It lasted till 1859 before Darwin published his theory. He feared the
consequences for society (and for himself) if it became well-known that species
could change. Nearly everyone did after all believe that the species had
been created by God and thus were unchangeable. He was afraid for all the
trouble he would get when he published this.
That's why he decided to delay the publication till he had collected as many
arguments as possible. He was aware of the fact that many people applied
the principles of selection, namely the breeders. These people selected those
animals with which they wanted to breed to get a better race. This kind of
selection is called artificial selection. |
Original sheep races often possess four horns (photo on the left), or
sometimes even eight. By breeding with sheep which have less horns, a race
can be obtained with two horns or even without horns (like the sheep above).
The horns were often tricky because the animals could hurt each other or
could be stuck in the scrubs.
Plant races, too, were changed and improved by artificial selection.
This is called ennobling.
To found his theory better, Darwin started collecting huge amounts of information
by corresponding with breeders and growers.
Know more?
Artificial
selection |
