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Biology Paper - Evolution

5 Pages 1144 Words June 2016

?Evolution is the theory that all living forms came from ancient ancestors. Through a series of mutations, genetic drift, migration, and natural selection today’s descendants show an amazing amount of similarities and diversity. Evolution on a small scale is called microevolution, relating to the changes that occur such as insects becoming resistant to pesticides. Macroevolution refers to the grand scale. It is associated with extinction, change, stability, and lineage. At the time of its “birth”, it was a controversial subject. Charles Darwin was the first to formalize the theory of evolution, but before him there were more scientists interested in it.
Charles Darwin was born in England and originally planned to take up a career in medicine. When that didn’t work out, he switched to divinity in Cambridge. Later he took a five year excursion on the HMS Beagle. During his time on board Darwin read the “Principles of Geology” that stated there was geological evidence of ancient animals. While on the Galapagos Islands he noticed that the finches on the each island were closely related but different in big ways. When he returned, he theorized evolution based on natural selection. Twenty years later he and Alfred Russell Wallace discussed evolution openly. In 1859 he published his extremely controversial ideas. Darwin was attacked for his theory, particularly by the Church. But his ideas became widely accepted.
Darwin’s own grandfather, Erasmus Darwin, was a prestigious physician, botanist, naturalist, poet, and philosopher. He believed that all modern creatures had originated from “one living filament”, a common ancestor. Erasmus did not come up with natural selection, but he did believe in competition and sexual selection. He believed that the strongest males reserved the right to mate, therefore passing on satisfactory traits. He used an integrative method of research, bringing together multiple branches of science to...

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