Question

Key concept on which Darwinian theory of evolution is based are
A)Branching descent and natural selection
B)Saltation and mutation
C)Genetic drift and variations
D)Population statistics and physical fitness of organism

Answer 1

Darwinism is a philosophy of biological evolution founded by the English naturalist Charles Darwin (1809-1882) and others, arguing that by the natural selection of minor, hereditary differences that increase the capacity of the individual to compete, survive, and replicate, all types of organisms emerge and evolve.

Complete answer:
Branching descent and natural selection are the main principles on which Darwinian evolutionary theory is based. Natural selection can be defined as the mechanism by which species that are more adapted to a certain form of environment appear to survive, leading to the exclusion of the organism that is less adaptive to that environment. It is possible to describe branching descent as the mechanism by which new organisms derive from a single common descendant.

The specific principles of natural selection, the Weismann firewall, or the fundamental dogma of molecular biology were eventually referred to by Darwinism. Although the term generally applies exclusively to biological evolution, creationists have appropriated it to refer to the nature of life. Thus, instead of other ideas, including divine plan and extraterrestrial origins, the conviction and recognition of Darwin's and the work of his predecessors is considered.

Hence, the correct answer is option (A)

Note: Caricatures by Charles Darwin with the anatomy of an ape or monkey symbolised nature as evolution became generally recognized in the 1870s.
A whole variety of evolutionary (and sometimes revolutionary) philosophies on both biology and civilization quickly came to stand for "Darwinism". One of the more influential approaches, summed up in Herbert Spencer's 1864 term "survival of the fittest" later became emblematic of Darwinism.