165 years agoexactly on November 24, 1865, Charles DarwinEnglish naturalist, after years and years of observations, publishes the essay ‘The origin of species‘, with which he argues that living species are not immutable, but evolve with a natural selection mechanism which depends on their ability to adapt to the surrounding environment. 165 years ago the most important one was born theory of evolutionwhich challenged the metaphysical and scientific conceptions of that time.
What does Darwin’s Theory of Evolution say?
We are in an era where the metaphysical concept according to which life on Earth existed is still quite rooted created by a superior beingwhich also has the power to interrupt it. Therefore the species are “immutable” until contrary orders from above.
However, some scientific theories are starting to appear, the most famous is certainly that of Jean-Baptiste de Lamarckknown as the first evolutionary theory in history: the scholar publishes his ‘Zoological philosophy‘ in 1809, arguing how plants and animals are under environmental pressures and have a certain active role in their modifications.
Lamark in other words, it claims that some environmental conditions “force” organs to transform in order to survive, then transmitting these transformations to subsequent generations, who are therefore increasingly adapted to the surrounding environment.
But a Darwin probably all this is not convincing, so much so that, after years and years of observations (the most famous on the islands Galapagos), supports a concept that is similar in some respects, but in reality profoundly different.
Living species – states the English naturalist – live in environments that influence their survival, and therefore in a certain sense they are under environmental pressure. But – and this is the big difference – .
During reproduction, in fact, random mutations can occur and these determine the adaptation of the species: in other words, if at a certain point an individual is born with some characteristic that adapts better to its surroundings in which it lives, it will be more likely that it will survive and therefore pass on this characteristic to its offspring.
It’s there theory of natural selection which, despite every now and then someone claiming its untruthfulness, is actually still the fundamental theory of evolution today.
In his text, Darwin, contrary to popular belief, brought a lot of scientific evidence to support this theory. But above all, subsequent studies on DNA, even very recent ones, continue to confirm what he wrote 165 years ago.
Natural selection and man’s impact on the environment
The theory of Darwinespecially in these times, leads to a profound reflection onhuman impact on the environment. We are in fact a species like many others on Earth, but we are able to influence the environment more than any other.
We could give many examples, from the northern white rhinoceros, declared extinct in 2018 with the last specimen in captivity, to the Javan tiger, which disappeared in ’79, like many other typical examples of a environmental conditioning imposed by man.
Which, between climate changes due to its activities, as well as actions directly aimed at species (such as overfishing, poaching, destruction of habitats for its own benefit), modifies the environment in a devastating way.
A recent one study conducted byNational Autonomous University of Mexico and fromStanford University (USA) revealed the disastrous impact of human activity on biodiversity terrestrialproving that man has caused a real biological exterminationleading toextinction of as many as 73 genera of vertebrate animals from 1500 to today, which would have required 18,000 years to occur without human intervention.
If this is natural selection.
