The Darwinian Turn in the Understanding

of Biological Environment
 Gustavo Caponi 

Biological Theory (2020)Cite this article

Abstract
The Darwinian revolution supposed and imposed a much broader and more
complex concept of environment than that which, until that moment, had
been considered by most as part of natural history. Until Darwin, the
environment of living beings had been regarded, almost exclusively, as the
inanimate surroundings. This pre-Darwinian notion of environment included
physicochemical and climatic variables: the living beings themselves were
scarcely considered, or they were regarded just as food to be assimilated. In
contrast, with Darwin, the influence of living surroundings began to be
regarded as having decisive importance for understanding the distribution,
configuration, and viability of living beings. The relationships established
among different living beings became the main and more significant features
of the biological environment. This conceptual change was an exigency
derived from the formulation and justification of the theory of natural
selection. The idea of struggle for existence supposed by that theory requires
that the biotic environment be considered critical in determining the viability
of each living being.
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Notes
1. 1.

The expression “ecology” was coined by Haeckel (1866, p. 286),

although he never devoted himself to studies that might be designated
by that term (Stauffer 1957, p. 144; Acot 1988, p. 46).

2. 2.

It seems appropriate to point out, however, that when in his chapter on

geographic distribution Darwin (1859, p. 346) says that, “neither the
similarity nor the dissimilarity of the inhabitants of various regions can
be accounted for by their climatal and other physical conditions,” he is

1
 not referring to those ecological factors that we are highlighting here. He
is talking about other factors such as the existence, or nonexistence, of
natural barriers that may make migrations impossible; or he is talking
about the genealogical link that may exist between certain species that
inhabit an area.

3. 3.

Azara ([1809]1998, p. 143) alluded to the profusion, in Paraguay, of a fly

whose larvae gnaw the navel of newborn calves and foals and infest the
wounds of the dogs. That is why, he said, there are no wild dogs in the
regions where that fly proliferates; and Darwin cites that observation
because it shows the multiplicity of biotic, and not merely climatic,
factors that can limit the spread of different species in each region.

4. 4.

For understanding the role of the theory of natural selection in the

recognition and explanation of those phenomena, see Wallace 1871;
Poulton 1890. Also, Carpenter and Ford (1933).

5. 5.

The preeminently physiological interest that guided Cuvierian

comparative anatomy is very clearly stated in the “Lettre a Mertrud” that
is the prologue to the Leçons d’anatomie comparée (Cuvier 1805, p. vi).
In this regard, see also Daudin (1926, p. 62); Mazliak (2002, p. 20); and
Reiss (2009, p. 100).

6. 6.

Concerning Linnaeus’ notion of natural economy, see Limoges (1972, p.

19); Acot (1988, p. 14); Deléage (1991, p. 32); and Drouin (1993, p. 40). I
will talk about it in the penultimate section.

7. 7.

Regarding this feature of Humboldt’s biogeographical thinking, see

Canguilhem (1965, p. 139); Rehbock (1983, p. 152); Acot (1988, p. 260);
Deléage (1991, p. 41); Drouin (1993, p. 496); and Pearce (2010, p. 502).

8. 8.

2
 More cautious than his father, Isidore advocated a theory of limited
variability of type (Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire 1859, p. 434; 1861, p. 240).
About this, see Osborne (1994, p. 68; 2000, p. 139).

9. 9.

Flourens (1861, p. 37) also held a theory of limited variability of type.

10.10.

I stress that here I refer only to the influence of the environment on the
profiles of living beings. I do not discuss the issue of its distribution
because there is no “biogeography” in Lamarck.

11. 11.

Concerning that, see Drouin (1993, p. 76).

12.12.

Here, I quote the second edition of 1789.

13.13.

This thesis was first published in 1749 and then included, by Linnaeus,
in all the editions of the Amoenitates Academicae (Limoges 1972, p. 57,
n. 1). Here I quote the second volume of the third Latin edition of
those Amoenitates.

14.14.

Regarding Linnaeus’ biogeography, see Deléage (1991, p. 30); and

Papavero et al. (2001, p. 133).

15. 15.

I refer to the pages of the Akademie edition, which are referenced in the
edition I am, in fact, quoting (see Schrutka-Pluhar 1987, p. xx).

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