_02 A History of the Development of the Theory of Evolution

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Oct 30, 2023

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A History of the Development of the Theory of Evolution – Communications Assignment Name: Martin Le Person Timeline Concept Description of the concept and how it influenced the development of the Theory of Evolution Leclerc 1707 - 1788 Transmutation ● One of the first to challenge the idea that life forms are unchanging. ● He suggested that species change over time ● He believed that all living things had a common progenitor and had evolved and adapted to their surroundings over time. ● He pointed out the similarities between humans and apes. ● Suggested that the Earth might be older than the then-common belief of 6,000 years. Anning 1799 - 1847 Paleontology ● Provided raw material to the male scientists that would be instrumental in forming their evolutionary theories. ● Anning uncovered many of the world’s first ichthyosaurs, plesiosaurs, and pterodactyls fossils and skeletons, which had never been seen by anyone, anywhere before. ● Discovered a fossil of an ichthyosaur when she was only 12 years old. ● The first discoverer of a full plesiosaur skeleton, which proved evolution. ● As a religious person, she didn't believe in evolution but according to letters she wrote to her friends, it suggests that she grew to accept that there had been a progression of living things. Cuvier 1768 - 1832 Paleontology ● Discovered that rocks located deeper in the Earth had more diverse fossils than anything that was living during his lifetime. ● Cuvier showed that animals possess so many diverse anatomical traits that they could not be arranged in a single linear system. ● Cuvier's work on extinctions was incorporated into Darwin's theory of natural selection and survival of the fittest.

● Cuvier was the first to demonstrate that the different strata of rock in the Paris basin each had its own mammal fauna. Furthermore, he showed that the lower a stratum was, the more different its fossil animals were from species living in the present. Cuvier 1768 - 1832 Catastrophism ● Did not believe in evolution; he believed in catastrophism ● Catastrophism is the belief that each strata of rock contained different fossils because it was associated with a catastrophic event ● Cuvier believed that Earth was a place where catastrophes happened, resulting in different animals to emerge afterwards. ● Cuvier believed that the Earth was old and that for most of its history, conditions have been more or less like that of the present. ● Cuvier developed his theory of catastrophes. Accordingly, fossils show that animal and plant species are destroyed time and again by deluges and other natural cataclysms, and that new species evolve only after that. Lyell 1797 - 1875 Uniformitarianism ● A famed geologist whose book, Principles of Geology, Darwin took with him on the HMS Beagle. ● He brought up the idea of uniformitarianism ● Uniformitarianism states that geologic processes have not changed throughout Earth’s history Lamarck 1744 - 1829 Lamarckian evolution ● He placed fossils in an evolutionary context and published a theory of evolution in 1809 ● His theory used two common ideas of his time: 1) Use and disuse - parts of the body used on a regular basis become larger and stronger; those not used deteriorate. 2) Inheritance of these acquired characteristics (I.e., the modifications) is passed onto the offspring

● Lamarck’s theory was based on observations of fossils, but gave no mechanism for evolution ● Today we know that Lamarck was flawed • Ex – your vision does not improve the more you use your eyes • It is possible to stretch your neck slightly, but it will not alter your DNA and your children will not be born with longer necks ● All species evolve over time ● A species evolves in response to its environment and becomes better adapted to that environment ● Changes are passed on from generation to generation Darwin 1809 - 1882 Evolution by natural selection ● Some of the most compelling evidence for evolution comes from biogeography – observed geographic patterns of distribution of species ● Realised that the distributional patterns of species, both extinct and surviving, provided evidence that species may have evolved. ● Hypothesized that remote oceanic islands became populated by species that arrived by water or air ● After the species became established, many evolved into new species over time ● Darwin has two key points: 1) Different animal species descended from a single or small number of common ancestors 2) Natural selection is the process through which this evolution occurs.

_02 A History of the Development of the Theory of Evolution

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