Darwinism and Fossil Evidence. Biological & Biomedical Sciences Essay

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Darwinism and Fossil Evidence
Darwin’s evolutionary theory has been a source of focus for many years. Darwin challenged the assumption that evolution was non-exiting concept. He managed to demonstrate that natural selection has been taking place, hence accounting for the species that exist today. One of the areas that Darwin was unsuccessful was in proving the existence of what he called “transitional forms.” When Darwin proposed his theory, he was aware of the incompleteness of records. Hence, he was not sure that such “intermediate forms” would ever be discovered. Fossil evidence has, over the years has proved some of Darwin’s claims.
Evolution in the early years
While the ancient Greeks believed that the world is in continuous change and motion, they did not believe in evolution. The ancient Greeks believed that the world was designed and put together for purposes, for ends (Ruse 10). In Aristoteles’s view, organisms constituted what he called “final causes.” Hence, in examining living organisms, individuals should not only examine the forces making them, but also the essence of their existence. Such thinking made a majority of ancient Greek scientists deny the existence of evolution. The Greek thinkers examined organisms and concluded that such complicated things could not have come about due to mere chance. The emergence of Christianity propagated the same beliefs about evolution. The early Christians believed that God made the earth and all the living creatures. As a result, evolution was unnecessary since it contradicted God’s world.
However, the beginning of Enlightenment began to change the perspective of individuals towards evolution. In the 18th Century, people started speculating in the direction of the developmental origins (Ruse 10). The philosophy of Providence, which indicated that human beings cannot do anything without God’s help, and to think otherwise is presumptuous and a recipe for disaster, was largely rejected. More people embraced the philosophy of Progress, where human beings could achieve anything without God’s help. The beginning of the 19th Century saw many individuals embrace evolutionary ideas.
Darwinism
Charles Darwin proposed the Darwinian Theory to explain the evolution of organisms. In the theory, Darwin indicates that all the species of organisms arise and develop due to natural selection or variations that improve the abilities of the species to compete, survive, and hence reproduce (Shcherbakov). As such, all the species are gradually changing over time. The individuals that are suited to the environment are more likely to survive. Darwin demonstrated that such organisms are in a better position to reproduce and pass their genes to the next generation. For individuals that have challenges adapting to the environment, they are less likely to pass their genes to their children. Consequently, all the individuals that are suited for the environment will gradually evolve given enough time.
Despite the widespread acceptance of Darwinian Theory, there was little geological evidence during this time to support his ideas (Costa). Most of the time, Darwin was on the defensiv...