Short answerEasy1 mark
Who proposed the theory of Natural Selection?
Topic: Theory of Natural Selection
Previous-year question practice database
Answer
Exam answer
CHARLES DARWIN.
Explanation
Darwin set out the theory in "On the Origin of Species" (1859). Its core idea is that organisms vary; more offspring are produced than can survive; those with variations better suited to the environment survive and reproduce; and over generations those favourable variations accumulate — "survival of the fittest".
DO NOT CONFUSE HIM WITH LAMARCK, who is the other name in this chapter. Lamarck proposed the INHERITANCE OF ACQUIRED CHARACTERS — that a giraffe stretching its neck passes the longer neck to its young. That theory is rejected, because changes acquired during an individual’s lifetime do not alter its genes.
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