Darwin and Evolutionary Taxonomy

Charles Darwin (1809 - 1882) argued that the similarities between animals were due to shared ancestry, and the differences to natural selection (that is, the differential mortality imposed by nature, rather than by human interference as in selective breeding) acting on variations within a species.

He based his own scheme of classification explicitly on this evolutionary model ( On the Origin of Species , 1859). After him, taxonomy would seek to elucidate the relatedness of organisms, and through them, the origins of diversity. Systematics, as defined above, really begins with Darwin.

You might want to read a short Biography of Darwin