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How did Charles Darwin explain adaptation through natural selection?
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Biology
A researcher using a microscope to examine a specimen in the laboratory.
Charles Darwin explained adaptation as the result of natural selection acting upon heritable variation over many generations. Rather than attributing the functional design of living beings to a divine creator, Darwin proposed that adaptation arises from a natural process driven by three primary principles:123
- Variation: All forms of life exhibit variations in their traits.3
- Heredity: These traits are transmitted from one generation to the next.3
- Struggle for Existence: Because more individuals are produced than can survive, organisms must compete for resources. Individuals possessing variations that provide even a slight advantage in their specific environment have a better chance of surviving and reproducing.23
Through this process, favorable variations are preserved while injurious ones are eliminated. This selective reproductive success leads to the gradual accumulation of traits that fit a species to its environment. Darwin’s theory provided a scientific explanation for the complex, functional organization of organisms, demonstrating that adaptation is a consequence of natural laws rather than intentional design.21