Final answer:
Darwin made the observation that organisms are varied and some variations are inherited during his voyage on the HMS Beagle. This led to the development of the theory of natural selection.
Step-by-step explanation:
Darwin made the observation that organisms are varied and some variations are inherited during his four-year voyage on the HMS Beagle. This observation was crucial in the development of his theory of evolution.
Darwin realized that individuals with favorable characteristics for living in an environment are the ones that will survive to the age at which they reproduce, while those with less favorable variations will not. This mechanism for 'selecting for' certain traits and features is known as the theory of natural selection.