Learning outcomes

After studying this course, you should be able to:

• understand that by biological evolution we mean that many of the organisms that inhabit the Earth today are different from those that inhabited it in the past

• understand that natural selection is one of several processes that can bring about evolution, although it can also promote stability rather than change

• understand that the four propositions underlying Darwin's theory of evolution through natural selection are: (1) more individuals are produced than can survive; (2) there is therefore a struggle for existence; (3) individuals within a species show variation; and (4) offspring tend to inherit their parents’ characters

• understand that the three necessary and sufficient conditions for natural selection to occur are: (1) a struggle for existence; (2) variation; and (3) inheritance

• understand that Endler's experiment with guppies demonstrated that evolution through natural selection can occur in relatively few generations.