CHARLES DARWIN, EVOLUTION & NATURAL SELECTION

Charles Darwin

On a day like today in 1858, Charles Darwin first published his theory of evolution through natural selection in The Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society of London, alongside Alfred Russel Wallace's same theory and The Grandma wants to talk about it.

Because of it is an interesting theme that needs lots of information, The Grandma has received the amazing visit of one of her closest friends, Joseph de Ca'th Lon, who is an expert in Archaeology, Anthropology and Astronomy and a great follower of Charles Darwin's life and works.

Charles Robert Darwin (12 February 1809-19 April 1882) was an English naturalist, geologist and biologist, best known for his contributions to the science of evolution.

His proposition that all species of life have descended over time from common ancestors is now widely accepted, and considered a foundational concept in science.

In a joint publication with Alfred Russel Wallace, he introduced his scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process that he called natural selection, in which the struggle for existence has a similar effect to the artificial selection involved in selective breeding.

Darwin has been described as one of the most influential figures in human history, and he was honoured by burial in Westminster Abbey.

Darwin published his theory of evolution with compelling evidence in his 1859 book On the Origin of Species. By the 1870s, the scientific community and a majority of the educated public had accepted evolution as a fact. However, many favoured competing explanations which gave only a minor role to natural selection, and it was not until the emergence of the modern evolutionary synthesis from the 1930s to the 1950s that a broad consensus developed in which natural selection was the basic mechanism of evolution.

More information: Live Science

Darwin's scientific discovery is the unifying theory of the life sciences, explaining the diversity of life.

Darwin's early interest in nature led him to neglect his medical education at the University of Edinburgh; instead, he helped to investigate marine invertebrates. Studies at the University of Cambridge (Christ's College) encouraged his passion for natural science.

His five-year voyage on HMS Beagle established him as an eminent geologist whose observations and theories supported Charles Lyell's conception of gradual geological change, and publication of his journal of the voyage made him famous as a popular author.

Charles Darwin

Puzzled by the geographical distribution of wildlife and fossils he collected on the voyage, Darwin began detailed investigations, and in 1838 conceived his theory of natural selection.

Although he discussed his ideas with several naturalists, he needed time for extensive research and his geological work had priority.

He was writing up his theory in 1858 when Alfred Russel Wallace sent him an essay that described the same idea, prompting immediate joint publication of both of their theories.

Darwin's work established evolutionary descent with modification as the dominant scientific explanation of diversification in nature. In 1871 he examined human evolution and sexual selection in The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex, followed by The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals (1872).

His research on plants was published in a series of books, and in his final book, The Formation of Vegetable Mould, through the Actions of Worms (1881), he examined earthworms and their effect on soil.

The publication of Darwin's theory brought into the open Charles Darwin's theory of evolution through natural selection, the culmination of more than twenty years of work.

More information: Tree Hugger

Thoughts on the possibility of transmutation of species which he recorded in 1836 towards the end of his five-year voyage on the Beagle were followed on his return by findings and work which led him to conceive of his theory in September 1838.

He gave priority to his career as a geologist whose observations and theories supported Charles Lyell's uniformitarian ideas, and to publication of the findings from the voyage as well as his journal of the voyage, but he discussed his evolutionary ideas with several naturalists and carried out extensive research on his hobby of evolutionary work.

He was writing up his theory in 1858 when he received an essay from Alfred Russel Wallace who was in Borneo, describing Wallace's own theory of natural selection, prompting immediate joint publication of extracts from Darwin's 1844 essay together with Wallace's paper as On the Tendency of Species to form Varieties; and on the Perpetuation of Varieties and Species by Natural Means of Selection in a presentation to the Linnaean Society on 1 July 1858.

Charles Darwin

This attracted little notice, but spurred Darwin to write an abstract of his work which was published in 1859 as his book On the Origin of Species.

Natural selection is the differential survival and reproduction of individuals due to differences in phenotype.

It is a key mechanism of evolution, the change in the heritable traits characteristic of a population over generations.

Charles Darwin popularised the term natural selection, contrasting it with artificial selection, which in his view is intentional, whereas natural selection is not. Variation exists within all populations of organisms. This occurs partly because random mutations arise in the genome of an individual organism, and their offspring can inherit such mutations. Throughout the lives of the individuals, their genomes interact with their environments to cause variations in traits.

The environment of a genome includes the molecular biology in the cell, other cells, other individuals, populations, species, as well as the abiotic environment. Because individuals with certain variants of the trait tend to survive and reproduce more than individuals with other less successful variants, the population evolves. Other factors affecting reproductive success include sexual selection, now often included in natural selection, and fecundity selection.

