The bond with a true dog is as lasting as the ties of this earth will ever be.
Konrad LorenzRead
Whenever we find, in two forms of life that are unrelated to each other, a similarity of form or of behaviour patterns which relates to more than a few minor details, we assume it to be caused by parallel adaptation to the same life-preserving function.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote highlights how similar traits in unrelated species may arise due to adaptation to similar environmental challenges.
Konrad Lorenz emphasizes that when we observe similarities in the shapes or behaviors of organisms that are not closely related, it suggests that these similarities are not merely coincidental but are instead adaptations to similar ecological pressures. This principle reflects the concept of convergent evolution, where different species develop similar traits to survive and thrive in comparable environments.
Themes
AdaptationEvolutionSimilarityNatureOrganisms
In practice
Example use cases
This quote could be used in a biology lecture to illustrate the concept of convergent evolution.
More from Konrad Lorenz
All quotes →I grew up in the large house and the larger garden of my parents in Altenberg. They were supremely tolerant of my inordinate love for animals.
Konrad LorenzRead
More than any other product of human scientific culture scientific knowledge is the collective property of all mankind.
Konrad LorenzRead
In nature we find not only that which is expedient, but also everything which is not so inexpedient as to endanger the existence of the species.
Konrad LorenzRead
Most people have forgotten how to live with living creatures, with living systems and that, in turn, is the reason why man, whenever he comes into contact with nature, threatens to kill the natural system in which and from which he live.
Konrad LorenzRead
I owe undying gratitude to my patient parents.
Konrad LorenzRead
Similar quotes
I think chemistry is being frittered away by the hairsplitting of the organic chemists; we have new compounds discovered, which scarcely differ from the known ones and when discovered are valueless-very illustrations perhaps of their refinements in analysis, but very little aiding the progress of true science.
Michael FaradayRead
Science fiction is not formulaic.
Octavia E. ButlerRead
That which is not measurable is not science. That which is not physics is stamp collecting.
Ernest RutherfordRead
As in biomedical science, pioneering industrial inventions have not been mothered by necessity. Rather, inventions for which there was no commercial use only later became the commercial airplanes, xerography and lasers on which modern society depends.
Arthur KornbergRead
If popular medicine gave the people wisdom as well as knowledge, it would be the best protection for scientific and well-trained physicians.
Rudolf VirchowRead
While I'm a big fan of science fiction, especially as rendered in expensive Hollywood blockbusters, it's the real universe that calls to me.
Neil Degrasse TysonRead