True or false: Charles Darwin was the first person to perceive common descent with modification.

Adv.

Answer:

The given statement is false, because Charles Darwin was the first person to perceive natural selection as the main driving force behind common descent with modification.

The principle of common descent with modification is one of the core principles of evolution. This principle has its origin before the period of Charles Darwin. It is important to note that Charles Darwin extended the idea of common descent with modification.

During his Beagle voyage, Charles Darwin in collected some of the rare species of birds from the island of Galapagos. He donated this collection to zoological society, where he came to know from the bird expert that the varieties of birds belonged to three distinct species, but Charles Darwin initially through that they belonged to the same species. Also, the varieties, which he thought that belonged to different species, were of the same species. All the above evidence provided him insight that all the species were linked to ancestral species. Thus, Charles Darwin provided evidence for the principle of common descent with modification.

However, Charles Darwin was the first person to conclude natural selection as a driving force behind common descent with modification. Charles Darwin observed that the traits of individual organisms, which helped them to survive and reproduce, passed on to many generations. Also, these organisms produced more offspring. Those organisms, whose traits were not much useful to survive and reproduce, did not produce more offspring and hence, they were lost over the subsequent generations. Thus, organisms, which had favorable variations evolved more than the organisms, which had unfavorable variations.

Therefore, it is clear that Charles Darwin was not the first person to perceive common descent with modification, because, the principle of common descent with modification existed well before the period of Charles Darwin. Therefore, the correct statement is; Charles Darwin was the first person to perceive natural selection as the driving force behind common descent with modification (evolution).

Hence, the given statement is FALSE.

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In science, a theory is:

a. an untested hypothesis.

b. a general set of principles, supported by evidence, that explains some aspect of the natural world.

c. speculation about the natural world, based on general knowledge of a field.

d. an observation.

e. the first idea proposed to explain some aspect of the natural world.

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Which of the following are central ideas in the theory of evolution by natural selection? (List all that apply.)

a. Organisms vary in traits that affect their reproduction.

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