"The results of Cuvier's principal palaeontological and geological investigations ultimately were given to the world in the form of two separate works: ""Recherches sur les ossemens fossiles de quadrupèdes"" (Paris, 1812; later editions in 1821 and 1825); and ""Discours sur les revolutions de la surface du globe"" (Paris, 1825). In this latter work he expounded a scientific theory of Catastrophism. Cuvier's most admired work was his ""Le Règne Animal"". It appeared in four octavo volumes in 1817; a second edition in five volumes was brought out in 1829–1830. In this classic work, Cuvier presented the results of his life's research"
"most widespread during the 19th century. The racial studies of Georges Cuvier, the French naturalist and zoologist, influenced scientific polygenism and scientific racism. These theories proposed a graduation from ‘civilisation’ to ‘barbarism’, at once justifying the European acquisition of foreign territories and highlighting the belief in the singular role of the Europeans as a civilizing force. Cuvier believed there were three distinct races: the Caucasian (""white""), the Mongolian (""yellow"") and the Ethiopian (""black""), Cuvier claimed Adam and Eve were Caucasian, forming the original race of mankind, while the other two races originated by survivors escaping in different directions after a"
"potentially finding a useful system to classify species to better understand the order of nature. Cuvier was an influential scientist with significant political power and many prominent positions: permanent secretary at the French Academie of Science, a professorship at the Museum of Natural History and the College of France, as well as a Council member at the University of France. Cuvier stuck to ""positive facts"" of science and refused to flirt with hypotheses and unsupported ideas. This attitude sprang from worries that this kind of thinking would lead to unrest and disorder in France as the French Revolution had torn"
"author of ""Essay on the Causes of Variety of Complexion and Figure in the Human Species"" in 1787. Smith claimed that Negro pigmentation was nothing more than a huge freckle that covered the whole body as a result of an oversupply of bile, which was caused by tropical climates. Racial studies by Georges Cuvier (1769–1832), the French naturalist and zoologist, influenced scientific polygenism and scientific racism. Cuvier believed there were three distinct races: the Caucasian (white), Mongolian (yellow) and the Ethiopian (black). He rated each for the beauty or ugliness of the skull and quality of their civilizations. Cuvier wrote"
"insects in the area around Rio de Janeiro, and writing about ants, snails and birds of the region. Back in Europe in 1829, he achieved a doctoral degree at the University of Kiel, traveled to Italy and later established himself in Paris, where he came under the influence of Georges Cuvier, professor of comparative anatomy at the Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle and the most influential naturalist and zoologist of the time. In his ""Discours sur les révolutions de la surface du globe"" (1825), Cuvier theorized that the extinction of species was caused by natural catastrophes in certain regions of the"
"descriptions of groups of related animals, such as the living elephants and the extinct mammoths, providing convincing evidence for evolutionary change to readers including Charles Darwin, although Cuvier himself rejected the possibility of evolution. As a boy, Georges Cuvier (1769-1832) read the Comte de Buffon's ""Histoire Naturelle"" from the previous century, as well as Linnaeus and Fabricius. He was brought to Paris by Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire in 1795, not long after the French Revolution. He soon became a professor of animal anatomy at the Musée National d'Histoire Naturelle, surviving changes of government from revolutionary to Napoleonic to monarchy. Essentially on"
"Le Règne Animal Le Règne Animal (The Animal Kingdom) is the most famous work of the French naturalist Georges Cuvier. It sets out to describe the natural structure of the whole of the animal kingdom based on comparative anatomy, and its natural history. Cuvier divided the animals into four ""embranchements"" (""Branches"", roughly corresponding to phyla), namely vertebrates, molluscs, articulated animals (arthropods and annelids), and zoophytes (cnidaria and other phyla). The work appeared in four octavo volumes in 1817; a second edition in five volumes was brought out in 1829–1830 and a third, written by twelve ""disciples"" of Cuvier, in 1836–1849."
"in the topic of mass extinction starting in the late twentieth century, however, has led to a resurgence of interest among historians of science and other scholars in this aspect of Cuvier's work. Cuvier collaborated for several years with Alexandre Brongniart, an instructor at the Paris mining school, to produce a monograph on the geology of the region around Paris. They published a preliminary version in 1808 and the final version was published in 1811. In this monograph they identified characteristic fossils of different rock layers that they used to analyze the geological column, the ordered layers of sedimentary rock,"
"The leading scientific proponent of catastrophism in the early nineteenth century was the French anatomist and paleontologist Georges Cuvier. His motivation was to explain the patterns of extinction and faunal succession that he and others were observing in the fossil record. While he did speculate that the catastrophe responsible for the most recent extinctions in Eurasia might have been the result of the inundation of low-lying areas by the sea, he did not make any reference to Noah's flood. Nor did he ever make any reference to divine creation as the mechanism by which repopulation occurred following the extinction event."
