natural selection: Quick Facts

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Charles Darwin: On the Origin of Species

How Charles Darwin developed the theory of evolution

Four kittens with different fur patterns-three tabby and one black-and-white-lying together in a box, illustrating genetic variation among offspring.

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survival of the fittest adaptation sexual selection Deviously Darwinian: 6 Strange Evolutionary Phenomena group selection Darwinian fitness Today in History—September 15: Charles Darwin Visits the Galapagos Islands Why do giraffes have long necks?Why are Maine Coon cats so big?Why are male animals more colorful?extinction coevolution Speciation emergence Variation social Darwinism gene pool mosaic evolution genetic drift Creative evolution

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Key People

Charles Darwin

Charles Darwin

British naturalist

British naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace

Alfred Russel Wallace

British naturalist

Francisco J. Ayala

Francisco J. Ayala

American geneticist and biologist

Matthew, Patrick

Patrick Matthew

Scottish landowner and agriculturalist

Bates, H.W.

H.W. Bates

British naturalist and explorer

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Edmund Brisco Ford

British population geneticist