--- title: "16 Biology Quotes By Ernst Mayr" description: "16 Biology quotes by Ernst Mayr. Plus more from Ernst Mayr and more Biology sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/727/ernst-mayr-13171_biology_there-is-more-to-biology-than-rats-droso_125193.png" --- > [There is more to biology than rats, Drosophila, Caenorhabditis, and E. coli.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernst-mayr/there-is-more-to-biology-than-rats-drosophila-caenorhabditis-and-e/) [Ernst Mayr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernst-mayr/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/727/ernst-mayr-13171_biology_there-is-more-to-biology-than-rats-droso_125193.png) > [Evolution ... is opportunistic, hence unpredictable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernst-mayr/evolution-is-opportunistic-hence-unpredictable/) [Ernst Mayr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernst-mayr/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6d2/ernst-mayr-13171_atheism_evolution-is-opportunistic-hence-unpredi_2746181.png) > [Biology can be divided into the study of proximate causes, the study of the physiological sciences (broadly conceived), and into the study…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernst-mayr/biology-can-be-divided-into-the-study-of-proximate-causes-the-study/) [Ernst Mayr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernst-mayr/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/252/ernst-mayr-13171_biology_biology-can-be-divided-into-the-study-of_1494940.png) > [New gene pools are generated in every generation, and evolution takes place because the successful individuals produced by these gene pools give…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernst-mayr/new-gene-pools-are-generated-in-every-generation-and-evolution-takes/) [Ernst Mayr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernst-mayr/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6c5/ernst-mayr-13171_biology_new-gene-pools-are-generated-in-every-ge_1311909.jpg) > [Evolution as such is no longer a theory for a modern author. It is as much a fact as that the earth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernst-mayr/evolution-as-such-is-no-longer-a-theory-for-a-modern-author-it-is-as/) [Ernst Mayr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernst-mayr/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cb4/ernst-mayr-13171_atheism_evolution-as-such-is-no-longer-a-theory_2355457.png) > [In Earth, among millions of lineages or organisms and perhaps 50 billion speciation events, only one led to high intelligence ; this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernst-mayr/in-earth-among-millions-of-lineages-or-organisms-and-perhaps-50/) [Ernst Mayr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernst-mayr/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4af/ernst-mayr-13171_astronomy_in-earth-among-millions-of-lineages-or-o_515647.png) > [Evolution thus is merely contingent on certain processes articulated by Darwin: variation and selection.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernst-mayr/evolution-thus-is-merely-contingent-on-certain-processes-articulated-2/) [Ernst Mayr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernst-mayr/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/964/ernst-mayr-13171_biology_evolution-thus-is-merely-contingent-on-c_2861266.png) > [“Truly, Buffon was the father of all thought in natural history in the second half of the 18th century.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernst-mayr/truly-buffon-was-the-father-of-all-thought-in-natural-history-in-the/) [Ernst Mayr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernst-mayr/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bd0/ernst-mayr-13171_18th-century_truly-buffon-was-the-father-of-all-thoug_2419928.png) > [According to the concept of transformational evolution, first clearly articulated by Lamarck, evolution consists of the gradual transformation of organisms from one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernst-mayr/according-to-the-concept-of-transformational-evolution-first-clearly/) [Ernst Mayr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernst-mayr/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6d0/ernst-mayr-13171_biology_according-to-the-concept-of-transformati_747573.png) > [“The funny thing is if in England, you ask a man in the street who the greatest living Darwinian is, he will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernst-mayr/the-funny-thing-is-if-in-england-you-ask-a-man-in-the-street-who-the/) [Ernst Mayr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernst-mayr/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/848/ernst-mayr-13171_biology_the-funny-thing-is-if-in-england-you-ask_152268.png) > [anyone who writes about "Darwin's theory of evolutionin the singular, without segregating the theories of gradual evolution, common descent, speciation, and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernst-mayr/anyone-who-writes-about-darwin-s-theory-of-evolutionin-the-singular/) [Ernst Mayr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernst-mayr/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6e3/ernst-mayr-13171_biology_anyone-who-writes-about-darwin-s-theory_3197001.jpg) > [Evolution, thus, is merely contingent on certain processes articulated by Darwin: variation and selection. No longer is a fixed object transformed, as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernst-mayr/evolution-thus-is-merely-contingent-on-certain-processes-articulated/) [Ernst Mayr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernst-mayr/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/666/ernst-mayr-13171_biology_evolution-thus-is-merely-contingent-on-c_374979.png) > [As a consequence, geneticists described evolution simply as a change in gene frequencies in populations, totally ignoring the fact that evolution