"French scientist Georges Cuvier, who proposed that new life forms had moved in from other areas after local floods, and avoided religious or metaphysical speculation in his scientific writings. In the early development of geology, efforts were made in a predominantly Christian western society to reconcile biblical narratives of Creation and the universal flood with new concepts about the processes which had formed the Earth. The discovery of other ancient flood myths was taken as explaining why the flood story was ""stated in scientific methods with surprising frequency among the Greeks"", an example being Plutarch's account of the Ogygian flood."
"philosophy (i.e., physics and chemistry). Humboldt's work laid the foundations of biogeography and inspired several generations of scientists. The emerging discipline of geology also brought natural history and natural philosophy closer together; Georges Cuvier and others made great strides in comparative anatomy and paleontology in the late 1790s and early 19th century. In a series of lectures and papers that made detailed comparisons between living mammals and fossil remains Cuvier was able to establish that the fossils were remains of species that had become extinct—rather than being remains of species still alive elsewhere in the world, as had been widely"
"Cuvier–Geoffroy debate The Cuvier–Geoffroy debate of 1830 was a scientific debate between the two French naturalists Georges Cuvier and Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire. For around two months the debate occurred in front of the French Academy of Sciences. The debate centered primarily on animal structure; Cuvier asserted that animal structure was determined by an organism's functional needs while Geoffroy suggested an alternative theory that all animal structures were modified forms of one unified plan. In terms of scientific significance, the discussion between the two naturalists showed stark differences in scientific methods as well as general philosophy. Cuvier is generally considered the"
"an abridgment of his course of lectures at the École du Pantheon and may be regarded as the foundation and first statement of his natural classification of the animal kingdom. In 1800 he published the ""Leçons d'anatomie comparée"", assisted by A. M. C. Duméril for the first two volumes and Georges Louis Duvernoy for the three later ones. Cuvier categorized snails, cockles, and cuttlefish into one category he called molluscs, or mollusca, an embranchment. Though he noted how all three of these animals were outwardly different in terms of shell shape and diet, he saw a noticeable pattern pertaining to"
"Histoire naturelle des poissons Histoire naturelle des poissons is a 22-volume treatment of ichthyology published in 1828-1849 by the French savant Georges Cuvier (1769-1832) and his student and successor Achille Valenciennes (1794-1865). It was a systematic compendium of the fishes of the world known at that time, and treated altogether 4 514 species of fishes, of which 2 311 were new to science. It is still one of the most ambitious undertakings in ichthyology ever. Most of the work appeared after the death of Cuvier. Later, Auguste Duméril still supplemented the work by two volumes in 1865 and 1870, which"
"elephants, descriptions of the tarsier, and the biology of the orangutan. It was not long before Cuvier began to make a name for himself individually too, as he was highly skilled at reaching out to patrons, networking and acquiring funding for his research. By 1976, Cuvier was working on his papers on extinction, merely two years after joining the Museum, while Geoffroy had barely begun to publish. One of the most significant events that solidified the split between the two scientists was Cuvier's appointment to the Academy of Sciences on December 17, 1795 as one of the six original members"
"idea of the principles of the correlation of parts and of the conditions of existence. The former principle accounts for the connection between organ function and its practical use for an organism to survive. The latter principle emphasizes the animal's physiological function in relation to its surrounding environment. These findings were published in his scientific readings, including Leçons d'anatomie comparée (Lessons on Comparative Anatomy) and in Le Règne Animal (The Animal Kingdom) in the early 19th century and 1817 respectively. Ultimately, Cuvier developed four embranchements, or branches, through which he classified animals based on his taxonomical and anatomical studies. He"
"ichthyologists. Histoire naturelle des poissons Histoire naturelle des poissons is a 22-volume treatment of ichthyology published in 1828-1849 by the French savant Georges Cuvier (1769-1832) and his student and successor Achille Valenciennes (1794-1865). It was a systematic compendium of the fishes of the world known at that time, and treated altogether 4 514 species of fishes, of which 2 311 were new to science. It is still one of the most ambitious undertakings in ichthyology ever. Most of the work appeared after the death of Cuvier. Later, Auguste Duméril still supplemented the work by two volumes in 1865 and 1870,"
