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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

“I had found again and again that the most aberrant population of a species - often having reached species rank, and occasionally classified even as a separate genus - occurred at a peripheral location, indeed usually at the most isolated peripheral location.”

Found Species Population Isolated Again And Again Location

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

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

“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 is a reproductive community of populations reproductively isolated from others that occupies a specific niche in nature.”

Science Nature Community Species Population Isolation Isolated Niche

Book:The Growth of Biological Thought: Diversity, Evolution, and Inheritance

Source: The Growth of Biological Thought: Diversity, Evolution, and Inheritance

“The reduced variability of small populations is not always due to accidental gene loss, but sometimes to the fact that the entire population was started by a single pair or by a single fertilized female. These 'founders' of the population carried with them only a very small proportion of the variability of the parent population. This 'founder' principle sometimes explains even the uniformity of rather large populations, particularly if they are well isolated and near the borders of the range of the species.”

Source: Systematics and the Origin of Species, from the Viewpoint of a Zoologist