Important Anthropologists

Bishop Ussher

analyzed the bible to find out that the earth was created in 4004 BC

• believed fossils are mistakes that god made and turned them to stone

John Ray

created the terms genus and species

• species: group of organisms that can reproduce/ produce viable offspring

Linnaeus

father of taxonomy; categorized every species/ animals into genus/ species names

Leclerc, Count of Buffon

challenged fixity of species: believed species could change through time + world is OLDER than 4004 BC

wrote 44 volume encyclopedia of Natural History

ERASMUS Darwin

believed that we all evolved from microorganisms

Lamarck

“use + disuse”: an organism can change its body during its life by using or not using certain parts, and then pass those new traits to its offspring

ex: development of giraffe’s long necks

Cuvier

explained the existence of fossils: cycle of creation/ destruction

• something catastrophic always happens that destroys life to create fossils

James Hutton

uniformitarianism: geological changes on earth take time over thousands of years

Charles Lyell

destroyed the 4004 BC age theory, developed Deep Time: earth is billion of years old

• wrote principles of geology

Robert Hook

proved that fossils were once living creatures

Thomas Malthus

found that as population increases and food supply remains stable, there will be competition over food supply