Georges+Cuvier

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Austin Thompson  1/14/13   Block A  = = = Georges Cuvier  = = Georges Chrétien Léopold Dagobert Cuvier or Jean Léopold Nicolas Frédéric Cuvier  =

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Georges Cuvier was born on Augest 23, 1769 and died on May 14, 1832 was well known as a naturalist and zoologist in the early 1800s (19th Century). Cuvier was a big influence in establishing anatomy and paleontology; he did this by comparing living animals and fossils. He then became known as the man who established and verified extinction as a fact. His finding of Extinction prompted the finding and theory of catastrophism.

During the time of Pre- Darwin it was still believed that extinction was a myth and that no animal have become extinct before. Cuvier showed that fossil remains of larger animals such as the dinosaurs of the early years of earth, when he began to show his colleagues the facts he began to disprove that extinction was a myth and that it was a fact. He stated “Such creatures would be far too large to overlook if they still existed” (Cuvier). He presented his findings in January 1796, known as a landmark in the history of paleontology.

= = “Without a doubt, Georges Cuvier possessed one of the finest minds in history. Almost single-handedly, he founded vertebrate paleontology as a scientific discipline and created the comparative method of organismal biology, an incredibly powerful tool. It was Cuvier who firmly established the fact of the extinction of past lifeforms. He contributed an immense amount of research in vertebrate and invertebrate zoology and paleontology, and also wrote and lectured on the history of science” (UCMP).



__Vocabulary__

Catastrophism: is the theory that small, sudden, violent, geological events took place that effected life on earth.

Organismal biology: the study of the structure, function, ecology and evolution of an organism.

[|Anatomy] : is the study of an living organism (ex: humans)

Extinction: is the end of life or of a group of life forms.

Work Cited
 * Georges Cuvier. (n.d.). // UCMP - University of California Museum of Paleontology // . Retrieved January 14, 2013, from []
 * Georges Cuvier - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. (n.d.). // Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia // . Retrieved January 14, 2013, from []
 * Georges Cuvier – Biography. (n.d.). // Macroevolution.net // . Retrieved January 16, 2013, from [|http://www.macroevolution.net/cuvier.html#.UPbU_ycR5vE]
 * Catastrophism - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. (n.d.). // Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia // . Retrieved January 16, 2013, from []
 * Organismal Biology. (n.d.). // Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology // . Retrieved January 16, 2013, from []
 * whom?. (n.d.). Anatomy - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. // Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia // . Retrieved January 16, 2013, from []
 * Extinction - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. (n.d.). // Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia // . Retrieved January 16, 2013, from []