Charles Robert Darwin, 1809-1882
From the observations and insights made on the voyage and new ideas from geologists on the age of the Earth, Darwin developed an explanatory theory for evolutionary change:
• Species change over time • Divergent species share a common ancestor (descent with modification) • The mechanism that produces change is natural selection |
Many of Darwin’s observations of variation and selection came from domesticated plants and animals.
Darwin bred pigeons and recognized similarities between selection by breeders and selection in nature. In both cases, selection simply increases the frequency of the favored trait from one generation to the next. |