Department of Natural and Social Sciences, University of Gloucestershire, Cheltenham, GL50 4AZ, United Kingdom.
Curr Biol. 2010 Feb 9;20(3):R95. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2009.12.010.
Darwin's On the Origin of Species[1] introduced the world to the most fundamental concept in biological sciences - evolution. However, in the 150 years following publication of his seminal work, much has been made of the fact that Darwin was missing at least one crucial link in his chain of evidence - he had no evidence for contemporary evolution through natural selection. Indeed, as one commentator noted on the centenary of the publication of Origin, "Had Darwin observed industrial melanism he would have seen evolution occurring not in thousands of years but in thousands of days - well within his lifetime. He would have witnessed the consummation and confirmation of his life's work"[2].
达尔文的《物种起源》[1]向世界介绍了生物学科学中最基本的概念——进化。然而，在他的开创性著作出版后的 150 年里，人们一直强调一个事实，即达尔文在他的证据链中至少缺少一个关键环节——他没有当代通过自然选择进化的证据。事实上，正如一位评论家在《物种起源》出版一百周年时指出的那样，“如果达尔文观察到工业黑化现象，他就会看到进化不是在几千年内发生，而是在几千天内发生——就在他的有生之年。他将亲眼目睹他毕生工作的完成和证实”[2]。
