BioConcepts

variationvariatio (lat.); variation (fr.); Variation (ger.)

• Deviation or divergence in the structure, character, or function of an organism from those typical of or usual in the species or group. (OED 2011)
  category mutation

  1651

  Pulmonaria licheni sive Hepaticæ fontanæ similis squammato foliorum incubito, ineffabili laciniarum variatione, quæ qua matri suæ hærent

  Bauhin, C. & Cherler, J.H. (1651). Historia plantarum universalis nova et absolutissima, vol. 3: 759.

  1753

  une variation

  Buffon, G.L.L. (1753). Le cheval. In: Histoire naturelle générale et particulière, vol. 4 (OEuvres philosophiques, Paris 1954, 352-353): 352.

  1781

  variationes (Abarten)

  Esper, E.J.C. (1781). De varietatibus specierum in naturae productis, Sectio I: 19-21 (§XIV-XVI).

  1813

  sorte de variation

  Candolle, A.-P. de (1813). Théorie élémentaire de la botanique: 168; cf. 2nd ed. (1819): 203.

  1831

  variation

  Matthew, T.P. (1831). Naval Timber and Arboriculture (In: Limoges, C. (1970). La sélection naturelle. Étude sur la première constitution d’un concept (1837-1859), 155-159): 158.

  1842

  a certain amount of variation is consequent on mere act of reproduction

  Darwin, C. [1842]. [Sketch of 1842]. In: The Foundations of the Origin of Species. Two Essays Written in 1842 and 1844 (Works, vol. 10, London 1986): 15.

  1905

  Variationen

  Plate, L. (1905). Die Mutationstheorie im Lichte zoologischer Tatsachen. Comp. Rend. 6. Congr. Int. Zool. 1904, 203-212: 206.

  1910

  the word mutation may properly be applied to any inherited variation, however small

  East, E.M. (1910). A Mendelian interpretation of variation that is apparently continuous. Amer. Nat. 44, 65-82: 82.

  1914

  Der Begriff der Variation bezeichnet jede beliebige organische Abweichung von der Norm

  Plate, L. (1914). Prinzipien der Systematik mit besonderer Berücksichtigung des Systems der Tiere. In: Hertwig, R. & Wettstein, R. von (eds.). Abstammungslehre, Systematik, Paläontologie, Biogeographie (=Kultur der Gegenwart, vol. 3, 4, 4), 92-164: 124.

  1919

  To us these [i.e. saltation, variation, mutation] are all a single class, ›mutations‹, and the term carries no restrictions of degree, covering the most extreme as well as the slightest detectable inherited variation

  Bridges, C.B. (1919). Specific modifiers of eosin eye color in Drosophila melanogaster. J. exper. Zool. 28, 337-384: 381.

  1986

  Variation is not thought of as a deflection from the natural state of uniformity. Rather, variation is taken to be a fundamental property in its own right

  Sober, E. (1986). Philosophical problems for environmentalism. In: Norton, B.G. (ed.). The Preservation of Species, 173-194: 183; cf. id. (1980). Evolution, population thinking, and essentialism. Philos. Sci. 57, 350-383.