Did Darwin Do It All?

EXPLORING THE ROOTS OF EVOLUTIONARY THEORY

Awareness of biological evolution emerged over centuries through the cumulative observations of many naturalists, biogeographers, comparative anatomists, and paleontologists. When Darwin and Wallace in the mid-1800s arrived at the idea of evolution by natural selection, they had been influenced not only by their own travels and observations, but also by the writings of many of their predecessors. Darwin's ideas were also influenced by his travels as a young naturalist on the H.M.S. Beagle. The islands he explored off the coast of Ecuador, the Galapagos, are hotbeds of evolutionary change. However, as you will see, Darwin did not entirely recognize the importance of these islands until after he returned from his voyage.

Activity

In this activity you will access the evolution section of the University of California's Museum of Paleontology to explore some of the roots of evolutionary biology. You will then visit the Why Files site to learn about Darwin's voyage to the Galapagos and the current state of these islands.

Part 1.

Use your browser to go to the "History of Evolutionary Thought" exhibit at the University of California Berkeley Museum of Paleontology at http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/history/evothought.html

Use the links in this section to learn about and briefly describe the background and scientific contribution of each of the following people:

1. Erasmus Darwin- Erasmus Darwin was the grandfather of Charles Darwin; he was a respected physician, a well known poet, philosopher, botanist and naturalist. He had formulated on one of the first formal theories of evolution in Zoonomia or The Laws of Organic Life. He was a well respected man who talked about how competition and sexual selection could cause changes in species.
2. Jean Baptiste Lamarck-(1744-1829) his theories were either ignored or attacked during his lifetime.Lamarck published a series of books on invertebrate zoology and paleontology. Today his name is associated with a discredited theory of hereditary, the inheritance of acquired traits. He was acknowledged as a great zoologist and as a forerunner of evolution by Charles Darwin, Lyell Haeckel, and many other evolutionists.

3. Georges Cuvier-(1769-1832)- he had processed one of the finest minds in history. In vertebrate and invertebrate zoology and paleontology, he contributed a large amount of research. It was Cuvier who firmly established the fact of the extinction of past life forms. He also wrote and lectured on the history of science.
4. Thomas Malthus-(1766-1834)- According to Malthus observation, plants and animals produce more offspring than can survive and that man two is capable of overproducing if left unchecked. He had a belief that God had ways in prevent men from being lazy. Malthus thought similar to China, which was for every family they only had one child.

Part 2.

Use your browser to go to the Why Files' "Treasures of Evolution Island" at http://whyfiles.org/125galapagos/index.html

Use the information from Sections 3 and 4 to answer the following questions:

1. What interesting evidence of geological change did Darwin observe while visiting the Galapagos?
Some interesting evidence of geological change that Darwin did observe while visiting the Galapagos
He observed that South America was rising from the ocean. There were rocks that were found in the water recently. He realized that the quakes had been the reason for the rising beaches. There were fossils founds that were related to living animals in the location.

2. What did Darwin learn about the Galapagos finches when he returned to England? What vital information had he neglected to record when he collected them?
Darwin learned about the Galapagos finches
Darwin neglected to record which came from where when he collected it, also he broke the species barriers.

3. Describe the distribution pattern of Galapagos mockingbirds. What question did this raise in Darwin's mind?
The question that arose in Darwin's mind was 'why do you have different species, when one species seems good for all the islands. Some distribution patterns were four species lived in similar patterns, numerous species lived on overlapping chunks of the terrain, three islands would house one species and one species lived on all the others.