| → the species of mastodons 1872 |
| mastodons 1859 1860 1861 1866 1869 |
|
| → series,— in the first place 1872 |
| series, first 1859 1860 1861 1866 1869 |
|
| → in the second place 1872 |
| then 1859 1860 1861 1866 1869 |
|
| → complete, which is far from the case, 1872 |
| perfect, 1859 1860 1861 1866 1869 |
|
| → OMIT 1872 |
| as well as they could be 1859 1860 1861 1866 1869 |
|
|
offer exceptions to the rule. For instance,
→the species of mastodons
and elephants, when arranged by Dr. Falconer in two
→series,— in the first place
according to their mutual
and
→in the second place
according to their periods of
do not accord in arrangement. The species extreme in character are not the
or the most recent; nor are those which are intermediate in character, intermediate in age. But supposing for an instant, in this and other such cases, that the record of the first appearance and disappearance of the species was
→complete, which is far from the case,
we have no reason to believe that forms successively produced necessarily endure for corresponding lengths of
very ancient form
occasionally
much longer than a form
subsequently produced, especially in the case of terrestrial productions inhabiting separated districts. To compare small things with
if the principal living and extinct races of the domestic pigeon were arranged
→OMIT
in serial affinity, this arrangement would not
with the order in time of their production, and
less with the order of their disappearance; for the parent rock-pigeon
lives; and many varieties between the rock-pigeon and the carrier have become extinct; and carriers which are extreme in the important character of length of beak originated earlier than short-beaked tumblers, which are at the opposite end of the series in this
respect. |
|
| Closely connected with the statement, that the organic remains from an intermediate formation are in some degree intermediate in character, is the fact, insisted on by all palæontologists, that fossils from two consecutive formations are far more closely related to each other, than are the fossils from two remote formations. Pictet gives
a well-known instance, the general resemblance of the organic remains from the several stages of the
formation, though the species are distinct in each stage. This fact alone, from its generality, seems to have shaken Professor Pictet in his
belief in the immutability of species. He who is acquainted with the distribution of existing species over the globe, will not attempt to account for the close resemblance of
distinct species in closely consecutive formations, by the physical conditions of the ancient areas having remained nearly the same. Let it be remembered that the forms of life, at least those inhabiting the sea, have changed almost simultaneously throughout the world, and therefore under the most different climates and conditions. Consider the
vicissitudes of climate during the pleistocene period, which includes the whole glacial
and note how little the specific forms of the inhabitants of the sea have been affected.
|
