The end product of each 'experiment' is a prototype awaiting authenticity. Superimposed upon each prototype is the spanner labelled 'variation' that Nature has thrown into the works. Variation prevents us from being able to identify a 'general' or 'typical' organism for each particular taxon. It is an integral part of organismal characteristics and has important implications for ecology, paleoecology, and evolutionary theory. By simply changing the frequency or size, for example, of a character, dramatically different interpretations can be made.
Variation can occur at the whole organism- and suborganismal level.
As a scholar of Paleobotany, I was introduced unwittingly to variation while trying to glean paleoecological signals from fossilized twig wood when all studies of this kind previously had concentrated on mature wood. At first, variation was an obstacle that had to be surmounted - it gnawed away undermining convictions and confidence. But, now it has become the focus of ensuing research. It would be easy to ignore, but this is not what science is about. Obstacles of this kind need to be understood and, although we might not yet have the answer, surely that should not prevent the question from being raised.