Asked by Chuck Bass
What is meant by the term fixity of species?
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"Fixity of species" (or "species fixity") is the idea that each species was created once in its present form and does not change over time — that species are immutable and cannot give rise to new species.
Key points:
- Historically this was the dominant view in pre-Darwinian natural history and many religious traditions (often called "special creation").
- If true, there would be no evolution or speciation; biological diversity is static.
- Modern biology rejects fixity: abundant evidence from the fossil record, comparative anatomy, embryology, biogeography, genetics, experimental observations (e.g., microbial evolution, rapid adaptation, and speciation events) shows that species change and new species arise over time.
- Today the concept mainly appears in discussions of historical ideas or in some creationist arguments; mainstream science recognizes species as populations that evolve rather than permanently fixed entities.
Key points:
- Historically this was the dominant view in pre-Darwinian natural history and many religious traditions (often called "special creation").
- If true, there would be no evolution or speciation; biological diversity is static.
- Modern biology rejects fixity: abundant evidence from the fossil record, comparative anatomy, embryology, biogeography, genetics, experimental observations (e.g., microbial evolution, rapid adaptation, and speciation events) shows that species change and new species arise over time.
- Today the concept mainly appears in discussions of historical ideas or in some creationist arguments; mainstream science recognizes species as populations that evolve rather than permanently fixed entities.
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