Extinction and comparative anatomy of fossils (Cuvier)
Realidad de la extinción y anatomía comparada de fósiles
- Date
- 1796-1812 · confidence high
- Place
- Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, Paris, France
- Credited to
- Georges Cuvier
- People
- 👤 Georges Cuvier1769–1832
- Field
- Life & health
What was discovered
He demonstrated that the mammoth and the mastodon were species distinct from living elephants and already extinct, establishing extinction as a fact. He founded vertebrate palaeontology and comparative anatomy.
Cuvier rejected evolution despite laying its empirical foundations.
What it led to
- palaeontology
- biostratigraphy
- catastrophism and the debate with uniformitarianism
- acceptance of deep time
Built on
- fossil collections
- Daubenton's comparative anatomy
Made possible
- Dinosaurs1824-1842
- reconstruction of fossil skeletons