There are more than two million species of living things. This great diversity of organisms seems to have been designed to guarantee their existence. In this sense, the theory that explains how each organism adapts to its environment is known as the theory of evolution , which is the scientific benchmark of evolutionary biology.
Every living thing has specifically adapted over millions of years of evolution. This raises one of the great challenges of evolutionary biology. The problem can be stated as a question: if each species is adapted to its environment, it is worth asking how can it survive the changes that occur over time?
According to biologists, life in any of its forms has a basic quality: reproduction.
In any environment, individuals of each species reproduce and each individual must compete with their own species to survive. Thus, according to the principles of evolutionary biology, only living beings that best adapt to their environment survive. This is because each individual is different from the other and only those whose characteristics are useful can survive.
The theory of evolution established a scientific revolution
This conception of life is based on the researches of the British scientist Charles Darwin (1809-1882). According to Darwin, the process that explains the changes of each species is known as natural selection. Evolutionary Biology
Darwin’s theory of evolution was exposed in his work “The Origin of Species”, a work that revolutionized biology, other branches of knowledge and the view of the world in general. Darwin explained the complexity and diversity of life as a whole.
The fundamentals of natural selection
Before Darwin’s explanations, species were believed to be created by the hand of God. But their research brought a very different conception.
Darwin’s natural selection is based on two aspects:
1) the reproductive capacity of the animal population is practically unlimited, but resources are scarce and this incompatibility imposes a struggle for survival among individuals of each species; Evolutionary Biology
2) in the struggle for survival, there is a selection of physical traits (phenotypes) that are more favorable.
These two mechanisms contribute to the diversification of species and their adaptation to the natural environment. Evolutionary Biology
