prominent in various naturalists' minds

[keannu]

What do you think this "prominent" means? The translation goes "come up" or "arise".

pr83
ex)Until the 19th century, scientists supposed that species were unchanging. This allowed them to classify species. It was not always simple because individuals vary, but there was no disagreement about the meaning of the word species..but it was not until biologists realized that species evolve that it became necessary to look again at the definition,,, Charles Darwin found the resulting confusion amusing. "It is really laughable to see what different ideas are prominent in various naturalists' minds when they speak of 'species,'" he wrote. "It all comes, I believe, from trying to define the indefinable."

[Gillnetter]

No, prominent in the sense of being the most important thought. Of all of the thoughts that the naturalists had about species, the foremost (or, prominent) thought was that species did not change. For example, it was the prominent thought among southwestern Indians that the mountains were where the gods lived.