The document outlines the historical development of evolutionary thought, highlighting key figures and their contributions from Aristotle to Charles Darwin. It discusses concepts such as gradualism, the theories of Lamarck on use and disuse, and the concept of natural selection by Darwin and Wallace. Overall, it traces how ideas about the mechanisms of species evolution have evolved over time.

1. DEVELOPMENT OF
EVOLUTIONARY
THOUGHT
GENERAL BIOLOGY 2

2. LEARNING COMPETENCY
Trace the development of
evolutionary thought
STEM_BIO11/12-IIIc-g-11

3. 1. ARISTOTLE (350 BCE)
Species are
identical. They tend
to remain the same
species and can be
arranged
hierarchically.

5. 2. GEORGE COMTE DE BUFFON,(AD 1749)
As species change, they
migrate to another
environment resulting in
their distribution.

7. 3. JAMES HUTTON (1795)
He developed the theory on
“Gradualism”
According to this theory, the
population of a species is
transformed slowly and
progressively into a new species
by the accumulation of micro-
evolutionary changes in the
genetic heritage

8. 4. JEAN BAPTISTE de LAMARCK
Proposed that modern species
descended from other species.
Theory of Need
-Organisms change because they
need to.
- For an organism to evolve a
structure, it must need the
structure.

9. 4. JEAN BAPTISTE de LAMARCK
Theory of Use and
Disuse
-If you don’t use it, you
lose it.
- Organisms develop
specialized characteristics
by the use and disuse of
organs

10. 4. JEAN BAPTISTE de LAMARCK
Theory of Acquired
Characteristics
-If a parent acquires a
body structure
during its lifetime, it
could pass that
characteristic
structure to its
offspring.

12. 5. CHARLES LYELL (1830)
Geologist, followed
footsteps of Hutton
All changes in the
environment are
uniform and gradual.

13. 6. ALFRED RUSSEL WALLACE (1858)
Species evolved from
the process of natural
selection which cause
variations within the
population.
Sent his ideas to Darwin
in 1858 (who already
had same ideas)

14. 7. CHARLES DARWIN (1859)
He developed the “Theory of
Evolution by Natural Selection”
Most famous studies in
Galapagos on “Darwin’s finches”
Published Origin of Species In
1859

17. 7. CHARLES DARWIN
Darwin coined the term fitness to
refer to an organism’s relative
ability to survive and produce
fertile offspring. Nature selects
the variations that are most
useful. Therefore, he called this
type of selection natural
selection.

18. Thank you and
God bless you!