consists…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernst-mayr/as-a-consequence-geneticists-described-evolution-simply-as-a-change/) [Ernst Mayr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernst-mayr/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c9a/ernst-mayr-13171_adaptation_as-a-consequence-geneticists-described-e_2401356.jpg) > [ “I published that theory \[of speciational evolution\] in a 1954 paper…and I clearly related it to paleontology. Darwin argued that the fossil… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernst-mayr/i-published-that-theory-of-speciational-evolution-in-a-1954-paper-and/) [Ernst Mayr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernst-mayr/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/870/ernst-mayr-13171_biology_i-published-that-theory-of-speciational_1411110.jpg) > [The issue, as correctly emphasized by Carl Sagan, is the probability of the evolution of high intelligence and an electronic civilization on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernst-mayr/the-issue-as-correctly-emphasized-by-carl-sagan-is-the-probability-of/) [Ernst Mayr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernst-mayr/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e4c/ernst-mayr-13171_astronomy_the-issue-as-correctly-emphasized-by-car_3141706.jpg) > [“{ On to contributions to evolutionary biology of 18th century French scientist, Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon } He was not an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernst-mayr/on-to-contributions-to-evolutionary-biology-of-18th-century-french/) [Ernst Mayr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernst-mayr/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a8f/ernst-mayr-13171_aristotle_on-to-contributions-to-evolutionary-biol_1162624.png) ## Other authors on Biology - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b020/author-richard-dawkins-78503.jpg) Richard Dawkins 67 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/biology/richard-dawkins/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b022/author-stephen-jay-gould-87041.jpg) Stephen Jay Gould 40 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/biology/stephen-jay-gould/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b008/author-e-o-wilson-31102.jpg) E. O. Wilson 29 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/biology/e-o-wilson/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b001/author-yuval-noah-harari-100.jpg) Yuval Noah Harari 26 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/biology/yuval-noah-harari/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b022/author-siddhartha-mukherjee-85288.jpg) Siddhartha Mukherjee 25 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/biology/siddhartha-mukherjee/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b006/author-carl-sagan-20994.jpg) Carl Sagan 21 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/biology/carl-sagan/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b019/author-pierre-teilhard-de-chardin-75655.jpg) Pierre Teilhard de Chardin 20 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/biology/pierre-teilhard-de-chardin/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b002/author-frances-arnold-5774.jpg) Frances Arnold 20 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/biology/frances-arnold/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b018/author-neil-degrasse-tyson-70683.jpg) Neil deGrasse Tyson 19 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/biology/neil-degrasse-tyson/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b005/author-bill-nye-18005.jpg) Bill Nye 18 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/biology/bill-nye/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b022/author-steven-pinker-87519.jpg) Steven Pinker 17 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/biology/steven-pinker/) - [Elliott Sober 14 quotes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/biology/elliott-sober/) ## More by Ernst Mayr > [There is more to biology than rats, Drosophila, Caenorhabditis, and E. coli.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernst-mayr/there-is-more-to-biology-than-rats-drosophila-caenorhabditis-and-e/) [Ernst Mayr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernst-mayr/) > [“The funny thing is if in England, you ask a man in the street who the greatest living Darwinian is, he will say Richard…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernst-mayr/the-funny-thing-is-if-in-england-you-ask-a-man-in-the-street-who-the/) [Ernst Mayr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernst-mayr/) > [The history of science knows scores of instances where an investigator was in the possession of all the important facts for a new theory…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernst-mayr/the-history-of-science-knows-scores-of-instances-where-an/) [Ernst Mayr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernst-mayr/) > [most scientific problems are far better understood by studying their history than their logic.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernst-mayr/most-scientific-problems-are-far-better-understood-by-studying-their/) [Ernst Mayr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernst-mayr/) > [I did not claim that speciation occurs only in founder populations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernst-mayr/i-did-not-claim-that-speciation-occurs-only-in-founder-populations/) [Ernst Mayr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernst-mayr/) > [Evolution, thus, is merely contingent on certain processes articulated by Darwin: variation and selection. No longer is a fixed object transformed, as in transformational…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernst-mayr/evolution-thus-is-merely-contingent-on-certain-processes-articulated/) [Ernst Mayr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernst-mayr/) > [In Earth, among millions of lineages or organisms and perhaps 50 billion speciation events, only one led to high intelligence ; this makes me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernst-mayr/in-earth-among-millions-of-lineages-or-organisms-and-perhaps-50/) [Ernst Mayr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernst-mayr/) > [I have the honesty to say I'm an Atheist. There is nothing that supports the idea of a personal God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernst-mayr/i-have-the-honesty-to-say-i-m-an-atheist-there-is-nothing-that/) [Ernst Mayr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernst-mayr/) > [All I claimed was that when a drastic change occurs, it occurs in a relatively small and isolated population.