I went onto the Website http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/evolution/library/02/1/l_021_01.html
After reading what they had to say about Georges Cuvier, I believe that he brought a lot of information and evidence that really helped Darwin's Theory of Evolution. During his course of finding information and rebuilding fossils he found evidence of events that put specific species into extinction, yet he believed that the old species that lived were not just put into extinction but they were replaced (evolved) into different species that are on the Earth today.
The bullet point: Individuals do not evolve. Populations do. Individuals cannot change their heritable traits; they can only pass them on. Evolution does not occur within a generation. It occurs between
generations.
Georges Cuvier supported this point on how evolution works. During his course of finding evidence he came to a conclusion that certain species died off and fell into extinction. But a different generation of that type of species was replaced. He didn't know yet but he found that evolution doesn't occur during the like of a species but it occurs from generation to generation.
Could Darwin have developed his theory of natural selection without the influence and ideas of this
individual?
Darwin still might have been able to develop his theory of natural selection, yet Cuvier's information and theory's definitively help Darwin throughout his life. All of Cuvier's information and facts helped Darwin create his theory and gave a lot of evidence to show that he may be right.
How did the attitude of the church affect Darwin and his eventual publication of his book On the
Origin of Species?
Some church goers or religious people actually believed in what Darwin had to say. They believed that God himself made the world to be that way. While other religious believers were against what Darwin had to say, they thought that he was acting out against God and their beliefs and what he had to say was immoral and wrong, Never the less some were with Darwin while many others were not.
I thought that Georges Cuvier had a great study when it came to his theory with fossils, but I think that Malthus was the greater influence because of his essay "The Principles of Population." It stated how resources are limited and because of that, I think he had the greater influence on Darwin's theory of natural selection. But I like how you included the how the species may have not been "extinct" but evolved into something more.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I do think Cuvier did help Darwin with some parts of his theories, I think Lamarck was probably more influential because he was the first person to come up with any real theory that had anything to do with evolution, and he even touched on natural selection. I think the idea that the species evolved instead of going extinct is very interesting though.
ReplyDeleteYou are the only brave student to tackle Cuvier's work!
ReplyDeleteYou can't equate "replace" with "evolved", when talking about Cuvier's work. That isn't what he meant at all. He was an anti-evolutionist. Species might go extinct but they didn't change. If a species went extinct, it would be replaced in the strict sense that God would create another species in it's place. There was no biological mechanism involved, just the actions of God himself.
The bullet point you highlight would only apply in that Cuvier thought that neither individuals nor populations evolve. Nothing evolves! Cuvier might agree that the environment comes into play in terms of causing extinction.
I agree that Darwin could have developed his theory without Cuvier. Cuvier was primarily a negative influence on Darwin, providing an opposing opinion for him to work from.
The final question asks how the church's influence affected Darwin and his decision to publish his work. That isn't addressed in your answer. Why did Darwin delay publication of his work for two decades?
Although Cuvier influenced Darwin's studies I believe that Lamarck's work influenced Darwin's theory the most his theory of heredity helped Darwin due to the fact that his studies were false Darwin developed his own theory of natural selection.
ReplyDeletewild lands, your name is not one I recognize. Can you let me know your last name so that I can credit you with the comment?
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