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Daniel S. MiloGood Enough - The Tolerance for Mediocrity in Nature and Societypp. 93-94 |
A universal theory is dubiously derived from an extreme case
If archipelagos are not nature simplified but rather nature in exceptional form, then the Galápagos is the exception to beat all others. Although situated in an equatorial region, the Galápagos archipelago has an exceptionally harsh climate. It is a kind of tropical desert - nothing like lush mainland Ecuador. Darwin notes in his Journal of Researches, “This archipelago, instead of possessing ahumid climate and rank vegetation, cannot be considered oherwise than exremely arid.” In average years, only the highest altitudes of the larger islands receive enough rainfall to support tropical life. The littoral and inland areas of the islands are classified as “arid” and “very arid” and are covered by brown and gray vegetation. Rainfall also varies considerably with altitude, between islands, and over time. Such conditions foster competition, the backbone of natural selection. One millimeter of beak length might be a question of life and death on the Galápagos’s lava, but two meters of neck length are negligible in the African savanna. A universal theory is dubiously derived from such an extreme case.