Darwin

Lamark

• First Ideas of evolution

• Lamarckian evolution or “Lamarckism”: The idea that an organism can pass down characters/traits that they acquired through its life

  • Giraffe necks, mole eyes

• Cuvier buried this guy

• Influenced Darwin

Malthus

Warned about population growth outstripping resources

Plato

• Essentialism: species were imperfect copies of ideal forms

  • Species did not change

Wallace

• Independently developed the idea of natural selection

• Lyell helped Darwin and Wallace present a joint paper on the topic

4 observation of the theory of natural selection

1. Struggle: Populations grow faster than resources, which creates a struggle for survival

2. Variation: There can be variety (varied traits) within a generation

3. Inheritance: There are similarities (similar traits) among related animals

4. Selection: survival based on ability to survive and reproduce

3 predictions of darwins theory of natural selection

1. Fossils should show intermediate forms 

   • They do! This was discovered after finding more fossils

2. Organisms should share homologous structures that reveal ancestry, while analogous structures reveal convergent adaptation

   • Homogogous example: Mammals having nipples

   • Analogous example: insect wings vs bird wings

3. Inheritance at the biochemical level should underlie variation and morphology

   • Confirmed by genetics and DNA later on