Time, Fourth Principle of Natural Selection
Charles Darwin envisioned life on Earth as developing naturally over long periods of time. In The Origin of Species, Darwin varyingly rephrased this principle of natural selection, for example –
“I do believe that natural selection will generally act very slowly, only at long intervals of time.”
Time is the fourth of natural selection’s five principles developed by Niles Eldredge (pictured right below) of the American Museum of Natural History. V.I.S.T.A. is the acronym developed by Niles to encapsulate Darwin’s five principles of natural selection.