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernst-mayr/all-i-claimed-was-that-when-a-drastic-change-occurs-it-occurs-in-a/) [Ernst Mayr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernst-mayr/) > [A new species develops if a population which has become geographically isolated from its parental species acquires during this period of isolation characters which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernst-mayr/a-new-species-develops-if-a-population-which-has-become/) [Ernst Mayr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernst-mayr/) > [According to the concept of transformational evolution, first clearly articulated by Lamarck, evolution consists of the gradual transformation of organisms from one condition of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernst-mayr/according-to-the-concept-of-transformational-evolution-first-clearly/) [Ernst Mayr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernst-mayr/) > [Our understanding of the world is achieved more effectively by conceptual improvements than by discovery of new facts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernst-mayr/our-understanding-of-the-world-is-achieved-more-effectively-by/) [Ernst Mayr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernst-mayr/) > [Wherever we look at the living biota … discontinuities are overwhelmingly frequent…The discontinuities are even more striking in the fossil record. New species usually…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernst-mayr/wherever-we-look-at-the-living-biota-discontinuities-are/) [Ernst Mayr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernst-mayr/) > [There are a number of attributes of species and populations that are not of any particular selective advantage to any single individual in a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernst-mayr/there-are-a-number-of-attributes-of-species-and-populations-that-are/) [Ernst Mayr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernst-mayr/) > [The reduced variability of small populations is not always due to accidental gene loss, but sometimes to the fact that the entire population was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernst-mayr/the-reduced-variability-of-small-populations-is-not-always-due-to/) [Ernst Mayr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernst-mayr/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/biology/ernst-mayr/#itemlist", "name": "16 Biology 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It is as much a fact as that the earth revolves around the sun.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ernst Mayr" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernst-mayr/evolution-as-such-is-no-longer-a-theory-for-a-modern-author-it-is-as/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cb4/ernst-mayr-13171_atheism_evolution-as-such-is-no-longer-a-theory_2355457.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cb4/ernst-mayr-13171_atheism_evolution-as-such-is-no-longer-a-theory_2355457.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cb4/ernst-mayr-13171_atheism_evolution-as-such-is-no-longer-a-theory_2355457.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Evolution as such is no longer a theory for a modern author. It is as much a fact as that the earth revolves…” — Ernst Mayr", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 6, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "In Earth, among millions of lineages or organisms and perhaps 50 billion speciation events, only one led to high intelligence ; this makes me believe its utter improbablity.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ernst Mayr" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernst-mayr/in-earth-among-millions-of-lineages-or-organisms-and-perhaps-50/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4af/ernst-mayr-13171_astronomy_in-earth-among-millions-of-lineages-or-o_515647.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4af/ernst-mayr-13171_astronomy_in-earth-among-millions-of-lineages-or-o_515647.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4af/ernst-mayr-13171_astronomy_in-earth-among-millions-of-lineages-or-o_515647.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“In Earth, among millions of lineages or organisms and perhaps 50 billion speciation events, only one led to…” — Ernst Mayr", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 7, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Evolution thus is merely contingent on certain processes articulated by Darwin: variation and selection.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ernst Mayr" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernst-mayr/evolution-thus-is-merely-contingent-on-certain-processes-articulated-2/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/964/ernst-mayr-13171_biology_evolution-thus-is-merely-contingent-on-c_2861266.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/964/ernst-mayr-13171_biology_evolution-thus-is-merely-contingent-on-c_2861266.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/964/ernst-mayr-13171_biology_evolution-thus-is-merely-contingent-on-c_2861266.