| → all the species of the same group together, 1859 1860 1861 |
| together all the species of the same group, 1866 1869 1872 |
|
| → in a future chapter attempt to show, in 1859 1860 1861 1866 1869 |
| attempt to show in a future chapter, in 1872 |
|
| → a land carnivorous animal could 1859 1860 1861 1866 1869 |
| could a land carnivorous animal 1872 |
|
| → within the same group 1859 1860 1861 1866 1869 |
| there now exist 1872 |
|
| → exist having every 1859 1860 1861 |
| exist, having every 1866 1869 |
| presenting close 1872 |
|
| → between truly aquatic and 1859 1860 1861 1866 1869 |
| from 1872 |
|
| → habits; 1859 1860 1861 1866 1869 |
| to aquatic habits; 1872 |
|
| → habits to its 1859 1860 1861 1866 1869 |
| OMIT 1872 |
|
|
varieties will be liable to accidental extermination; and during the process of further modification through natural selection, they will almost certainly be beaten and supplanted by the forms which they connect; for these from existing in greater numbers will, in the aggregate, present more
and thus be further improved through natural selection and gain further advantages. |
|
| Lastly, looking not to any one time, but to all time, if my theory be true, numberless intermediate varieties, linking
closely
→all the species of the same group together,
must assuredly have existed; but the very process of natural selection constantly tends, as has been so often remarked, to exterminate the
and the intermediate links. Consequently evidence of their former existence could be found only amongst fossil remains, which are preserved, as we shall
→in a future chapter attempt to show, in
an extremely imperfect and intermittent record. |
|
|
| It has been asked by the opponents of such views as I hold, how, for instance,
→a land carnivorous animal could
have been converted into one with aquatic habits; for how could the animal in its transitional state have subsisted? It would be easy to show that
→within the same group
carnivorous animals
→exist having every
intermediate
→between truly aquatic and
strictly terrestrial
→habits;
and as each exists by a struggle for life, it is clear that each
well adapted
its
→habits to its
place in nature. Look at the Mustela vison of North America, which has webbed
and which resembles an otter in its fur, short legs, and form of
|
