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How did Empedocles explain the survival of living species?

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Bronze bust of Epicurus with a full beard and draped clothing, displayed on a round inscribed base at the National Archaeological Museum of Naples. — Atomism Epicurus, bronze bust from a Greek original, c. 280–270 bce; in the Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Naples.

Empedocles explained the survival of living species through a process that serves as a primitive anticipation of the theory of the survival of the fittest.1

He posited that the four elements—earth, air, fire, and water—were constantly being mixed and separated by the blind forces of Love and Strife. During this random process of mixture and decomposition, various limbs and body parts of animals were formed by chance.21

According to Empedocles, these isolated parts could not survive independently. Species were only able to persist and continue to exist when these parts happened to come together in combinations that allowed the resulting creatures to support and reproduce themselves. In this view, the survival of a species was not the result of intentional design, but rather the outcome of chance configurations that proved functional for life.1