Which scientist worked independently and reached a similar conclusion to Darwin's?

Correct option is D

The correct answer is (d) Alfred Russel Wallace

Explanation:
• Alfred Russel Wallace, a British naturalist, worked independently in the Malay Archipelago and arrived at a theory of evolution by natural selection almost identical to that of Charles Darwin.
• In 1858, Wallace sent a short essay titled "On the Tendency of Varieties to Depart Indefinitely from the Original Type" to Darwin, which prompted Darwin to quickly publish his own long-held findings.
• A joint paper by Darwin and Wallace was presented to the Linnean Society of London in July 1858, marking the official announcement of the theory.
• Like Darwin, Wallace was heavily influenced by the work of Thomas Malthus on population growth and competition for resources.
• Although Darwin is more famous for his book On the Origin of Species (1859), Wallace is co-credited as the co-discoverer of natural selection.

Information Booster:
• Wallace is also considered the "Father of Biogeography" for his study of the geographic distribution of animal species and the identification of the "Wallace Line" that separates Asian and Australian fauna.
• According to NCERT Biology (Class 12), Wallace's conclusions were based on his extensive fieldwork and observations of the diversity of life in tropical regions.

Additional Knowledge:
Jean Lamarck (Option a)
• A French biologist who proposed the theory of Inheritance of Acquired Characteristics (Lamarckism), suggesting that traits acquired during an organism's life are passed to offspring. This theory was largely superseded by Darwinism.

Gregor Mendel (Option b)
• Known as the Father of Genetics, he discovered the laws of inheritance. Interestingly, Darwin and Wallace were unaware of Mendel's work, which later provided the missing mechanism for how traits are inherited.

Hugo de Vries (Option c)
• A Dutch botanist who proposed the Mutation Theory of Evolution. He suggested that evolution occurs through sudden, large changes (mutations) rather than the gradual variations described by Darwin and Wallace.