darwin and the theory of natural selection

Question 1

darwin date of birth

Answer 1

born on february 12 1809

Question 2

darwin’s journey

Answer 2

december 27, 1831
darwin sets off on the HMS beagle as a naturalist on a five-year voyage to the coast of South America
darwin was to observe and collect specimens

Question 3

darwin’s observations in argentina

Answer 3

in argentina, darwin uncovered fossils of giant creatures that are in the present day small
- modern and extinct animals resemble each other and share similar geographical distribution

Question 4

darwin’s observations in the andes mountains

Answer 4

in the andes mountains, darwin found fossils of MARINE organisms
- supported lyell’s theory of large scale changes to the earth

Question 5

darwin’s observations in the galapagos islands (3)

Answer 5

iguanas- closely resembles iguanas from the mainland but can swim/hold breath for long periods
tortoises- 5 unique species of galapagos giant tortoise found on each island
finches- 13 species with distinct characteristics on the islands

Question 6

what did darwin do after getting off the HMS Beagle

Answer 6

he spent more than 20 years gathering evidence on evolution
- by 1844 he had an outline on his theory of evolution but he wasn’t publishing it bc he knew it’d be controversial

Question 7

what eventually led darwin to publish his paper “on the origin of species”

Answer 7

in 1858 darwin received a letter from alfred russel wallace who had come to the same conclusion about evolution
- this pressured darwin to publish his paper in 1859

Question 8

5 key observations on the origin of species

Answer 8

• in each generation, populations produce more offspring than adults
• populations do not continue to grow in size
• food/resources are limited
• individuals within all populations vary
• many variations are heritable

Question 9

2 key inferences from the 5 key observations

Answer 9

• individuals within a population compete for resources
• some individuals will inherit characteristics that give them a better chance of surviving/reproducing

Question 10

1 theory of natural selection based on all the inferences made

Answer 10

over time the population changes as advantageous heritable characteristics become more common generation after generation