1. the theory that chance is involved in evolution and that variation within a species is accidental. 2. the belief that chance rather than mere determinism operates in the cosmos. Cf. uniformitarianism. 1. Philosophy. a doctrine that the universe is governed only by rigid, unexceptionable law.
Share this set. an organism that produces its own nutrients from inorganic substances or from the environment instead of consuming other organisms. Autotroph. an organism that produces its own nutrients from inorganic substances or from the environment instead of consuming other organisms.
Autotroph: Autotroph, in ecology, an organism that serves as a primary producer in a food chain. Autotrophs obtain energy and nutrients by harnessing sunlight through photosynthesis (photoautotrophs) or, more rarely, obtain chemical energy through oxidation (chemoautotrophs) to make organic substances from inorganic ones. Autotrophs do not consume other organisms; they are, however, consumed by heterotrophs.