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)

Related terms

• Darwin

See also

• Darwin (unit) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• draw in, drawin', indraw, inward