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Evolution

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For most of human history, the universe was thought to be unchanging. Then, in the eighteenth century, expeditions to new continents and the #analysis *discovery #exploration #knowledge of extinct fossil animals convinced many people that the biological world was not as unchanging as had been thought. However, there could be no proof for this #concept *hypothesis #perspective #phenomenon until an explanation of how such change occurred could be found. In 1809, French naturalist Jean-Baptiste Lamarck became the first to #argue #consider *propose #suggest an explanation. His theory was based on the #adoption *inheritance #possession #retention of acquired traits. *According_to #As_stated_in #In_line_with #In_the_manner_of this theory, giraffes, for example, obtained long necks because individual giraffes stretched their neck muscles more and more to reach ever higher leaves, and the longer necks were passed on to the offspring. This idea was quickly shown to be #bad *false #inaccurate #true by experiment. Traits acquired during an individual’s lifetime, such as larger muscles acquired through weightlifting, are not passed on to offspring. | It was 1859 when English naturalist Charles Darwin proposed what is now known to be the *actual #current #particular #proper process by which evolution occurs: natural selection. Natural selection occurs because individuals in a species vary in their traits, and some individuals have more offspring than others, depending on how *advantageous #detrimental #feasible #fortunate their particular traits are. Those whose traits make them better #accustomed #harmonized #prepared *suited to their environment will survive longer and therefore have more offspring. As a result, advantageous traits will #decline #develop *increase #multiply in a species, while disadvantageous traits will be lost through time and as the environment changes.

Source: McKinney, M. L. (2019) ‘Evolution of life’, Salem Press Encyclopedia. Available at: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=sso&db=ers&AN=88802534&authtype=sso&custid=s8993828 (Accessed: 29 April 2022).