13/02/2022
Good day to you, fellow biology lovers, today is a good day to meet your heros !
First things first, we will be discussing biological evolution which is the change in inherited traits over successive generations in populations of organisms.
Today, biological evolution is almost certainly associated with Charles Robert Darwin, a British naturalist, geologist, and biologist best known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. Yesterday was "Darwin Day," which is mainly a celebration of his birthday, a commemoration of his numerous scientific contributions, and a promotion of science itself.
This theory was first articulated in Charles Darwin's influential and contentious 1859 book "On the Origin of Species." ,in it, Darwin described how organisms evolve over generations, stating that if an environment changes, the traits that enhance survival in that environment will gradually change, or evolve, and that all living things can be traced back to a common ancestor.
Darwin's theory was founded on reflections in a series of notebooks he began keeping during his global travels. From 1831 to 1836, he was a member of the HMS Beagle survey expedition, which made stops in South America, Australia, and the southern tip of Africa.
During his travels, he took the opportunity to observe plants and animals in their natural habitats, as well as collect both living and fossilized specimens for future studies. He noticed intriguing patterns in the distribution and characteristics of organisms. So, after returning home, he began reflecting on his observations and experiences, and over the next two years, he developed the basic outline of his groundbreaking theory of natural selection.
Darwin believed that species evolve over time, that new species emerge from existing species, and that all species share a common ancestor. He explained in one of "The Tree of Life” models that each species has its own unique set of heritable (genetic) differences from the common ancestor that have accumulated gradually over very long time periods.
Repeated branching events, in which new species diverge from a common ancestor, result in a multi-level "tree" that connects all living organisms.
Darwin also proposed a mechanism for evolution: natural selection. It was elegant and logical, and it explained how populations could evolve (undergo descent with modification) in such a way that they became better suitable to their environments over time: Living beings will be more successful at reproduction if they possess any trait that aids in their survival.
Those who do not adapt will perish without descendants. The lucky creatures who have the most success reproducing will pass on their traits to their lineage, and so on, until these variations become a whole new species! "Survival For The Fittest". This theory changed the world's view of evolution and was the beginning of what is now :Human Embryonic Development which is a term that is used to describe the development of human embryos.
This theory changed the world's view of evolution and was the beginning of what is now. Some called him a lunatic for even proposing it, and it remains one of the most criticized yet fascinating theories to this day!
Written by: Walid Meskini & Souleima Maacha
Illustrated by: Nouha Ben Jeddou
