Enter Adaptation and the Conflict Between Isolation and Gradual Adaptive Change, 1836–1859
Enter Adaptation and the Conflict Between Isolation and Gradual Adaptive Change, 1836–1859
This chapter explores the emergence of adaptation within the evolutionary domain. Charles Darwin, convinced of an impending rise of a natural law of adaptation, relates adaptation with two scenarios: progressive change and speciation in isolation. After formulating natural selection and recognizing the fact that paleontologists have failed to find any convincing evidence of gradual progressive change, Darwin acknowledges a conflict wherein adaptation becomes a problem. As a result, he feels obliged to choose between adaptive change associated with the origin of species in isolation, or an image of gradual wholesale transformation of species. Darwin resolves the conflict by insisting that gradual evolutionary change must be the general rule, since there is a lack of evidence to the contrary. The chapter closes with an examination of why Darwin saw the two scenarios as opposing forces in evolutionary history.
Keywords: adaptation, Charles Darwin, progressive change, speciation in isolation, evolutionary history
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