But we shall see in the sixth chapter that intermediate varieties,
inhabiting intermediate districts, will in the long run generally be
supplanted by one of the adjoining varieties. Intercrossing will chiefly
affect those animals which unite for each birth and wander much, and which
do not breed at a very quick rate. Hence with animals of this nature, for
instance birds, varieties will generally be confined to separated
countries; and this I find to be the case. With hermaphrodite organisms
which cross only occasionally, and likewise with animals which unite for
each birth, but which wander little and can increase at a rapid rate, a new
and improved variety might be quickly formed on any one spot, and might
there maintain itself in a body and afterward spread, so that the
individuals of the new variety would chiefly cross together. On this
principle nurserymen always prefer saving seed from a large body of plants,
as the chance of intercrossing is thus lessened.
Even with animals which unite for each birth, and which do not propagate
rapidly, we must not assume that free intercrossing would always eliminate
the effects of natural selection; for I can bring forward a considerable
body of facts showing that within the same area two varieties of the same
animal may long remain distinct, from haunting different stations, from
breeding at slightly different seasons, or from the individuals of each
variety preferring to pair together.
Pages:
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180