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Question

Explain the contribution of Charles Darwin in the field of heredity and evolution.

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Solution

Charles Darwin was an English naturalist. He has greatly contributed to the field of evolution. Darwin proposed many theories and the mostly accepted theory of evolution is

Theory of evolution by means of natural selection. Darwin and wallace proposed that natural selection is the mechanism by which new species arise from pre existing ones. Natural selection states that there is "struggle for existence" within a population and variation exists within all population. The continuous competition between individuals for environmental resources creates a 'struggle for existence' and this struggle makes sure that certain organisms would fail to survive or reproduce. This would eliminate less suited organisms and better adapted organisms would survive and pass on their traits to next generation leading to evolution.

He also proposed the important theory of sexual selection, mechanisms for speciation etc.

Darwin’s contributions to evolutionary biology are well known, but his contributions to genetics are much less known. His main contribution was the collection of a tremendous amount of genetic data, and an attempt to provide a theoretical framework for its interpretation. Darwin clearly described almost all genetic phenomena of fundamental importance, such as prepotency (Mendelian inheritance), bud variation (mutation), heterosis, reversion (atavism), graft hybridization (Michurinian inheritance), sex-limited inheritance, the direct action of the male element on the female (xenia and telegony), the effect of use and disuse, the inheritance of acquired characters (Lamarckian inheritance), and many other observations pertaining to variation, heredity and development. To explain all these observations, Darwin formulated a developmental theory of heredity — Pangenesis — which not only greatly influenced many subsequent theories, but also is supported by recent evidence


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