Charles Darwin was the first to describe biological evolution by natural selection. He established that all species have descended over time from common ancestors. Darwin published his scientific theory with colleague Alfred Russell Wallace and explained that this branching of evolution was caused by natural selection, where biological traits become more or less common in a population depending on the success of organisms interacting with their environment.
In 1859, Darwin published his book, On the Origin of Species, which described his theory of evolution with compelling evidence. Shortly after, the scientific community began to accept evolution as fact and worked to further Darwin’s theories in explaining the diversity of life.