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Evolution thus is merely contingent on certain processes articulated by Darwin: variation and selection.” — Ernst Mayr", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 8, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Truly, Buffon was the father of all thought in natural history in the second half of the 18th century.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ernst Mayr" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernst-mayr/truly-buffon-was-the-father-of-all-thought-in-natural-history-in-the/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bd0/ernst-mayr-13171_18th-century_truly-buffon-was-the-father-of-all-thoug_2419928.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bd0/ernst-mayr-13171_18th-century_truly-buffon-was-the-father-of-all-thoug_2419928.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bd0/ernst-mayr-13171_18th-century_truly-buffon-was-the-father-of-all-thoug_2419928.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Truly, Buffon was the father of all thought in natural history in the second half of the 18th century.” — Ernst Mayr", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 9, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "According to the concept of transformational evolution, first clearly articulated by Lamarck, evolution consists of the gradual transformation of organisms from one condition of existence to another.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ernst Mayr" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernst-mayr/according-to-the-concept-of-transformational-evolution-first-clearly/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6d0/ernst-mayr-13171_biology_according-to-the-concept-of-transformati_747573.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6d0/ernst-mayr-13171_biology_according-to-the-concept-of-transformati_747573.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6d0/ernst-mayr-13171_biology_according-to-the-concept-of-transformati_747573.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“According to the concept of transformational evolution, first clearly articulated by Lamarck, evolution…” — Ernst Mayr", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 10, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“The funny thing is if in England, you ask a man in the street who the greatest living Darwinian is, he will say Richard Dawkins . And indeed, Dawkins has done a marvelous job of popularizing Darwinism . But Dawkins ' basic theory of the gene being the object of evolution is totally non- Darwinian .”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ernst Mayr" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernst-mayr/the-funny-thing-is-if-in-england-you-ask-a-man-in-the-street-who-the/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/848/ernst-mayr-13171_biology_the-funny-thing-is-if-in-england-you-ask_152268.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/848/ernst-mayr-13171_biology_the-funny-thing-is-if-in-england-you-ask_152268.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/848/ernst-mayr-13171_biology_the-funny-thing-is-if-in-england-you-ask_152268.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The funny thing is if in England, you ask a man in the street who the greatest living Darwinian is, he will…” — Ernst Mayr", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 11, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "anyone who writes about \"Darwin's theory of evolutionin the singular, without segregating the theories of gradual evolution, common descent, speciation, and the mechanism of natural selection, will be quite unable to discuss the subject competently.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ernst Mayr" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernst-mayr/anyone-who-writes-about-darwin-s-theory-of-evolutionin-the-singular/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6e3/ernst-mayr-13171_biology_anyone-who-writes-about-darwin-s-theory_3197001.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6e3/ernst-mayr-13171_biology_anyone-who-writes-about-darwin-s-theory_3197001.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6e3/ernst-mayr-13171_biology_anyone-who-writes-about-darwin-s-theory_3197001.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“anyone who writes about \"Darwin's theory of evolutionin the singular, without segregating the theories of…” — Ernst Mayr", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 12, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Evolution, thus, is merely contingent on certain processes articulated by Darwin: variation and selection. No longer is a fixed object transformed, as in transformational evolution, but an entirely new start is, so to speak, made in every generation.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ernst Mayr" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernst-mayr/evolution-thus-is-merely-contingent-on-certain-processes-articulated/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/666/ernst-mayr-13171_biology_evolution-thus-is-merely-contingent-on-c_374979.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/666/ernst-mayr-13171_biology_evolution-thus-is-merely-contingent-on-c_374979.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/666/ernst-mayr-13171_biology_evolution-thus-is-merely-contingent-on-c_374979.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Evolution, thus, is merely contingent on certain processes articulated by Darwin: variation and selection…” — Ernst Mayr", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 13, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "As a consequence, geneticists described evolution simply as a change in gene frequencies in populations, totally ignoring the fact that evolution consists of the two simultaneous but quite separate phenomena of adaptation and diversification.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ernst Mayr" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernst-mayr/as-a-consequence-geneticists-described-evolution-simply-as-a-change/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c9a/ernst-mayr-13171_adaptation_as-a-consequence-geneticists-described-e_2401356.