1/12/12The development of the theory of evolution- Fixity of Species o Pre-1600’s belief that all life and organisms have been the same forever (in stasis)- Great chain of being o Theory that there were levels of life, from least complex to most complex (humans)o According to scientists, there must have been a “grand designer”- Bishop Ussher (1581-1656)o Based on the book of Genesis, he determined Earth was created with Fixity of Species in 4004 B.C. Explained that fossils were just imperfect creatures that God had destroyed- Vesalius o Anatomist that studied humans enough to start comparative anatomy with other animals- Harvey o Determined how blood flows through the body and studied medicinal plants- John Ray (1627-1705)o Coined terms “genus and species”o Found organisms are separated by their ability to reproduce with each other Species – group of organisms that can breed together- Linnaeus (1707-1778)o Father of taxonomy System of naming given to plants and animals in the form of genus and species Binomial Nomenclature – Name of genus and species- Ex: Human: Homo Sapien- Ex: Chimpanzee: Pan Troglodytes- Buffon (1731-1802)o Wrote a 44 volume encyclopedia of natural scienceo Believe species could change through time Environmental elements were the agent of change- Erasmus Darwin (1744-1829) – Through poetry, communicated that all living things came from micro-organismso Charles Darwin became familiar with his poetry- Lamarck (1744-1829) o Postulated a mechanism for organic change (the theory and basis for traits/genetics) “Inheritance of Acquired Characteristics” – Offspring will attain characteristics you work towards- Ex: Giraffe stretching its neck, so offspring have longer neck This theory is WRONG but it got people thinkingo This relates to Epigenetics – The chemicals you put in your body could show linkage to genetic traits in offspring Ex: Potato famine Diabetes- Cuvier (1769-1832)o Father of comparative anatomyo Researched likenesses of living creatures to each other and fossil records Anti-evolutionist Aware of geologic observations (strata, layers, etc.) Catastrophism – God would try repeatedly to create, then destroy until he got it right. Explained fossils and strata- Lyell (1797-1875)o Uniformitarianism – Explained geological processes are ongoing over many yearso Deep Time – Idea that Earth is incredibly old (supported by uniformitarianism- Malthus (1766-1834) o Economist that inspired the ideas for natural selectiono Found that populations grow, sometimes exponentially, but food supply stays stableo This causes competition- Charles Darwin (1809-1882)o Rode 5 year voyage on The Beagle around South America and most of the worldo Capt. Fitzroy was who Darwin was accompanying He asked Darwin to read Lyell’s book on deep time and uniformitarianism (and to not believe any of it) Researched the Galapagos Islands - 500 miles off the coast of South America- No mammals (except one rodent on one island)- No amphibians- Strange reptiles Odd research on animals- Finches o On mainland there’s one specieso On island there are over 12o Finches occupied all the bird niches in natural selection No hummingbirds  Hummingbird finch is born No woodpeckers  Woodpecker finch is born No vampiric animals  Vampire finch is borno Normally other birds would out-compete for food in these niches, but finches were allowed to evolve in solitude, resulting in many specieso Darwin’s ideas on Evolution were kicked into motion- Alfred Russel Wallace (1823-1913)o Naturalist who contracted malariao His sickness made him realize the point of death from the natural selection standpointo He wrote Darwin a letter about his faith and knowledge of natural selectiono Although Darwin had already written down all these findings and never published anything, he co-authored their manuscripto Origin of Man – Darwin and Wallace’s manuscript that he published in 1859 He had been keeping it hidden for over 20 years