--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Most of them are doomed to rapid…" description: "\"Most of them are doomed to rapid extinction, but a few may make evolutionary inventions, such as physiological, ecological, or behavioral innovations t..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a00/ernst-mayr-13171_behavioral_most-of-them-are-doomed-to-rapid-extinct_1840301.jpg" --- # Most of them are doomed to rapid extinction, but a few may… ![“Most of them are doomed to rapid extinction, but a few may make evolutionary inventions, such as physiological, ecological, or behavioral innovations that give these species improved competitive potential.” quote by Ernst Mayr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a00/ernst-mayr-13171_behavioral_most-of-them-are-doomed-to-rapid-extinct_1840301.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a00/ernst-mayr-13171_behavioral_most-of-them-are-doomed-to-rapid-extinct_1840301.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a00/ernst-mayr-13171_behavioral_most-of-them-are-doomed-to-rapid-extinct_1840301.jpg) > “Most of them are doomed to rapid extinction, but a few may make evolutionary inventions, such as physiological, ecological, or behavioral innovations that give these species improved competitive potential.” [Ernst Mayr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernst-mayr/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Species facing extinction can survive by developing new traits that enhance survival and competition. **In simple terms:** Innovation can rescue species from extinction. Key Takeaway Encourage adaptive innovation. Themes evolution survival innovation Mood concerned optimistic Type scientific analytical When to use this quote - conservation planning - species reintroduction - habitat management Key Concepts adaptation ecological niches behavioral change Questions to Reflect On - What innovations could help endangered species? - How can humans support natural innovation? A Different Perspective Innovation may be limited by genetic constraints. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Behavioral](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/behavioral/) [Competitive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/competitive/) [Competitive Potential](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/competitive-potential-2344361/) [Doomed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/doomed/) [Ecological](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ecological/) [Evolution](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/evolution/) [Evolutionary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/evolutionary/) [Evolutionary Inventions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/evolutionary-inventions-1330993/) [Extinction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/extinction/) [Few](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/few/) [Give](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/give/) [Improved](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/improved/) [Innovations](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/innovations/) [Innovations Species](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/innovations-species-2344358/) [Inventions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inventions/) [Make](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/make/) [May](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/may/) [Most](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/most/) [Physiological](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/physiological/) [Potential](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/potential/) [Rapid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rapid/) [Rapid Extinction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rapid-extinction-2344360/) [Species](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/species/) [Species Improved](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/species-improved-2344359/) [Them](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/them/) ## Related quotes > [Very little comes easily to our poor, benighted species (the first creature, after all, to experiment with the novel evolutionary inventions of self-conscious philosophy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-jay-gould/very-little-comes-easily-to-our-poor-benighted-species-the-first/) [Stephen Jay Gould](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-jay-gould/) > [The notion that the species can be improved in some way, that everyone could live in harmony, is a really dangerous idea. 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If it isn't behavioral, what the hell is it?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-munger/how-could-economics-not-be-behavioral-if-it-isn-t-behavioral-what-the/) [Charlie Munger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-munger/) > [ \[The question for the behavioral disciplines is simply\] what is better, and how do we get there? ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-e-boulding/the-question-for-the-behavioral-disciplines-is-simply-what-is-better/) [Kenneth E. Boulding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-e-boulding/) > [I'm not sure the least educated members of the population are missing out on the advances in medical technology as much as they are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/s-jay-olshansky/i-m-not-sure-the-least-educated-members-of-the-population-are-missing/) [S. Jay Olshansky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/s-jay-olshansky/) > [“The behavioral bias solution is a clear focus on disciplined and systematic investing. Stop with the discretion and trying to be smarter than your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-behavioral-bias-solution-is-a-clear-focus-on-disciplined-and/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Increased physical activity during the school day can help children's attention, classroom behavior, and achievement test scores. Meanwhile, the decline of play is closely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/darell-hammond/increased-physical-activity-during-the-school-day-can-help-children-s/) [Darell Hammond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/darell-hammond/) > [One of the big lessons from behavioral economics is that we make decisions as a function of the environment that we're in.