Evolution Scientists

Lyell

a geologis in the mid 1800s. Believed that mountain building and erosioins are slow processes b/c of this Earth must be older than we originally thought, gradual geological processes cause huge changes on Earth. Uniformintarianism

Hutton

said that earth is shaped by geological forces over long periods of time- thus earth is millions years old

Cuvier

father of comparative anatomy and vertebrate paleontology; first to realize fossils were remains of extinct species; reasoned that there must have been a catastrophe that killed these creatures

Alfred Wallace

Naturalist who came to a similar conclusion as Darwin that natural selection could explain the origin of species, biological diversity, and similarities among related life forms.

Darwin

English natural scientist who formulated a theory of evolution by natural selection (1809-1882)

Malthus

an English economist who argued that increases in population would outgrow increases in the means of subsistence (1766-1834)

Lamarck

French naturalist who proposed that evolution resulted from the inheritance of acquired characteristics (1744-1829)