The Voyage of the H.M.S.

Beagle
In

1831, Charles Darwin

set sail from England
aboard the H.M.S. Beagle
on a voyage around the
world.
Darwin

collected
numerous plant and animal
specimens for his
collection.
He

studied the specimens,

read the latest scientific
publications, and recorded

Darwin and the Galapagos

Islands
Darwin

observed that
the Galpagos Islands
were in close proximity,
but had very different
climates and
corresponding
differences in vegetation.
Accordingly,

he
observed that the
characteristics of many
animals and plants
varied noticeably among
the different islands.

Darwins
Contribution to
Science
Darwins evidence led him to
propose a revolutionary
hypothesis pertaining to the
way life changes over time.
This hypothesis has become
the theory of evolution. It was
presented in his book, On the
Origin of Species, published in
1859.

Darwins Case: Key Idea #1

Variation Within Species

Members within a
species vary from one
another in important
ways.

At the time, variations

were thought to be
unimportant, minor
defects.

Darwin argued that

this variation is
significant.

Darwins Case: Key Idea #1

Variation Within Species

Darwins Case: Key Idea #2

The Struggle For Existence
Darwin

realized that high

birth rates and a shortage
of life's basic resources
(food, water, and shelter)
inevitably force organisms
to compete for resources.
Competition,

both within
and among species exists
in almost all natural
environments.
This

struggle is ultimately
reflected by reproductive

Darwins Case: Key Idea #2

The Struggle For Existence

Darwins Case: Key Idea #3

The Inheritance of Traits
Characteristics

exhibited by
one parent, whether
beneficial or harmful, are
passed down from one
generation to the next
(assuming that organism is
able to reproduce).

Modern

Genetics presents a
mechanism for heredity.

Darwins Case: Key Idea #3

The Inheritance of Traits

Darwins Influences: Thomas Mathus

Mathus An Essay on the Principle of
Population emphasized that population
growth will always overwhelm growth in
food, creating inevitable states of
hunger, disease, and competition. This
perpetual struggle for survival caught
Darwins attention, and he applied it to
biology.
Darwin argued that some of the
competitors in Malthus' perpetual
struggle scenario would be better
equipped to survive. Those that were
less able would die out, leaving only
those with the more desirable traits.

Darwins Influences: Charles Lyell

The worlds most

renowned geologist of
the day and author of
author of Principles of
Geology, prompted
Darwin to think of
evolution as a slow
process in which small
changes gradually
accumulate over
immense spans of time

Darwins Influences:
Jean-Babtiste Lamark

Lamarck's proposed the first truly cohesive

theory of evolution, in which all organisms
had an innate tendency toward perfection.

He correctly argued that species change

over time, and that environmental forces
adapted them to local environments.

Lamarck is widely remembered for his

inaccurate theory of inheritance of
acquired characteristics in which the
use and disuse of physiologic features
differentiated organisms over time.

What Darwin Couldnt

Know.
Although

Darwin had no way of knowing,

there is a genetic mechanism for phenotypic
change in species over time.
Sweet!

Can

you guess what this is?

Putting it all Together

Survival of the Fittest

The

ability of an organism to
survive and reproduce in its
specific environment is
fitness.
Darwin

proposed that fitness

is the result of adaptations.
An

adaptation is any
inherited characteristic that
increases an organism's
chance of survival.

Survival of the Fittest

Beneficial

adaptations
better suit organisms to
their environment, and in
turn, theyre better able to
survive and reproduce.

Individuals

with
characteristics that are not
well suited to their
environment either die or
leave few offspring.

(cont.)

Natural Selection:

Decent with Modification

Natural

selection yields
organisms that display
different structures,
establish different niches,
and/or occupy different
habitats.

Every

living species has

descended, with changes,
from other species over
time.
Darwin

referred to this
principle as descent with
modification.

Natural Selection in
Action
Darwin

wondered if animals
living on different islands had
once been members of the
same species.
These

separate species
would have evolved from an
original South American
ancestor species.
His

observations of finches,
tortoises, iguanas, and other
animals supported his
hypothesis.

Galapagos Tortoises

Natural Selection in Action:

Industrial Melanism and the Peppered

Moth
Coal

burning during the

industrial revolution
caused the trees in
nearby forests to turn
dark with soot.

Within

a short time
period, the peppered
moth responded

Explain

3 Key Misconceptions about

Darwins Theory

Child
Please!
survival of the fittest
means only the strongest
and fastest survive

Why is this statement false?

How can you change it to make it
accurate?

3 Key Misconceptions about

Darwins Theory

Say
What?
Natural

selection
is random

Why is this statement false?

How can you change it to
make it accurate?

3 Key Misconceptions about

Darwins Theory

Oh No
you
didnt

Organisms

can
evolve over their
lifetimes

Why is this statement false?

How can you change it to
make it accurate?