What is Evolution?

Evolution is an explanation for how life has changed since it started. This can be defined as any change in the heritable traits or genepool within a population across generations. One of the main claims of evolution is that all species share a common ancestor. Through evolution, that organism’s offspring diversified into all species present on Earth today. Evolution takes place when there is a mutation in an individual’s genes. These mutations lead to certain traits, such as opposable thumbs in humans. If the individual has children, it may pass on its traits to them. Therefore, evolution has occurred. Over the history of life, enough mutations have occurred that one single species has evolved into millions of unique organisms.