Evolutionary thinking 2

Question 1

What is the principle of the correlation of parts?

Answer 1

• Mechanistic view, that organisms are so integrated that small changes in one trait would lead to catastrophic changes to the whole (because everything is connected)
• established by Cuvier

Question 2

What did Benoit de Maillet discover?

Answer 2

• fossil evidence of changing environment
• saw marine fossils high in the mountains, and concluded that the Earth was once covered by ocean
• used rate of sea-level to infer the age of the earth

Question 3

Who initially popularized the idea of changing species to the public?

Answer 3

Comte de Buffon

Question 4

What did de Buffon believe regarding biological species and evolution?

Answer 4

• thought that life was continuously variable, and was skeptical of the ‘species’ model
• believed in species change based on observation of organisms adaptive fit with local environments

Question 5

Who was Erasmus Darwin? What did he think of evolution?

Answer 5

• Charles Darwin’s grandfather, a physician
• he considered the idea of evolution, and mentioned it briefly in his writings, however did not develop a mechanism for evolution
• had to be cautious of his published ideas, as it could directly impact his business