Natural selection acts on the phenotype, the characteristics of the organism which actually interact with the environment, but the genetic (heritable) basis of any phenotype that gives that phenotype a reproductive advantage may become more common in a population.

More info: Charles Darwin & The Origin of Species by Keith A. Francis

Over time, this process can result in populations that specialise for particular ecological niches (microevolution) and may eventually result in speciation (the emergence of new species, macroevolution). In other words, natural selection is a key process in the evolution of a population.

Natural selection is a cornerstone of modern biology. The concept, published by Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace in a joint presentation of papers in 1858, was elaborated in Darwin's influential 1859 book On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life.

He described natural selection as analogous to artificial selection, a process by which animals and plants with traits considered desirable by human breeders are systematically favoured for reproduction.

The concept of natural selection originally developed in the absence of a valid theory of heredity; at the time of Darwin's writing, science had yet to develop modern theories of genetics.

The union of traditional Darwinian evolution with subsequent discoveries in classical genetics formed the modern synthesis of the mid-20th century. The addition of molecular genetics has led to evolutionary developmental biology, which explains evolution at the molecular level. While genotypes can slowly change by random genetic drift, natural selection remains the primary explanation for adaptive evolution.

More information: The Origin of Species by Charles Darwin

A scientific man ought to have no wishes,

no affections, a mere heart of stone.

Charles Darwin

THE GALAPAGOS ISLANDS, CHARLES DARWIN'S PARADISE

The Jones have just arrived to the Galápagos Islands

The Jones have just arrived to the Galápagos Islands in Equator. The family is going to their residences to rest a little after a long flight from Tokyo.

The Galápagos Islands are an archipelago of volcanic islands distributed on either side of the Equator in the Pacific Ocean surrounding the centre of the Western Hemisphere, 906 km west of continental Ecuador. The islands are known for their vast number of endemic species and were studied by Charles Darwin during the second voyage of HMS Beagle, as his observations and collections contributed to the inception of Darwin's theory of evolution by means of natural selection.

The Galápagos Islands and their surrounding waters form the Galápagos Province of Ecuador, the Galápagos National Park, and the Galápagos Marine Reserve. The principal language on the islands is Spanish. The islands have a population of slightly over 25,000.

More information: Galápagos

The first recorded visit to the islands happened by chance in 1535, when Fray Tomás de Berlanga, the Bishop of Panamá, was surprised with this undiscovered land during a voyage to Peru to arbitrate in a dispute between Francisco Pizarro and Diego de Almagro. De Berlanga eventually returned to the Spanish Empire and described the conditions of the islands and the animals that inhabited them. The group of islands was shown and named in Abraham Ortelius's atlas published in 1570. 

Charles Darwin with a local tortoise

The first crude map of the islands was made in 1684 by the buccaneer Ambrose Cowley, who named the individual islands after some of his fellow pirates or after British royalty and noblemen. These names were used in the authoritative navigation charts of the islands prepared during the Beagle survey under captain Robert Fitzroy, and in Darwin's popular book The Voyage of the Beagle. 

The new Republic of Ecuador took the islands from Spanish ownership in 1832, and subsequently gave them official Spanish names. The older names remained in use in English language publications, including Herman Melville's The Encantadas of 1854.

More information: The Encantadas by Herman Melville

The islands are located in the eastern Pacific Ocean, 973 km off the west coast of South America. The closest land mass is that of mainland Ecuador, the country to which they belong, 926 km to the east.

Charles Darwin arriving to the Galápagos Islands

The islands are found at the coordinates 1°40'N–1°36'S, 89°16'–92°01'W. 

Straddling the equator, islands in the chain are located in both the northern and southern hemispheres, with Volcán Wolf and Volcán Ecuador on Isla Isabela being directly on the equator. Española Island, the southernmost islet of the archipelago, and Darwin Island, the northernmost one, are spread out over a distance of 220 km. The group consists of 18 main islands, 3 smaller islands, and 107 rocks and islets. The islands are located at the Galápagos Triple Junction. 

The archipelago is located on the Nazca Plate, a tectonic plate, which is moving east/southeast, diving under the South American Plate at a rate of about 6.4 cm per year. It is also atop the Galápagos hotspot, a place where the Earth's crust is being melted from below by a mantle plume, creating volcanoes. The first islands formed here at least 8 million and possibly up to 90 million years ago.

More information: UNESCO

While the older islands have disappeared below the sea as they moved away from the mantle plume, the youngest islands, Isabela and Fernandina, are still being formed, with the most recent volcanic eruption in April 2009 where lava from the volcanic Island Fernandina started flowing both towards the island's shoreline and into the center caldera.

