• Question: whats darwins theory

    Asked by ronaldo to Katy, Nathalie, Paula on 24 Jun 2010 in Categories: .
    • Photo: Katy Mee

      Katy Mee answered on 24 Jun 2010:

      Hi Ronaldo…..

      Darwin’s theory of evolution (i assume that’s what you’re talking about) is to do with certain traits evolving through natural selection. He essentially suggested that certain characteristics in living things were of more importance for long term survival than othercharacteristics, and therefore these characteristics were reproduced in their young (natural selection). Over several generations, this has enabled species to adapt to their surroundings, to new changes in the environment or to avoid predators….

      Hope that helps

    • Photo: Nathalie Pettorelli

      Nathalie Pettorelli answered on 24 Jun 2010:

      Hi Ronaldo,

      Darwin is linked to two main theories – the theory of natural selection and the theory of sexual selection.
      The first theory refers to a process by which certain heritable traits—those that make it more likely for an organism to survive and successfully reproduce —become more common in a population over successive generations. Take for example the peppered moth: it originally exists in both light and dark colors in the UK, but during the industrial revolution many of the trees on which the moths rested became blackened by soot, giving the dark-colored moths an advantage in hiding from predators. This gave dark-colored moths a better chance of surviving to produce dark-colored offspring, and in just a few generations the majority of the moths were dark.

      Sexual selection is the process by which certain heritable traits—those that make it more likely for an organism to successfully reproduce —become more common in a population over successive generations. The distinction here is that sexual selection is all about what makes an individual more likely to have more offspring – for example, in some species females may prefer to mate with males with exaggerated features of morphology (think about the peacock). Sexual selection takes two major forms: intrasexual selection in which males (typically) compete aggressively among themselves for access to females, and intersexual selection in which males compete with each other to be chosen by females.

      Hope that answers your question 😉

    • Photo: Paula Salgado

      Paula Salgado answered on 24 Jun 2010:

      Hi Ronaldo

      Simply put: all life is related and descendent from an original ancestor.

      The way the huge diversity of living things we see today happen because changes with appear that would give rise to some advantage – like a stronger beak to break tougher nuts more common in a particular area.

      Because that gave an advantage in terms of surviving in specific area, it would become more common.

      It’s called natural selection of characteristics that make a certain organism better adapted in a specific area.

      This a very simple explanation – there’s actually a lot more to it, but I hope it helps you understand it. 😉

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