Question

The idea of natural selection as the fundamental process of evolutionary change was reached ______.

Options

• by Charles Darwin in 1866

• by Alfred Russel Wallace in 1901

• independently by Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace in 1866

• independently by Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace in 1900

Answer 1

The idea of natural selection as the fundamental process of evolutionary change was reached independently by Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace in 1866.

Explanation:

Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace independently conceived the idea of natural selection as the mechanism driving evolutionary change. Wallace sent Darwin a manuscript in 1858 outlining his own thoughts on natural selection, which prompted them to present their ideas jointly at the Linnean Society in 1858. Darwin then published his comprehensive work “On the Origin of Species” in 1859. This joint discovery is recognized historically as both arriving at the concept independently but nearly simultaneously.