One of the things that Darwin had difficulty explaining was how inheritance worked. Why was inheritance so difficult for Darwin?
A) The prevailing theory of inheritance was based on random mating.
B) The prevailing theory of inheritance was incompatible with the maintenance of variation.
C) The prevailing theory of inheritance implied that variation was not inherited from parents.
D) The prevailing theory of inheritance implied that too much variation exists for natural selection to operate.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The prevailing theory at the time, blending inheritance, suggested that traits from two parents would blend together in the offspring and be lost over time, leading to a uniform population without variation. This would render natural selection ineffective. Therefore, Darwin struggled to find a mechanism that could explain the persistence of variation within populations over time. It wasn't until the later discovery of genetics that a theory of inheritance compatible with natural selection emerged.

One of the Things That Darwin Had Difficulty Explaining Was