doctrine of descent

British  

noun

1. the theory that animals and plants arose by descent from previously existing organisms; theory of evolution

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Example Sentences

These differences occur even with reference to the fundamental doctrine generally adhered to, the doctrine of descent.

From Naturalism And Religion by Otto, Rudolf

It was he who discovered the vestigial teeth of the baleen whale and those of embryo birds, and the bearing of this on the doctrine of descent must have been obvious to him.

From Lamarck, the Founder of Evolution His Life and Work by Packard, A. S. (Alpheus Spring)

To those of the present generation, who have grown up in an atmosphere impregnated by the doctrine of descent, the position of the world in 1860 seems "older than a tale written in any book."

From Thomas Henry Huxley; A Sketch Of His Life And Work by Mitchell, P. Chalmers (Peter Chalmers)

Obviously all these facts are formally explained by the doctrine of descent.

From Form and Function A Contribution to the History of Animal Morphology by E. S. (Edward Stuart) Russell

For this reason all these vast and manifold aggregates of facts are so many evidences of the doctrine of descent.

From Freedom in Science and Teaching. from the German of Ernst Haeckel by Huxley, Thomas Henry