Darwin Biography
Uploaded by devdawg on Jun 11, 2008
In late October, 1831 the HMS Beagle set sail for a five year voyage around the world. On board was renowned geologist Charles Darwin who sought to document native species around the world and study ancient fossils. During this journey, he traveled to five of the continents, but the most revolutionary findings of this trip were found in South America on the Galapagos Islands.
Darwin first traveled to South America where he developed new theories on plate tectonics and the geological history of some of the islands he had landed on. Darwin discovered raised beaches, landforms, and layers of volcanic rock. He would even experience and earthquake while in Chile and witness first hand how the ground rose. Darwin would later theorize about this fascinating geological history by writing a book several months later.
In South America, Darwin would also discover fossils of extinct mammals in the newest level of strata, signifying that they had recently been extinct. These creatures were extremely similar to armadillos found on other continents. These findings gave Darwin the first idea of species distribution and would greatly assist him in his further findings of natural selection among species.
Soon after, Darwin traveled to the Galapagos Islands where he would make his most profound findings. Landing among several of the more secluded islands, Darwin discovered that the native species were greatly different from the fossil records he had studied. Furthermore, he also discovered that despite these differences, there were many strong similarities between the ancient and new species. This was the first hint at the concept of evolution.
Darwin studied many of the main species of the Galapagos Islands; most important were the finches and tortoises. Among the finches, Darwin discovered that those who lived on one island had several important differences than those that lived on another. These distinctions included longer beaks on finches who needed to reach the nectar from their food source, while short hard beaks on finches who had to crack nuts for their food source. These differences were vital for the finches’ survival as it gave them access to their food source. Those who lacked these new characteristics were not adapt to survive in their environment. Survival of the fittest is an incorrect term commonly associated with Darwin for this reason. Darwin believed...