SCILIVSY 12 Chapter Notes - Chapter 3-4: Natural Selection 2, Introduced Species
19 Jun 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
Alex Simon
20 September 2016
SLS 12:
The Origin of Species
Study Guide, Section II
Chapter 3: Struggle for Existence
1. Darwin provides examples of how introduced species often flourish to explain his
theory of natural selection -- claiming that those with the most advantageous
characteristics will survive and pass those traits onto their offspring. Species
have naturally adapted over time to exhibit qualities and characteristics that will
help them survive and thrive in their environment and those advantageous
variations get passed onto the next generation, almost reshaping that species.
For example, Darwin gives the example of a woodpecker, and how its's beak is
shaped so that it can easily catch insects; woodpeckers' beaks have evolved so
that they are the optimum shape for efficiently catching its source of nutrition,
and will continue to adapt in order to survive changing environments,
ecosystems, and competition.
Chapter 4: Natural Selection
2. The figure introduced in this chapter illustrates how adaptations and the
divergence from certain species-specific traits create "branches" among a
common species. As each branch has characteristics unique to that branch,
some branches can ultimately become extinct while other branches with
