Darwin's Postulates
By: Angela Garza
Charles Darwin
Variation
One of Darwin's four postulates includes variation, mainly variation among individuals within species. Variation is very important, in fact it is the law of nature which says that no organism is identical, not even twins. Furthermore, in this postulate, Darwin states that there are specifically two types of variations, these are continuous variations and fluctuations and discontinuous variations and these may be neutral or harmful depending on the survival chances of the organism. Darwin also comments that variation contributes in helping organisms adapt to the changing environment.
Inheritance
Another of Darwin's postulates was inheritance. Charles Darwin lived to believe that the offsprings looked like their parents. Therefore, he stated that organisms passed down their specific variations to the future generations. A very important aspect of inheritance to note is that each time offsprings developed they were born to fit the environment it was meant to live in. Darwin believed that the inherited traits came all the way from cells delivered to the sperm and the egg which eventually transformed these characteristics.
Differential Survival
Darwin's differential survival concept is better known as "survival of the fittest" due to its meaning. This mainly refers to the fact that the only organisms who will be able to survive are the ones who are able to adapt the most to its surroundings since this will lead to further evolution. What is really important to know about differential survival is that reproduction is crucial, organisms won't make it through just survival.
Extinction
The 'extinction' concept is also included in Darwin's four postulates. This theme draws attention to the fact that animals are in a constant competition since there are limited food and resources for animals to keep existing. This competition has been everlasting between animals since they need the same requirements to survive. Furthermore, he also believed that as time passes, animals begin to become extinct with more frequency, fossil records are of large importance since they keep track of the animals evolution, causes of extinction are biological not by physical means and finally, that extinction is part of natural selection or an "inevitable outcome."
Darwin’s Finches Nearing Extinction From Parasitic Flies
Bibliography
Kocher, I. (n.d.). What does 'differential of the fittest' mean? Retrieved April 7, 2016, from https://www.quora.com/What-does-differential-survival-of-the-fittest-mean
Perez, L. (n.d.). The Meaning of Variations. Retrieved April 7, 2016, from http://www.darwinismrefuted.com/origin_of_species_01.html
Sheldrake, R. (2015, June 8). Darwinian Inheritance and the Evolution of Evolutionary Theory. Retrieved April 7, 2016, from http://opensciences.org/blogs/open-sciences-blog/darwinian-inheritance-and-the-evolution-of-evolutionary-theory
Smith, J. (n.d.). Charles Darwin on Extinction. Retrieved April 7, 2016, from http://www.biology-online.org/articles/role_extinction_evolution/charles_darwin_extinction.html