→ are the descendants of 1866 1869 1872 |
have descended from 1859 1860 1861 |
|
→ which constitute the several species of the 1866 1869 |
constituting the six 1859 1860 1861 |
which constitute the 1872 |
|
→ genera; 1866 1869 |
genera. 1859 1860 1861 |
genera containing the several species; 1872 |
|
→ each 1869 1872 |
the 1859 1860 1861 |
each of the 1866 |
|
→ genus having 1869 1872 |
genera have all 1859 1860 1861 |
genera having 1866 |
|
→ and this probably will 1869 |
which would probably 1859 1860 1861 |
and this probably would 1866 |
and this will 1872 |
|
size and in
characters to the species still living in South America; and some of these fossils may
the actual progenitors of
species. It must not be forgotten that, on
theory, all the species of the same genus
→are the descendants of
some one species; so
if six genera, each having eight species, be found in one geological formation, and in
succeeding formation there be six other allied or representative genera
the same number of species, then we may conclude that
one species of each of the
older genera has left modified descendants,
→which constitute the several species of the
new
→genera;
other seven species of
→each
old
→genus having
died out and
left no progeny. Or,
→and this probably will
be a far commoner case, two or three species
or three
of the six older genera will
the parents of the
new
the other
species and the other
having become utterly extinct. In failing orders, with the genera and species decreasing in
as
is the case
the Edentata of South America, still fewer genera and species will
modified blood-descendants. |
|
I have attempted to show that the geological record is extremely imperfect; that only a small portion of the globe has been geologically explored with care; that only certain classes of organic beings have been largely preserved in a fossil state; that the number both of specimens and of species, preserved in our museums, is absolutely as nothing compared with the
number of generations which must have passed away even during a single formation; that, owing to subsidence being
for the accumulation of
deposits
|