looool




No one ought to feel surprise at much remaining as yet unexplained in regard to the origin of species and varieties, if he make due allowance for our profound ignorance inregard to the mutual relations of the many beings which live around us. Who can explain why one species ranges widely and is very numerous, and why another allied species has a narrow range and israre? Yet these relations are of the highest importance, for they determine the present welfare and, as I believe, the future success and modification of every inhabitant of this world. Still less do weknow of the mutual relations of the innumerable inhabitants of the world during the many past geological epochs in its history. Although much remains obscure, and will long remain obscure, I canentertain no doubt, after the most deliberate study and dispassionate judgment of which I am capable, that the view which most naturalists until recently entertained, and which I formerlyentertained—namely, that each species has been independently created—is erroneous. I am fully convinced that species are not immutable; but that those belonging to what are called the same genera are lineal descendantsof some other and generally extinct species, in the same manner as the acknowledged varieties of any one species are the descendants of that species. Furthermore, I am convinced that natural selectionhas been the most important, but not the exclusive, means of modification.
Nadie debe sentirse sorprendido por tanto como queda todavía inexplicado respecto al origen de las especies y variedades,si tenemos en cuenta nuestra profunda ignorancia en lo que respecta a las relaciones mutuas de los muchos seres que viven a nuestro alrededor. ¿Quién puede explicar por qué una especie se extiendeampliamente y es muy numerosa, y por qué otra especie afín tiene un rango estrecho, y es rara? Sin embargo, estas relaciones son de suma importancia, ya que determinan el bienestar presente y, como...