Charles Darwin spent time studying plants and animals on the Galapagos Islands off the coast of South America. He concluded that organisms develop adaptations over time to better suit their environments, and pass these adaptations on to their offspring. This process, known as evolution, is shaped by natural selection and the passing on of adaptive traits. Today, organisms are classified based on their evolutionary relationships using a taxonomic system developed by Carolus Linneaus, including scientific names that universally identify each species.