Mr. Darwin[40] shows that the struggle is more severe between species of
the same genus, when they come into competition with each other, than
between species of distinct genera. Thus one species of swallow has
recently expelled another from part of the United States; and the
missel-thrush has driven the song-thrush from part of Scotland. In
Australia the imported hive-bee is rapidly exterminating the small
stingless native bee, and similar cases might be found in any number.
Mr. Wallace, in quoting Mr. Darwin as to these facts, points the
conclusion that "any slight change, therefore, of physical geography or
of climate, which allows allied species hitherto inhabiting distinct areas
to come into contact, will often lead to the extermination of one of
them."
It is the province of the palæontologist to enumerate the many remarkable
forms which have passed away since man's first appearance upon the globe,
and to trace their fluctuations over both hemispheres as determined by the
advance and retreat of glacial conditions, and by the protean forms
assumed by past and existing continents under oscillations of elevation
and depression. Many interesting points, such as the dates of the
successive separation of Ireland and Great Britain from the main
continent, can be determined with accuracy from the record furnished by
the fossil remains of animals of those times; and many interesting
associations of animals with man at various dates, in our present island
home and in other countries, have been traced by the discovery of their
remains in connection with his, in bone deposits in caverns and elsewhere.
Conversely, most valuable deductions are drawn by the zoologist from the
review which he is enabled to take, through the connected labours of his
colleagues in all departments, of the distinct life regions now mapped out
upon the face of the globe. These, after the application of the necessary
corrections for various disturbing or controlling influences referred to
above, afford proof reaching far back into past periods, of successive
alterations in the disposition of continents and oceans, and of
connections long since obliterated between distant lands.
The palæontologist reasons from the past to the present, the zoologist
from the present to the past; and their mutual labours explain the
evolution of existing forms, and the causes of the disparity or connection
between those at present characterizing the different portions of the
surface of the globe.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account