Charles Darwin exploring the island

Charles Darwin was born on 12 February 1809 and is seen today as the father of the theory of evolution. His work as a naturalist, geologist and scientist led to many books and writings on evolution and his theory of how different species originated from common ancestors is still accepted.

Darwin’s extensive research that resulted in the development of his theories all started on the Galápagos Islands. Even though he did not realize it at the time, the discovery that he made here would make him and the islands world famous.

Darwin was invited on a two-year voyage on the English sea going vessel, the Beagle, and saw the invitation as an opportunity to explore different countries and the geological secrets they hold. The Beagle’s voyage mission was to explore harbor approaches, and this took them to the islands. It was while they moved from one island to the next in the Galápagos Islands archipelago that Darwin noticed that each island had its own unique form of mocking bird.

Moer information: National Geographic

Contrary to popular belief, he did not immediately come to the theory of evolution by seeing this, as he believed that the sample species he collected from the islands was a collection of finches, blackbirds and gross-beaks. 

Charles Darwin in the Galápagos Islands

Only after his return to London and by presenting his findings to ornithologist John Gould, did he learn that he had collected approximately fourteen species of birds that were related to the finch. These species would become known as Darwin’s Finches. Even though they all looked similar in size, there were differences in food choices as seen in the shape of their beaks, coloration, behavior and even in their song.

On understanding and realizing that various species and kinds of birds can belong to or originate from one species, Darwin began his quest for answers. It is through these findings that the natural selection theory, an easily understandable description of evolution, was written and published by Darwin. 

His book, The Origin of Species, would immortalize himself and the Galápagos Islands. His legacy, as the first geologist on the islands is still seen in the conservation efforts of the Charles Darwin Foundation and the Charles Darwin Research Station, created to preserve the unique beauty of the Galápagos Islands.

More information: Lonely Planet

The Galápagos Islands are probably 

the most famous wildlife-watching 

destination in the world. 

And no wonder, it's almost impossible 

to exaggerate the sheer spectacle 

of the place that provided inspiration 

for Charles Darwin's ground-breaking 

theory of natural selection.

Mark Carwardine

CHARLES DARWIN, THE GREAT GENIUS OF THE EVOLUTION

Charles Darwin

Naturalist Charles Darwin was born in Shrewsbury, England, on February 12, 1809.

In 1831, he embarked on a five-year survey voyage around the world on the HMS Beagle. His studies of specimens around the globe led him to formulate his theory of evolution and his views on the process of natural selection.

In 1859, he published On the Origin of Species. He died on April 19, 1882, in London.

On December 27, 1831, the HMS Beagle launched its voyage around the world with Darwin in tow. Over the course of the trip, Darwin collected a variety of natural specimens, including birds, plants and fossils. Through hands-on research and experimentation, he had the unique opportunity to closely observe principles of botany, geology and zoology. The Pacific Islands and Galapagos Archipelago were of particular interest to Darwin, as was South America.

Upon his return to England in 1836, Darwin began to write up his findings in the Journal of Researches, published as part of Captain FitzRoy's larger narrative and later edited into the Zoology of the Voyage of the Beagle. The trip had a monumental effect on Darwin’s view of natural history. He began to develop a revolutionary theory about the origin of living beings that was contrary to the popular view of other naturalists at the time.

 

More information: Darwin Foundation

Darwin's exposure to specimens all over the globe raised important questions. Other naturalists believed that all species either came into being at the start of the world, or were created over the course of natural history. In either case, the species were believed to remain much the same throughout time. 

 

Darwin, however, noticed similarities among species all over the globe, along with variations based on specific locations, leading him to believe that they had gradually evolved from common ancestors. He came to believe that species survived through a process called natural selection, where species that successfully adapted to meet the changing requirements of their natural habitat thrived, while those that failed to evolve and reproduce died off.

In 1858, after years of further scientific investigation, Darwin publically introduced his revolutionary theory of evolution in a letter read at a meeting of the Linnean Society. 

 

On November 24, 1859, he published a detailed explanation of his theory in his best-known work, On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection.

Following a lifetime of devout research, Charles Darwin died at his family home, Down House, in London, on April 19, 1882, and was buried at Westminster Abbey. During the next century, DNA studies revealed evidence of his Theory of Evolution, although controversy surrounding its conflict with Creationism—the religious view that all of nature was born of God—still abounds today.

 

More information: Darwin on Line

Man tends to increase at a greater rate
than his means of subsistence. 

Charles Darwin