darwin

See also: Darwin

English

Etymology

Named after Charles Darwin, coined by J.B.S. Haldane in 1949.

Noun

darwin (plural darwins)

  1. A unit of evolutionary change in evolutionary biology.
    • 1999, J. William Schopf, Evolution!: Facts and Fallacies, page 50:
      One darwin (d) equals the rate of evolution that would produce a change in size by a factor of approximately 2.7 in one million years.
    • 2003, Donald Mitchell, The 2,000 Percent Solution, page 243:
      The rate of evolutionary change in a species' wing or leg or beak (remember Darwin's finches mentioned in Chapter 1?) is assessed in degree-of-physical-change units called darwins.
    • 2010, Sahotra Sarkar, Anya Plutynski, A Companion to the Philosophy of Biology (page 177)
      For instance, gradual change is relatively common in vertebrates (about .08 darwins), though some rapidly evolving vertebrates lineages show rates as high as 10 darwins, over short periods.

Derived terms
  • d (abbreviation)

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