2-Evolution before Darwin

8/7/2019 2-Evolution before Darwin

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Evolution Before Darwin

Biology 110, Spring 2011

Lecture Sections C, D, E

T.W. SipeFranklin & Marshall College


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Historical Context Surrounding Darwin

Important people above; influential contributions & events below

Q&A


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F it to Rule :

Video ( F it to Rule) from the PBS Series The Day theUniverse Changed

Chronological synopsis of important contributions and opinions aboutthe age of the earth and organic change before Darwin, including:

Linnaeus Cuvier Wallace

Buffon Buckland Malthus

Smith Hutton

* Note the overlap with names on the previous slides timeline* Note, also, that the lecture outline has names and concepts not included on the previous slide or in the video.


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Ionian & Athenian Greeks (~ 600300 B.C.)

F irst well-developed rational systems of thought in theWestern world; long-lasting impact on natural history

and development of science, esp. empirical science

Common beliefs: infinitely old universe and earth, createdby divine beings, immutable species


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T he Scala Naturae , Chain of Being:

From Aristotle to the 19th Century

Humans

Live-bearingvertebrates

Egg-bearingvertebrates

Invertebrates

Higher plants

Lower plants

Inanimatematter


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N atural T heology & the N ewtonian Universe (


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Carl von Linne (Carolus Linnaeus)

(1707-1788)

Swedish natural theologian who sought orderamid the confusion of living things, the most

influential of the European taxonomists

Developed comprehensive hierarchicaltaxonomy based on morphological comparisons

Binomial N omenclature (Latin)

Considered species to be immutable; impactin his day and to the present, includingevolutionary thinking


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Georges Comte de Buffon(1707-1788)

Leading European naturalist, curator of theParis Zoo, prolific author

Accepted mutability of species and older earth(~30,000 years), butheld to divine creation

Degeneration T heory : explanation for relationshipsamong similar organisms, starting with the biblical kinds in various centers of creation, followed bymodification in response to different environmentalconditions; accounted for biogeographic variation

F ounder of biogeography


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J ean Lamarck (1744-1829)

F irst N atural Historian to Develop aCoherent Hypothesis for Evolution

Expert in botany and zoology, esp. invertebrates

Practiced innovative science, for his day

Reconciled existing paradigms ( scala naturae ) and widely believedoccurrences (e.g., spontaneous generation) with new observations and ideas

Dynamic scala naturae : transformative progression up the Great ChainProposed mechanisms, based on empirical observation: (1) felt needs , (2) use& disuse , (3) inheritance of acquired characteristics

Widely read, influenced many naturalists, including Darwin


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Lamarcks T heory of Organic Progression:A Dynamic Chain of Being

Ongoing, spontaneousgeneration of lower forms

Movement up thehierarchy by: (1) felt

needs, (2) use and disuse,and (3) inheritance of

acquired characteristics

An evolutionary theory,indeed the first fully

formed mechanism forevolution that reconciled

old ideas with newevidence

But wrong.


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Georges Cuvier (1769-1832)

T op European naturalist, curator of Paris Zoo, extremely influential

Developed comparative anatomy , a far-reaching and consequential method

T he emerging fossil record demonstrated extinctions how to explain??...Cuvier did not accept evolution as a possibility

Cuviers suggestion: catastrophism , repeated extinctionevents, followed by new creation events, in differentregions of the world

Applied to fossils: comparative paleontology ,reconstruction from partial remains

Cuviers impacts on evolutionary thinking, (+) and ()


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J ames Hutton (1726-1797)

Solution?... Gradualism : very large-scale geological changeis possible through everyday processes like erosion, givenenough time ( deep time, in fact)

Problem: how to (1) reconcile the occurrence of observablegeological change with the supposed fixity of creation, andhow to (2) explain big geological patterns (e.g. river valleys)

Result: Empirical evidence from the earth plus outside-the-box thinking challenges the paradigm about the creations

age and unchanging nature

Hutton hit on a variety of ideas to explain the rockformations he saw aroundhim, but according toPlayfair he "was in no

haste to publish his theory; for he was one of thosewho are much moredelighted with thecontemplation of truth,than with the praise of having discovered it .

the father of geology


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William Smith : 1769-1839

Geologist, canal engineer,landscape mapper, the father

of English geology

His observations:

(1) Predictable fossil correlations withparticular rock strata

(2)N

ewer strata have more complex fossils(3) N ewer fossils more like modern species

(4) Extinctions had occurred

Conclusion: Life had changed in a non-random manner through time


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Alfred Russell Wallace (1823-1913)

Superb and dedicatednaturalist, well-traveled,esp. in the old and newworld tropics, specialiston insects, great writer

Conceived of natural selection independently :

explained the origin of new species, the amazingdiversity in the world, and biogeographic patterns

Younger contemporary of Darwin, no establishedreputation to speak of (yet); wrote to Darwinabout his ideas

2-Evolution before Darwin

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