During the Beagle journey,Darwin visited islands,allowing him to compare island species with continental species.In terms of framing his theory of evolution,why was this significant?
A)Because the island species had both similarities to their continental ancestors and unique adaptations to their island environments.
B)Because the island species no longer shared traits with their continental ancestors.
C)Because the species he saw on the islands had not changed from their ancestral continental form.
D)Because the island species had very low reproductive and survival rates as compared with their continental ancestors.
E)Because the island species had greater reproductive success than their continental ancestors.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Comparing island species with continental species allowed Darwin to see both similarities to ancestral forms and unique adaptations to island environments. This helped him formulate his theory of evolution by natural selection, which relied on the idea that species can change over time through natural selection acting on heritable variation. By seeing how island species differed from their continental ancestors, Darwin was able to observe this process in action.

During the Beagle Journey,Darwin Visited Islands,allowing Him to Compare Island