Darwin’s Theory of Evolution

Charles Darwin had huge passion in studying both plants and animals. Despite having been from England, he did not just study about the plants and animals within this country. He travelled to different places of the world in a journey that lasted five years. In his studies, especially during the journey, he developed some quite interesting ideas. These ideas can be found in a book, On the Origin of Species, which Darwin wrote. These evolution ideas have attracted support and controversy in equal measure. Following are some Darwin’s ideas on evolution.

Survival of a species

According to Darwin, no species was created. They all evolved from very basic forms of life. This evolution happened because members of any species usually have different genetic compositions. The ones best suited to an environment are able to survive while the others become extinct. Darwin also suggested that well adapted species pass their good genes to their off springs and hence creating a well adapted generation. The climatic conditions at different parts of the earth played a very great role in evolution. If these conditions were different during the time when evolution happened, then evolution would have taken a different path. This would have led to species very different from the ones existing today.

New variations in a species

New variations in a species can come about in either of two ways. The first one is the way reproduction happens. With reproduction, selective breeding happens with the intention of getting the best features in an offspring. When selective breeding happens repeatedly, variations in a species are usually witnessed. In most cases, the offspring has much better qualities than its parents and this means it is better adapted to an environment. A new variation of a species can also happen through mutation. Mutation or genetic changes are not planned by anyone. They are random. Some causes of these changes are exposure to either chemicals or radiation. Chemicals can be from our lifestyle choices such as food consumed or smoking of tobacco. Normally, mutations lead to death of some cells and hence only the strong ones are able to survive. However, a few cases have shown improvements of genes as a result of mutation. Genetic mutation changes are only transmitted to off springs if they affected cells involved in reproduction processes. These cells could be sperms or ova. This means that changes in other cells usually vanish with the death of a species.