Eternal Ephemera: Adaptation and the Origin of Species from the Nineteenth Century Through Punctuated Equilibria and Beyond

399 Pages·2015·7.57 MB·English

by  Niles Eldredge

NILES ELDREDGE
E R
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A
E
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P
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ADAPTATION and the ORIGIN of SPECIES
from the NINETEENTH CENTURY through
PUNCTUATED EQUILIBRIA and BEYOND
ETERNAL EPHEMERA

NILES ELDREDGE
E R
T N
E
A
L

A
E
R
P
E
H M
E
ADAPTATIONand theORIGINof SPECIES
from the NINETEENTH CENTURY through
PUNCTUATED EQUILIBRIA and BEYOND
COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY PRESS NEW YORK
Columbia University Press
Publishers Since 1893
New York Chichester, West Sussex
cup.columbia.edu
Copyright © 2015 Niles Eldredge
All rights reserved
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Eldredge, Niles.
Eternal ephemera : adaptation and the origin of species, from the nineteenth
century, through punctuated equilibria and beyond / Niles Eldredge.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-231-15316-4 (cloth : alk. paper)
ISBN 978-0-231-52675-3 (e-book)
1. Darwin, Charles, 1809–1882. On the origin of species.
2. Punctuated equilibrium (Evolution) 3. Evolution (Biology)—Philosophy.
4. Emergence (Philosophy) I. Title.
QH398.E43 2015
576.8'2—dc23
2014022519
Columbia University Press books are printed on permanent
and durable acid-free paper.
This book is printed on paper with recycled content.
Printed in the United States of America
c 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
frontispiece: Southern South America, showing locales important to Darwin
on the Beagle voyage, 1832–1835. (Artwork by Network Graphics)
Cover image
Plate 3 from Joachim Barrande, Système silurien du centre de la Bohême (1852).
cover design
Lisa Hamm
References to Web sites (URLs) were accurate at the time of writing.
Neither the author nor Columbia University Press is responsible for URLs
that may have expired or changed since the manuscript was prepared.
To Michelle, who has given me everything
∫

“Like the Shadows of the Clouds in a Summer’s Day”
In this vast host of living beings, which all start into existence, vanish,
and are renewed, in swift succession, like the shadows of the clouds in
a summer’s day, each species has its peculiar form, structure, properties,
and habits, adapted to its situation, which serve to distinguish it from
every other species; and each individual has its destined purpose in the
economy of nature. Individuals appear and disappear in rapid succes-
sion upon the earth, and entire species of animals have their limited
duration, which is but a moment, compared with the antiquity of the
globe. Numberless species, and even entire genera and tribes of animals,
the links which once connected the existing races, have long since
begun and finished their career.
—Robert E. Grant, Inaugural Address, University of London, 1828
Mentor to Charles Darwin, Edinburgh, 1827

CONTENTS
Preface xi
Acknowledgments xiii
INTRODUCTION: APPROACHING ADAPTATION
AND THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES
1
PART I. BIRTH OF MODERN
EVOLUTIONARY THEORY
1. THE ADVENT OF THE MODERN FAUNA:
ON THE BIRTHS AND DEATHS OF SPECIES, 1801–1831
21
2. DARWIN AND THE BEAGLE: EXPERIMENTING WITH
TRANSMUTATION, 1831–1836
75
3. ENTER ADAPTATION AND THE CONFLICT BETWEEN
ISOLATION AND GRADUAL ADAPTIVE CHANGE, 1836–1859
151