"seasons; four female figures representing the rivers Seine, Loire, Garonne and Saône surround the column supporting the upper vasque. The figures and vasques were made of cast iron, painted to look like bronze. Fontaine Cuvier (1840–1846). Dedicated to Georges Cuvier (1769–1832), the naturalist, pioneer of paleontology and comparative anatomy. This fountain is located near the Jardin des Plantes and the museum of natural history, where Cuvier had worked. The statue is placed against a wall, with a low basin, water pouring from the heads of reptiles, and a band of human and animal heads. Above that is an allegorical figure"
"rather evidence for cyclical creations and destructions of life forms by global extinction events such as deluges. In 1830, Cuvier and Geoffroy engaged in a famous debate, which is said to exemplify the two major deviations in biological thinking at the time – whether animal structure was due to function or (evolutionary) morphology. Cuvier supported function and rejected Lamarck's thinking. His most famous work is ""Le Règne Animal"" (1817; English: ""The Animal Kingdom""). In 1819, he was created a peer for life in honor of his scientific contributions. Thereafter, he was known as Baron Cuvier. He died in Paris during"
"and later biologists looked for explanations of such evolutionary change. Georges Cuvier's 1812 ""Recherches sur les Ossements Fossiles"" set out his doctrine of the correlation of parts, namely that since an organism was a whole system, all its parts mutually corresponded, contributing to the function of the whole. So, from a single bone the zoologist could often tell what class or even genus the animal belonged to. And if an animal had teeth adapted for cutting meat, the zoologist could be sure without even looking that its sense organs would be those of a predator and its intestines those of"
"(Chapter VII) as having worked on animal behaviour and instinct, especially the distinction between habit and instinct. He is also mentioned in Herman Melville's ""Moby-Dick"" (Chapter 32) as having written on the topic of whales. Cuvier has been described as the first scientist to use terms """"héréditaire"""" (hereditary) in 1807 and ""heredity” in 1812 in their now biological context. He used both words in promoting the inheritance of acquired characteristics based on his studies of animal behaviour. Although an advocate of the inheritance of acquired characteristics, similar to his brother he denied the transmutation of species. He believed that behavioral"
"1796 lecture to the French Institute, though he would spend most of his career trying to convince the wider scientific community of his theory. Cuvier was a well-regarded geologist, lauded for his ability to reconstruct the anatomy of an unknown species from a few fragments of bone. His primary evidence for extinction came from mammoth skulls found in the Paris basin. Cuvier recognized them as distinct from any known living species of elephant, and argued that it was highly unlikely such an enormous animal would go undiscovered. In 1812, Cuvier, along with Alexandre Bronigniart & Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, mapped the strata"
"his own he created the discipline of vertebrate palaeontology and the accompanying comparative method. He demonstrated that animals had become extinct. In an earlier attempt to improve the classification of animals, Cuvier transferred the concepts of Antoine-Laurent de Jussieu's (1748-1836) method of natural classification, which had been presented in 1789 in ""Genera plantarum"", from botany to zoology. In 1795, from a ""fixist"" perspective (denying the possibility of evolution), Cuvier divided Linnaeus's two unsatisfactory classes (""insects"" and ""worms"") into six classes of ""white-blooded animals"" or invertebrates: molluscs, crustaceans, insects and worms (differently understood), echinoderms and zoophytes. Cuvier divided the molluscs into"
"it was paradoxically ""the precision of his anatomical descriptions and the importance of his research on fossil bones"", showing for instance that mammoths were extinct elephants, that enabled later naturalists including Darwin to argue convincingly that animals had evolved. Le Règne Animal Le Règne Animal (The Animal Kingdom) is the most famous work of the French naturalist Georges Cuvier. It sets out to describe the natural structure of the whole of the animal kingdom based on comparative anatomy, and its natural history. Cuvier divided the animals into four ""embranchements"" (""Branches"", roughly corresponding to phyla), namely vertebrates, molluscs, articulated animals (arthropods"
"first to accept evolution theory. Cuvier–Geoffroy debate The Cuvier–Geoffroy debate of 1830 was a scientific debate between the two French naturalists Georges Cuvier and Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire. For around two months the debate occurred in front of the French Academy of Sciences. The debate centered primarily on animal structure; Cuvier asserted that animal structure was determined by an organism's functional needs while Geoffroy suggested an alternative theory that all animal structures were modified forms of one unified plan. In terms of scientific significance, the discussion between the two naturalists showed stark differences in scientific methods as well as general philosophy."
