MUTATION THEORY (Hugo de Vries 1901) -

• New species are not formed by continuous variations but sudden appearance of variations i.e., mutation. Mutation are heritable and persist in successive generations.
• Normal Plant Evening Primrose (Oenothera lamarckiana) About 50,000 specimens (Self pollination) 

FEATURES OF MUTATION THEORY -

• Mutation or sports or discontinuous variations are the raw material of evolution, which appear all of a sudden and heritable.
• Mutants varieties are marked different from the parents and there are no intermediate stages between the two.
• The same mutation appears again and again to increase the chances of selection by nature.
• A single mutation may produce a new species.