Causes Of Charles Darwin's Theory Of Natural Selection

Charles Darwin’s theory of natural selection came to him after many years of travel on the British ship, HMS Beagle, around the world. Darwin was also greatly influenced by contemporaries, such as his professors, earlier naturalists, and so forth. On this voyage around the world, Darwin collected and observed numerous plant and animal species from all of the different environments he visited. The theory of natural selection can be defined as the evolution of species over time; species better adapted to their environment have a better chance of surviving and producing more offspring. Darwin had expected backlash over his theory by establishments such as religious and even scientific establishments in the 19th century, hence why it took him years …show more content…
Variation is an evolutionary process – it aids species in adapting to their environment, which ultimately increases their survival rate. Human variation has three primary causes, namely; mutations, gene flow and reproduction. Natural selection also plays a part in human variation, humans adapt to the environment they live in, for example a hot and cold environment. Natural selection takes part over the course of thousands and millions of years.
One of the interesting primary causes of human variation is mutation. Mutations are changes of the genetic material at the cellular level. Mutations are often viewed as being dangerous, although they can be relatively harmless. Mutations add more variation into the gene pool; interesting characteristics may come along with mutation, for example; a person having one blue and one brown eye. Mutations can occur quite randomly, this occurrence takes place during the cell replication process. Mutations are the only source of new genetic variation, which is why it is a primary force behind …show more content…
sapiens is thanks to great technological innovation that came with evolution. H. sapiens have a larger brain than other primates, as well as speech capabilities. The skull of H. sapiens are high and vaulted – a higher forehead than the H. erectus, which provides a large cranial capacity. The skull is also rounded in the back and eye sockets are square rather than rounded. Interestingly; humans are the only species with a protruding chin. Humans have smaller teeth and do not have the pragmatism and heavy brow ridges of earlier humans. H. sapiens also has a lighter build of the skeleton compared to earlier humans. H. sapiens are bipedal like earlier humans, however the legs of H. sapiens are long in comparison with arms. H. sapiens also don’t have the typical curvature of the finger and toe bones of earlier ancestors. Speech capabilities allowed H. sapiens to interact with their species, and so cultures and societies and languages came to