Charles Darwin read an essay by Thomas Malthus in 1798 regarding human population growth. Malthus reasoned that human suffering, such as disease, war and famine was a direct result of the human population's ability to grow faster than available resources. This led Darwin to make which connection to the natural world?

Question

Biology

Jesse Hatfield

16 August, 10:45

Charles Darwin read an essay by Thomas Malthus in 1798 regarding human population growth. Malthus reasoned that human suffering, such as disease, war and famine was a direct result of the human population's ability to grow faster than available resources. This led Darwin to make which connection to the natural world?

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Answers (1)

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Edgar Gibson · Answer 1

The ability of species of living beings to overproduce offspring

Explanation:

Darwin proposed that species have the ability to produce offspring at a rate that could cause a geometric increase in the population size. This is called biotic potential. The overproduction of offspring causes intraspecific competition for the limited available resources. Darwin reasoned that the overproduction of progeny leads to a struggle for existence between the individuals of a population. He observed that the struggle for existence does not allow the population size of species to grow geometrically.