degree of
parallelism parallelism 1869 1872 | parallel 1859 1860 1861 1866 |
....... 1869 1872 | succession 1859 1860 1861 1866 |
in the
succession succession 1869 1872 | productions 1859 1860 1861 1866 |
of the
productions productions 1869 1872 | land than 1859 1860 1861 1866 |
of the
land than with those of the sea. land than with those of the sea. 1869 1872 |
sea. 1859 1860 1861 1866 |
↑6 blocks not present in 1869 1872; present in 1859 1860 1861 1866 | Dominant species spreading from any region might encounter still more dominant species, and then their triumphant course, or even their existence, would cease.
We know not at all precisely what are all the conditions most favourable for the multiplication of new
and dominant species; but we can, I think, clearly see that a number of individuals, from giving a better chance of the appearance of favourable variations, and that severe competition with many already existing forms, would be highly favourable, as would be the power of spreading into new territories.
A certain amount of isolation, recurring at long intervals of time, would probably be also favourable, as before explained.
One quarter of the world may have been most favourable for the production of new and dominant species on the land, and another for those in the waters of the sea.
If two great regions had been for a long period favourably circumstanced in an equal degree, whenever their inhabitants met, the battle would be prolonged and severe; and some from one birthplace and some from the other might be victorious.
But in the course of time, the forms dominant in the highest degree, wherever produced, would tend everywhere to prevail.
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↑1 blocks not present in 1866 1869 1872; present in 1859 1860 1861 | As they prevailed, they would cause the extinction of other and inferior forms; and as these inferior forms would be allied in groups by inheritance, whole groups would tend slowly to disappear; though here and there a single member might long be enabled to survive.
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Thus, as it seems to me, the parallel, and, taken in a large sense, simultaneous, succession of the same forms of life throughout the world, accords well with the principle of new species having been formed by dominant species spreading widely and varying; the new species thus produced being themselves
dominant, dominant, 1866 1869 1872 | dominant 1859 1860 1861 |
owing to
their having their having 1869 1872 |
inheritance, and to having already 1859 1860 1861 |
inheritance and to having already 1866 |
had some advantage over their
already dominant parents, as well as already dominant parents, as well as 1869 1872 |
parents or 1859 1860 1861 1866 |
over other
species, species, 1866 1869 1872 | species; 1859 1860 1861 |
and and 1866 1869 1872 | these 1859 1860 1861 |
again spreading, varying, and producing
new forms. new forms. 1869 1872 |
new species. 1859 1860 1861 |
other new forms. 1866 |
The
old forms old forms 1866 1869 1872 | forms 1859 1860 1861 |
which are beaten and which yield their places to the new and victorious forms, will generally be allied in groups, from inheriting some inferiority in common; and
therefore, therefore, 1866 1869 1872 | therefore 1859 1860 1861 |
as new and improved groups spread throughout the world, old groups
....... 1869 1872 | will 1859 1860 1861 1866 |
disappear from the world; and the succession of forms
...OMIT 1869 1872 |
in both ways will 1859 1860 1861 |
will 1866 |
everywhere
tends tends 1869 1872 | tend 1859 1860 1861 1866 |
to
correspond both in their first appearance and final disappearance. correspond both in their first appearance and final disappearance. 1869 1872 |
correspond. 1859 1860 1861 |
correspond in their first appearance and final disappearance. 1866 |
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There is one other remark connected with this subject worth making. I have given my reasons for believing that
most of most of 1861 1866 1869 1872 | all 1859 1860 |
our
great great 1869 1872 | greater 1859 1860 1861 1866 |
....... 1861 1866 1869 1872 | fossiliferous 1859 1860 |
formations, formations, 1861 1866 1869 1872 | formations 1859 1860 |
rich in fossils, were rich in fossils, were 1861 1866 1869 1872 |
were 1859 1860 |
deposited during periods of subsidence; and that blank intervals of vast
duration, duration, 1869 1872 | duration 1859 1860 1861 1866 |
as far as fossils are concerned, occurred as far as fossils are concerned, occurred 1869 1872 |
occurred 1859 1860 1861 1866 |
during the periods when the bed of the sea was either stationary or rising, and likewise when sediment was not thrown down quickly enough to embed and preserve organic remains. During these long and blank intervals I suppose that the inhabitants of each region underwent a considerable amount of modification and extinction, and that there was much migration from other parts of the world. As we have reason to believe that large areas are affected by the same movement, it is probable that strictly contemporaneous formations have often been accumulated over very wide spaces in the same quarter of the world; but we are
very far very far 1869 1872 | far 1859 1860 1861 1866 |
from having any right to conclude that this has invariably been the case, and that large areas have
invariably invariably 1859 1860 1866 1869 1872 | inva- riably 1861 |
been affected by the same movements. When two formations have been deposited in two regions during nearly, but not
exactly, exactly, 1866 1869 1872 | exactly 1859 1860 1861 |
the same period, we should find in both, from the causes explained in the foregoing paragraphs, the same general succession in the forms of life; but the species would not exactly correspond; for there will have been a little more time in the one region than in the other for modification, extinction, and immigration. |
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I suspect that cases of this nature
occur occur 1860 1861 1866 1869 1872 | have occurred 1859 |
in Europe. Mr. Prestwich, in his admirable Memoirs on the eocene deposits of England and France, is able to draw a close general parallelism between the successive stages in the two countries; but when he
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