Charles Darwin's Theory of Evolution -UPSC Current Affairs

Description

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Context

India have signed an open letter to NCERT condemning the removal of Charles Darwin's Theory of Evolution from the science textbooks for Classes 9 and 10.

About the Theory of Evolution

The Theory of Evolution by natural selection was first formulated in Charles Darwin's book "On the Origin of Species published in 1859.
In his book, Darwin describes how organisms evolve over generations through the inheritance of physical or behavioral traits.
The theory starts with the premise that within a population, there is variation in traits, such as beak shape in one of the Galapagos finches Darwin studied.
According to the theory, individuals with traits that enable them to adapt to their environments will help them survive and have more offspring, which will inherit those traits.
Individuals with less adaptive traits will less frequently survive to pass them on.
Over time, the traits that enable species to survive and reproduce will become more frequent in the population and the population will change, or evolve.
Through natural selection, Darwin suggested, genetically diverse species could arise from a common ancestor.
- A species is a population of organisms that interbreeds and has fertile offspring.
- Living organisms have descended with modifications from species that lived before them.
- Natural selection explains how this evolution has happened:
- More organisms are produced than can survive because of limited resources.
- Organisms struggle for the necessities of life; there is competition for resources.
- Individuals within a population vary in their traits; some of these traits are heritable -- passed on to offspring.
- Some variants are better adapted to survive and reproduce under local conditions than others.
- Better-adapted individuals (the "fit enough") are more likely to survive and reproduce, thereby passing on copies of their genes to the next generation.
- Species whose individuals are best adapted survive; others become extinct.

PRACTICE QUESTION

Q. Through natural selection, Darwin suggested, genetically diverse species could arise from a common ancestor. What are the provisions of Charle’s Darwins Theory of Evolution. Describe in detail.