Evolution of an Idea: Pre-Darwin Theorists

Flashcards covering vocabulary from the lecture notes on the evolution of an idea and pre-Darwin theorists, including early evolution theories, adaptation, heredity, fossils, catastrophism and uniformitarianism.

Immutable

Unchanging; unable to be changed.

Buffon

Believed that species were originally created in fully perfect form, but changed into ‘imperfect’ form.

Carl Linnaeus and Erasmus Darwin

Proposed that life all originated from one single source, and changed over time.

Use and Disuse

Structures used grow and become stronger, structures not used become weaker/smaller.

Inheritance of Acquired Characteristics

Individuals could pass on to their offspring characteristics they had acquired during their lives.

Fossils

Remains, impressions, or traces of an organism or its activity that have been preserved in rocks or minerals in the Earth.

Fossil Formation

Occurs when remains of a dead, buried organism are gradually replaced with mineral deposits, typically in areas lacking much oxygen.

Catastrophism

Theory that global catastrophes (e.g., floods) caused widespread extinctions of species. Proposed by Cuvier.

Uniformitarianism

Theory that Earth has been changed by the same slow, gradual processes in the past that are occurring in the present. Proposed by Lyell.