Published: 20th August 2021
#ThrowbackToday: Survival of the fittest. Hence proved by naturalist Charles Darwin
In today's #TBT, we recollect the theory of evolution by natural selection that has been drilled into us since school and also tell you about not just Charles Darwin, but also his famous grandfather
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That's evolution | (Pic: Wikimedia Commons)
When we say the name Charles Darwin, there is one word that comes to mind — evolution. How about a revision of the theory of evolution by natural selection today. What's the occasion, you ask? Darwin published the theory in The Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society of London on August 20, 1858, that's why!
New species are formed by a process called natural selection. This evolution happens over generations. A species with a solid set of traits that holds them in good stead with regards to the adaptation with the environment, it is this species that will survive time and time again while the species with less adaptive traits will perish. Over time, one will observe that it is these evolutionary traits that are more frequent in the population thus, leading to the evolution of the population. Survival of the fittest, that's nature's law.
What this English naturalist, geologist and biologist was suggesting was that, indeed, a diverse set of life forms could possibly arise from common ancestors.
But do you know who Erasmus Darwin is? Best known as Charles Darwin's grandfather, Senior Darwin was a poet, physician and botanist who often spoke about evolution, at the cost of falling out of favour with many. Today, he is increasingly gaining traction as the true forefather of evolution.
