(Image credit: Leonello Calvetti/Getty Images)īut when given enough time and accumulated changes, natural selection can create entirely new species, a process known as 'macroevolution,' according to Derek Turner and Joyce C. But future research by geneticists provided the mechanism and additional evidence for evolution by natural selectionĪrchaeopteryx, shown here in this illustration, is considered the first bird-like dinosaur on record, dating to about 150 million years ago during the Jurassic period. He also did not know about genetic mutation, which is the source of natural variation. He did not know about genetics, the mechanism by which genes encode for certain traits and those traits are passed from one generation to the next.

Through natural selection, Darwin suggested, genetically diverse species could arise from a common ancestor.ĭarwin did not know the mechanism by which traits were passed on, according to National Geographic. Over time, the traits that enable species to survive and reproduce will become more frequent in the population and the population will change, or evolve, according to BioMed Central.

Individuals with less adaptive traits will less frequently survive to pass them on. According to the theory, individuals with traits that enable them to adapt to their environments will help them survive and have more offspring, which will inherit those traits.

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