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-ariely/one-of-the-big-lessons-from-behavioral-economics-is-that-we-make/) [Dan Ariely](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-ariely/) > [“Behavior is the critical in-store factor. It is widely recognized that it is more reliable to observe what people do than to ask them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herb-sorensen/behavior-is-the-critical-in-store-factor-it-is-widely-recognized-that/) [Herb Sorensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herb-sorensen/) > [It is true that from a behavioral economics perspective we are fallible, easily confused, not that smart, and often irrational. We are more like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-ariely/it-is-true-that-from-a-behavioral-economics-perspective-we-are/) [Dan Ariely](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-ariely/) ## 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/) [Explore all 51 Ernst Mayr quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernst-mayr/) ## More Behavioral quotes > [It is true that from a behavioral economics perspective we are fallible, easily confused, not that smart, and often irrational. We are more like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-ariely/it-is-true-that-from-a-behavioral-economics-perspective-we-are/) [Dan Ariely](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-ariely/) > [“Behavior is the critical in-store factor. It is widely recognized that it is more reliable to observe what people do than to ask them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herb-sorensen/behavior-is-the-critical-in-store-factor-it-is-widely-recognized-that/) [Herb Sorensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herb-sorensen/) > [One of the big lessons from behavioral economics is that we make decisions as a function of the environment that we're in.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-ariely/one-of-the-big-lessons-from-behavioral-economics-is-that-we-make/) [Dan Ariely](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-ariely/) > [Increased physical activity during the school day can help children's attention, classroom behavior, and achievement test scores. Meanwhile, the decline of play is closely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/darell-hammond/increased-physical-activity-during-the-school-day-can-help-children-s/) [Darell Hammond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/darell-hammond/) > [“The behavioral bias solution is a clear focus on disciplined and systematic investing. Stop with the discretion and trying to be smarter than your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-behavioral-bias-solution-is-a-clear-focus-on-disciplined-and/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I'm not sure the least educated members of the population are missing out on the advances in medical technology as much as they are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/s-jay-olshansky/i-m-not-sure-the-least-educated-members-of-the-population-are-missing/) [S. Jay Olshansky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/s-jay-olshansky/) > [ \[The question for the behavioral disciplines is simply\] what is better, and how do we get there? ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-e-boulding/the-question-for-the-behavioral-disciplines-is-simply-what-is-better/) [Kenneth E. Boulding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-e-boulding/) > [How could economics not be behavioral? If it isn't behavioral, what the hell is it?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-munger/how-could-economics-not-be-behavioral-if-it-isn-t-behavioral-what-the/) [Charlie Munger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-munger/) > [The plastic bottle we're throwing away every day still stays there. And if we show that to people, then we can also promote some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlo-ratti/the-plastic-bottle-we-re-throwing-away-every-day-still-stays-there/) [Carlo Ratti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlo-ratti/) > [Reports that online cognitive behavioral treatment can be as effective as in-person psychotherapy suggest that technology will expand access, extend the impact of a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-r-insel/reports-that-online-cognitive-behavioral-treatment-can-be-as/) [Thomas R. Insel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-r-insel/) > [There are nature and nurture components to virtually every behavior a human experiences. 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Varmus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harold-e-varmus/) > [When you try to bring about behavioral change by an effort of will, you actually do violence to yourself, and the chances are very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/srikumar-rao/when-you-try-to-bring-about-behavioral-change-by-an-effort-of-will/) [Srikumar Rao](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/srikumar-rao/) > [Growing up, I was in and out of trouble in group homes and other institutions, and when I was 14, I was locked up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gbenga-akinnagbe/growing-up-i-was-in-and-out-of-trouble-in-group-homes-and-other/) [Gbenga Akinnagbe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gbenga-akinnagbe/) > [I get off on the interaction with people, and I love the chess of a movie and particularly - not only in preproduction or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jake-gyllenhaal/i-get-off-on-the-interaction-with-people-and-i-love-the-chess-of-a/) [Jake Gyllenhaal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jake-gyllenhaal/) [Browse all 61 Behavioral quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/behavioral/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Most of them are doomed to rapid extinction, but a few may make evolutionary inventions, such as physiological, ecological, or behavioral innovations that give these species improved competitive potential.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ernst Mayr" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernst-mayr/most-of-them-are-doomed-to-rapid-extinction-but-a-few-may-make/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Behavioral" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernst-mayr/most-of-them-are-doomed-to-rapid-extinction-but-a-few-may-make/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a00/ernst-mayr-13171_behavioral_most-of-them-are-doomed-to-rapid-extinct_1840301.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a00/ernst-mayr-13171_behavioral_most-of-them-are-doomed-to-rapid-extinct_1840301.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a00/ernst-mayr-13171_behavioral_most-of-them-are-doomed-to-rapid-extinct_1840301.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Most of them are doomed to rapid extinction, but a few may make evolutionary inventions, such as…” — Ernst Mayr", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Ernst Mayr", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernst-mayr/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Most of them are doomed to...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernst-mayr/most-of-them-are-doomed-to-rapid-extinction-but-a-few-may-make/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernst-mayr/most-of-them-are-doomed-to-rapid-extinction-but-a-few-may-make/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```