4).
Darwin’s theory of natural selection proposes the idea that over the generations, the struggle for existence usually favours the species that have the best suited variations over other species. Consequently, the struggle for existence usually results in the change in frequency of some given traits among a given population and this is referred as the process of natural selection (Vincent and Joel 5).
For the process of natural selection to occur in species, the species must have traits that are inheritable and the variation and must offer an advantage so as compete favourably for natural resources. Darwin's theory of natural selection primarily transformed the course of future evolution scientific thought where struggle for existence leads to the adaptation and development of some traits among the individuals. In conclusion, natural selection process requires that the species to posses heritable variations in a particular given trait, and the resulting differential continued existence and reproduction of the species that are related to the possession of the specific trait.
Works Cited
Darwin, Charles, and Bert J. Loewenberg. Evolution and Natural Selection. Boston: Beacon Publishers, 1959. Print.
Gould, Stephen. The Structure of Evolutionary Theory. Harvard University Press. 2002. Print.
Vincent, Thomas L, and Joel S. Brown. Evolutionary Game Theory, Natural Selection, and Darwinian Dynamics. New York: Cambridge Univ. Press, 2005. Print.
Vinicius, Lucio. Modular Evolution: How Natural Selection Produces Biological Complexity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010. Print.
