Darwin Online
Publications
Manuscripts
Biography
Media
About Us
Advanced search

See page in:
1859
1860
1861
1866
1869
1872

Compare with:
1859
1860
1861
1866
1872

it would be difficult to prove it. Amongst mammals, we see it strikingly displayed in Bats, and in a lesser degree in the Felidæ and Canidæ. We see the same rule in the distribution of butterflies and beetles. So it is with most of the inhabitants of fresh water, for many of the genera in the most distinct classes range over the world, and many of the species have enormous ranges. It is not meant that all, but that some of the species in the genera which range very widely, have themselves very wide ranges. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. Nor is it meant that the species in such genera have on an average a very wide range; for this will largely depend on how far the process of modification has gone; for instance, two varieties of the same species inhabit America and Europe, and thus the species has an immense range; but, if variation were to be carried a little further, the two varieties would be ranked as distinct species, and the range would be greatly reduced. Still less is it meant, that .. species which have the capacity of crossing barriers and ranging widely as in the case of certain powerfully-winged birds, will necessarily range widely; for we should never forget that to range widely implies not only the power of crossing barriers, but the more important power of being victorious in distant lands in the struggle for life with foreign associates. But according to the view that all the species of the same genus, though now distributed at the most remote points of the world, are descended from a single progenitor, we ought to find, and I believe as a general rule we do find, that some at least of the species range very widely. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ↑
We should bear in mind in relation to all organic beings that many genera are of very ancient origin, and the species in this case will have had ample time for dispersal and subsequent modification. There is also .. reason to believe from geological evidence, that