BIO 1030 Lecture Notes - Lecture 38: Georges Cuvier, Biogeography, Uniformitarianism
17 Apr 2017
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Before darwin: people had an entirely different way of viewing the world. Thought that earth was a few thousand years old. Thought that species remained the same since creation: explorers brought back fossils found in strata (layers of sedimentary material or rock, georges cuvier founded paleontology. He believed the fixity of species yet strata showed a succession of different forms over time. Explains appearance of new forms as replacing old forms due to local catastrophe. Jean baptiste de lamarck: evolution occurred and that adaptation was the cause of diversity, concluded more complex forms descended from less complex forms, inherited of acquired characteristics. Darwin"s ideas close to lamarck but: species are suited to the environment through no will of their own, natural selection is the means for speciation. Darwin"s conclusion based on: study of geology, fossils, and biogeography. Evidence that the earth was subject to slow but continuous cycle of erosion and uplift. Uniformitarianism- these slow changes occurred at uniform rate.
