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Voyage Around the Golbe
As a naturalist, Darwin spent around 1200 days, which is most of his travel time around the world, on a lot of places studying plants, animals, fossils, and geological formations. He found out huge fossils of extinct mammals. his work during this time made him an eminent geologist. Citation:
“The Beagle Voyage of Charles Darwin.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., www.britannica.com/biography/Charles-Darwin/The-Beagle-voyage. -
Birth of the Theory of Natural Selection
After the Beagle voyage, Darwin noticed similarities among species with some variations based on locations. Inspired by the 'Essay on the Principle of Population,' by Thomas Malthus, which states that population increases geometrically when food production rises arithmetically and how some organisms of society were able to survive through the tough environment, Darwin called his theory "natural selection," a process by which species select beneficial traits in their struggle for existence. -
Solves the Mystery of the Formation of Coral Reefs and Atolls
While being inspired by Charles Lyell's 'Principles of Geology,' which hypothesized the gradual rising and falling of the earth's crust, Darwin found seashells forty feet above sea level during his Beagle voyage. Darwin then theorized that the various types of coral reefs and atolls could be explained by the uplift and subsidence of vast areas of the Earth's crust under the oceans, which is still supported by modern investigations. -
Theory of Natural Selection Out in the World
After further research, Darwin published 'On the Tendency of Species to Form Varieties; and on the Perpetuation of Varieties and Species by Natural Means of Selection,' with British naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace, which became the foundation of modern evolutionary studies. -
Concept of Sexual Selection
Darwin published 'The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex,' to suggest that humans and apes share a common ancestor. Also, the concept of sexual selection was introduced to explain physical traits such as pronounced coloration, different sizes, or striking adornments in animals. By the sexual selection, one side of sex competes to be chosen as a partner and results in developing certain traits such as peacock plumage.