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Ernst Mayr

Ernst Mayr Quotes

Biologist

German-American biologist and a pioneer in evolutionary biology, Ernst Mayr made significant contributions to the development of modern evolutionary theory. His research in systematics, speciation, and biological classification had a profound impact on the field.

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Famous Ernst Mayr Quotes

“As a consequence, geneticists described evolution simply as a change in gene frequencies in populations, totally ignoring the fact that evolution consists of the two simultaneous but quite separate phenomena of adaptation and diversification.”

Two Facts Evolution Consequence Population Genes Adaptation Frequency Simultaneous Diversification Ignoring Facts

Book:Toward a New Philosophy of Biology: Observations of an Evolutionist

Source: Toward a New Philosophy of Biology: Observations of an Evolutionist

“Evolution thus is merely contingent on certain processes articulated by Darwin: variation and selection.”

Certain Process Evolution Selection Variation

Book:Toward a New Philosophy of Biology: Observations of an Evolutionist

Source: Toward a New Philosophy of Biology: Observations of an Evolutionist

“anyone who writes about "Darwin's theory of evolutionin the singular, without segregating the theories of gradual evolution, common descent, speciation, and the mechanism of natural selection, will be quite unable to discuss the subject competently.”

Writing Natural Common Society Subjects Theory Evolution Mechanism Selection Natural Selection Descent Speciation

Author:Ernst Mayr

“Evolution as such is no longer a theory for a modern author. It is as much a fact as that the earth revolves around the sun.”

Facts Earth Sun Society Atheism Modern Theory Evolution

Book:What Makes Biology Unique?: Considerations on the Autonomy of a Scientific Discipline

Source: What Makes Biology Unique?: Considerations on the Autonomy of a Scientific Discipline

“The issue, as correctly emphasized by Carl Sagan, is the probability of the evolution of high intelligence and an electronic civilization on an inhabited world. Once we have life (and almost surely it will be very different from life on Earth), what is the probability of its developing a lineage with high intelligence? On Earth, among millions of lineages of organisms and perhaps 50 billion speciation events, only one led to high intelligence; this makes me believe in its utter improbability.”

World Believe Different Earth Millions Issues Events Evolution Civilization Billions Astronomy Developing Organisms Probability Lineage Improbability Sagan Speciation

Author:Ernst Mayr

“A new species develops if a population which has become geographically isolated from its parental species acquires during this period of isolation characters which promote or guarantee reproductive isolation when the external barriers break down.”

Ifs Character Science Break Evolution Periods Species Population Isolation Acquire Guarantees Barriers Isolated Breaking Down Parental

Book:Toward a New Philosophy of Biology: Observations of an Evolutionist

Source: Toward a New Philosophy of Biology: Observations of an Evolutionist

“A species consists of a group of populations which replace each other geographically or ecologically and of which the neighboring ones integrate or hybridise wherever they are in contact or which are potentially capable of doing so (with one or more of the populations) in those cases where contact is prevented by geographical or ecological barriers.”

Science Cases Groups Evolution Capable Species Population Contact Barriers Ecological Integrating

Author:Ernst Mayr

“The most consequential change in man's view of the world, of living nature and of himself came with the introduction, over a period of some 100 years beginning only in the 18th century, of the idea of change itself, of change over periods of time: in a word, of evolution.”

Men World Years Ideas Science Nature Views Century Evolution Periods Introduction 18th Century

Author:Ernst Mayr

“Evolution ... is opportunistic, hence unpredictable.”

Religion Atheism Evolution Unpredictable

Author:Ernst Mayr

“Paleontologists had long been aware of a seeming contradiction between Darwin's postulate of gradualism, confirmed by the work of population genetics, and the actual findings of paleontology. Following phyletic lines through time seemed to reveal only minimal gradual changes but no clear evidence for any change of a species into a different genus or for the gradual origin of an evolutionary novelty. Anything truly novel always seemed to appear quite abruptly in the fossil record.”

Source: One Long Argument: Charles Darwin and the Genesis of Modern Evolutionary Thought

“According to the concept of transformational evolution, first clearly articulated by Lamarck, evolution consists of the gradual transformation of organisms from one condition of existence to another.”

Firsts Existence Conditions Evolution Concepts Transformation Organisms

Author:Ernst Mayr

“Evolution, thus, is merely contingent on certain processes articulated by Darwin: variation and selection. No longer is a fixed object transformed, as in transformational evolution, but an entirely new start is, so to speak, made in every generation.”

Made Certain Speak Process Generations Objects Evolution Fixed Transformed Selection Variation New Start

Author:Ernst Mayr

“Given the fact of evolution, one would expect the fossils to document a gradual steady change from ancestral forms to the descendants. But this is not what the paleontologist finds. Instead, he or she finds gaps in just about every phyletic series.”

Facts Form Given Evolution Series Gaps Steady Documents Fossils Descendants

Book:What Evolution is

Source: What Evolution is

“New gene pools are generated in every generation, and evolution takes place because the successful individuals produced by these gene pools give rise to the next generation.”

Giving Next Individual Successful Generations Evolution Pool Genes Next Generation Glowing Successful Individuals

Book:Toward a New Philosophy of Biology: Observations of an Evolutionist

Source: Toward a New Philosophy of Biology: Observations of an Evolutionist