Richard+Goldschmidt

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​Richard Goldschmidt (1878-1958) Richard Goldschmidt was a German geneticist most known for his theory that different species did not come from small cumulative changes but from large jumps originating in the phenotype.

By Ava Montoya

Richard Goldschmidt was a geneticist most known for his evolutionary theories regarding how different species came to be. He was a native of Germany, but was forced out of the country with the rise of the Nazi regime. He completed his work and became a professor at the University of California Berkeley. Unlike Darwin and his theory that the accumulation of slow minute changes is responsible for the development of new and separate species, Goldschmidt believed that there had to be large jumps in genetics which would be responsible for unique species of animals. He did not deny the build up of small changes within one population or species, but he thought that in order for different species to come about there had to be these large gaps, which he called "hopeful monsters". This term comes from the way that mutations or mutants were referred to back then, which was monsters. The "hopeful" comes from the theory that these mutations in genetics would prove to help the new species survive in that environment that caused the mutation because the mutations themselves were caused by the environment, meaning that the mutations would give these new species more hope to survive in their given environment.

Darwin was known for the accepted theory that small changes within one species or family were eventually accountable for total changes from one species to another species entirely. Goldschmidt combated this with is theory that all of the undeniable small genetic changes or mutations within one species eventually lead to dead ends, and therefore could not change from one species to another entirely. This is where the large jumps in genetics came in, which he believed to be responsible for the development of entirely new species. Goldschmidt did not believe that these large changes had to come from genetic mutations in all cases. His theory included the idea that changes in the phenotype could also be the reason for these jumps and changes from one species to another. Phenotype is defined as both the physical and biochemical traits of an organism that are actually observable. These traits can be determined both by genetics and influences from the environment. Goldschmidt's theory states that environmental stresses and conditions were responsible for many changes in phenotype which is how entirely new species would come into being.

Goldsmith, E. (1998, June 1). Richard Benedict Goldschmidt. //edwardgoldsmith.org //. Retrieved January 16, 2013, from http://www.edwardgoldsmith.org/52/richard-benedict-goldschmidt/
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