"and inspired several generations of scientists. The emerging discipline of geology also brought natural history and natural philosophy closer together; the establishment of the stratigraphic column linked the spatial distribution of organisms to their temporal distribution, a key precursor to concepts of evolution. Georges Cuvier and others made great strides in comparative anatomy and paleontology in the late 1790s and early 19th century. In a series of lectures and papers that made detailed comparisons between living mammals and fossil remains Cuvier was able to establish that the fossils were remains of species that had become extinct—rather than being remains of"
"190 Ma) around the same time as the dinosaurs, which also sprouted from the reptilian line. Birds first diverged from dinosaurs between 100 Ma and 60 Ma. One of the people who helped figure out the vertebrate progression was French zoologist Georges Cuvier (1769–1832), who realized that fossils found in older rock strata differed greatly from more recent fossils or modern animals. He published his findings in 1812 and, although he steadfastly refuted evolution, his work proved the (at the time) contested theory of extinction of species. Thomas Jefferson is credited with initiating the science of vertebrate paleontology in the"
"facilitated the academic study of the animals by doctors and zoologists. Studies related to systematics, morphology and anatomy were all carried out, notably by Georges Cuvier. Étienne Geoffroy, Frédéric Cuvier (the brother of Georges Cuvier) performed research in the area of behavioral observation. Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire and Frédéric Cuvier published their results in the quarterly work ""Histoire des Mammifières"". It was first published in 1826 and became one of the foundational books concerning the biology of exotic animals. Furthermore, F. Cuvier's plans regarding the breeding of new domestic animal species were formulated. The expanding range of species was chiefly the"
"of his racial studies have influenced scientific racism. Cuvier believed there were three distinct races: the Caucasian (white), Mongolian (yellow), and the Ethiopian (black). Cuvier claimed that Adam and Eve were Caucasian, the original race of mankind. The other two races originated by survivors escaping in different directions after a major catastrophe hit the earth 5,000 years ago, with those survivors then living in complete isolation from each other. Cuvier categorized these divisions he identified into races according to his perception of the beauty or ugliness of their skulls and the quality of their civilizations.</ref>Cuvier's racial studies held the supposed"
"century, Marcus Elieser Bloch of Berlin and Georges Cuvier of Paris made attempts to consolidate the knowledge of ichthyology. Cuvier summarized all of the available information in his monumental ""Histoire Naturelle des Poissons"". This manuscript was published between 1828 and 1849 in a 22 volume series. This documental describes 4,514 species of fish, 2,311 of these new to science. It remains one of the most ambitious treatises of the modern world. Scientific exploration of the Americas advanced our knowledge of the remarkable diversity of fish. Charles Alexandre Lesueur was a student of Cuvier. He made a cabinet of fish dwelling"
"purportedly observed in Khoisan at the Cape. French naturalists, among them Georges Cuvier, head keeper of the menagerie at the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, and founder of the discipline of comparative anatomy visited her. She was the subject of several scientific paintings at the Jardin du Roi, where she was examined in March 1815: as Saint-Hilaire and Frédéric Cuvier, a younger brother of Georges, reported: ""she was obliging enough to undress and to allow herself to be painted in the nude."" This was not literally true: although by his standards she appeared to be naked, in accordance with her own"
"Society, and in 1812, a foreign member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. In 1812 he became a correspondent for the Royal Institute of the Netherlands, and became member in 1827. Cuvier was elected a Foreign Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1822. Cuvier then devoted himself more especially to three lines of inquiry: (i) the structure and classification of the Mollusca; (ii) the comparative anatomy and systematic arrangement of the fishes; (iii) fossil mammals and reptiles and, secondarily, the osteology of living forms belonging to the same groups. In 1812, Cuvier made what"
"into the structure of living and fossil animals. With the exception of the section on insects, in which he was assisted by his friend Latreille, the whole of the work was his own. It was translated into English many times, often with substantial notes and supplementary material updating the book in accordance with the expansion of knowledge. Cuvier was a Protestant and a believer in monogenism, who held that all men descended from the biblical Adam, although his position usually was confused as polygenist. Some writers who have studied his racial work have dubbed his position as ""quasi-polygenist"", and most"