Charles Darwin and the Tree of Life

The following is a media review and summary.

Our planet is the only known planet that can sustain life. But life on earth has developed into a vast collection of species over time. In all, there are over 100 million species on earth. There are over 200 species of monkeys, 1000 different species of bats, over 350,000 species of Beatles, and over 250,000 species of flowering plants. David Attenborough wrote and presented "Charles Darwin and the Tree of Life" to show the remarkable past of Charles Darwin and his contemporaries, and the theory of natural selection, evolution, and diversity.

Charles Darwin Seated

Henry Maull (1829–1914) and John Fox (1832–1907)  

Charles Darwin was the companion of the captain of ship, The Beagle, at the age of 22. They landed in Brazil and the Galapagos Island. Their he found several species of beetles. He examined every single one he found and took specimens since he liked insects. Later finding a diversity of tortoises and finches, he wondered why they look so different. He then continued looking about the island documenting his finds. 

Finally he developed the theory that species of animals are not fixed, species slowly change throughout time. 

How could animals of the same species develop different characteristics? He named this natural selection. Natural selection means that the fittest within a species survive within the environment. 

Certain traits and characteristics can help the individual survive its environment and allow it to reproduce. The traits are then passed to the offspring over time, that specific trait needed to survive in the specific environment becomes more frequent in offspring.

Darwin's
On the Origin of Species

An example of natural selection Darwin used was the different beaks within the finches and the different shells the tortoises had. The finches with a thin beak are specialized at catching bugs in the air, while the finches with wider sharper beaks are specialized in cracking open nuts to obtain food. Tortoises with a round shell tended to eat food on the ground and tortoises with a peeked shell allowed them to reach higher plants. The different beaks and shells is evidence that certain traits are specialized within a certain environment.

The actions of Charles Darwin proved that species are not fixed. Species slowly change over time to develop traits that best help to survive in their environments.

About the Author

I'm Jose Pierre and I like learning about all aspects of culture, both ancient and modern. I enjoy learning how they communicated, expressed themselves, and their technology.