Evolution, theory in biology postulating that the various types of living things on earth have their origin in other preexisting types and that the distinguishable differences are due to. Darwin accumulated evidence showing that evolution had occurred, that diverse organisms share common ancestors, and that living beings have changed drastically over the. Evolution is the theory that all the kinds of living things that exist today developed from earlier types.
Evidence to support the theory of evolution has come primarily from the fossil record, from comparative studies of structure and function, from studies of embryological. See the article evolution for a full explanation of evolutionary theory, including its main proponents both before and after darwin, its arousal of both resistance and acceptance. The differences between them resulted from changes that happened over many years.
Darwin sought to explain the splendid multiformity of the living world—thousands of organisms of the most diverse kinds, from lowly. The central argument of darwin’s theory of evolution starts with the existence of hereditary variation. A complete theory of evolution was not announced, however, until the publication in 1859 of charles darwin’s on the origin of species by means of natural selection or the. The evidence is overwhelming that all life on earth has evolved from common ancestors in an unbroken chain since its origin.