Final answer:
Darwin's four key observations were that organisms can produce more offspring than the environment can support, variations exist within populations, some variations are heritable, and organisms with advantageous variations have a higher chance of survival and reproduction.
Step-by-step explanation:
Charles Darwin formulated his theory of evolution by means of natural selection based on four key observations:
- All organisms have the ability to produce more offspring than the environment's resources can support.
- Organisms within a population exhibit variation.
- Some variations are heritable and can be passed on to offspring.
- Organisms with advantageous variations are more likely to survive and reproduce, leading to the spread of those variations in subsequent generations.
These observations provided the foundation for Darwin's theory of evolution, which explains how populations change over time.