Evidence of evolution can be observed in a number of different ways, including distribution of species (both geographically and through time, comparative anatomy, taxonomy, embryology, cell biology, and paleontology.

English naturalist Charles Darwin formulated the theory of organic evolution through natural selection in his ground-breaking publication The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, published in 1859. One of the first pieces of evidence that started the young scientist thinking along evolutionary lines was given to him on his journeys aboard HMS Beagle as a naturalist. Prior to the work of Darwin, most people accepted the biblical account of creation where all animals and plants were brought into the world fully formed and immutable. Darwin made extensive collections of plants and animals that he came across wherever the ship stopped, and soon he started to notice patterns within the organisms he studied.

There were...