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c9a/ernst-mayr-13171_adaptation_as-a-consequence-geneticists-described-e_2401356.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c9a/ernst-mayr-13171_adaptation_as-a-consequence-geneticists-described-e_2401356.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“As a consequence, geneticists described evolution simply as a change in gene frequencies in populations…” — Ernst Mayr", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 14, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“I published that theory [of speciational evolution] in a 1954 paper…and I clearly related it to paleontology. Darwin argued that the fossil record is very incomplete because some species fossilize better than others... I noted that you are never going to find evidence of a small local population that changed very rapidly in the fossil record... Gould was my course assistant at Harvard where I presented this theory again and again for three years. So he knew it thoroughly. So did Eldredge. In fact, in his 1971 paper Eldredge credited me with it. But that was lost over time.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ernst Mayr" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernst-mayr/i-published-that-theory-of-speciational-evolution-in-a-1954-paper-and/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/870/ernst-mayr-13171_biology_i-published-that-theory-of-speciational_1411110.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/870/ernst-mayr-13171_biology_i-published-that-theory-of-speciational_1411110.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/870/ernst-mayr-13171_biology_i-published-that-theory-of-speciational_1411110.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I published that theory [of speciational evolution] in a 1954 paper…and I clearly related it to…” — Ernst Mayr", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 15, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The issue, as correctly emphasized by Carl Sagan, is the probability of the evolution of high intelligence and an electronic civilization on an inhabited world. Once we have life (and almost surely it will be very different from life on Earth), what is the probability of its developing a lineage with high intelligence? On Earth, among millions of lineages of organisms and perhaps 50 billion speciation events, only one led to high intelligence; this makes me believe in its utter improbability.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ernst Mayr" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernst-mayr/the-issue-as-correctly-emphasized-by-carl-sagan-is-the-probability-of/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e4c/ernst-mayr-13171_astronomy_the-issue-as-correctly-emphasized-by-car_3141706.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e4c/ernst-mayr-13171_astronomy_the-issue-as-correctly-emphasized-by-car_3141706.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e4c/ernst-mayr-13171_astronomy_the-issue-as-correctly-emphasized-by-car_3141706.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The issue, as correctly emphasized by Carl Sagan, is the probability of the evolution of high intelligence…” — Ernst Mayr", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 16, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“{ On to contributions to evolutionary biology of 18th century French scientist, Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon } He was not an evolutionary biologist, yet he was the father of evolutionism. He was the first person to discuss a large number of evolutionary problems, problems that before Buffon had not been raised by anybody… he brought them to the attention of the scientific world. Except for Aristotle and Darwin , no other student of organisms [whole animals and plants] has had as far-reaching an influence. He brought the idea of evolution into the realm of science. He developed a concept of the \"unity of type\", a precursor of comparative anatomy. More than anyone else, he was responsible for the acceptance of a long-time scale for the history of the earth. He was one of the first to imply that you get inheritance from your parents, in a description based on similarities between elephants and mammoths. And yet, he hindered evolution by his frequent endorsement of the immutability of species. He provided a criterion of species, fertility among members of a species, that was thought impregnable.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ernst Mayr" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernst-mayr/on-to-contributions-to-evolutionary-biology-of-18th-century-french/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a8f/ernst-mayr-13171_aristotle_on-to-contributions-to-evolutionary-biol_1162624.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a8f/ernst-mayr-13171_aristotle_on-to-contributions-to-evolutionary-biol_1162624.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a8f/ernst-mayr-13171_aristotle_on-to-contributions-to-evolutionary-biol_1162624.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“{ On to contributions to evolutionary biology of 18th century French scientist, Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte…” — Ernst Mayr", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } } ] }, { "@type": "CollectionPage", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/biology/ernst-mayr/#webpage", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/biology/ernst-mayr/", "name": "Biology Quotes by Ernst Mayr", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/biology/ernst-mayr/#itemlist" }, "primaryImageOfPage": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/727/ernst-mayr-13171_biology_there-is-more-to-biology-than-rats-droso_125193.png" }, "description": "16 Biology quotes by Ernst Mayr. 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