The Work of Darwin & Wallace Flashcards

All 6 cards in this deck

In which year did Charles Darwin publish On the Origin of Species, and what theory did it set out?

1859; the theory of evolution by natural selection.

Where did Darwin collect much of his evidence, and which animals gave him a key example?

On the voyage of HMS Beagle; the Galápagos finches, whose beak shapes varied with the food available on each island.

What was Alfred Wallace's contribution to the theory of evolution by natural selection?

He independently came to the same idea of natural selection and published jointly with Darwin in 1858; his work on warning colouration gave further evidence.

What is natural selection?

The process by which organisms best adapted to their environment survive, reproduce and pass on their advantageous alleles to offspring.

What impact have Darwin's and Wallace's ideas had on modern biology?

Natural selection is the accepted explanation for the diversity of life; it underpins classification and explains things like antibiotic resistance and pesticide resistance.

True or false? Darwin's theory was accepted by everyone as soon as it was published.

False. Many people rejected it, partly for religious reasons and partly because genes and inheritance were not yet understood, so he could not explain how characteristics were passed on.