evoeco ppl

I wrote Systema Naturae, where I classified organisms and grouped them into taxa. I believed that species were created according to a

divine plan and remained unchanged since creation

Carolus Linnaeus

I reasoned that slightly different finches on each Galápagos island were evidence of “descent with modification.” I wrote On the Origin of

Species, introducing my theory of evolution by natural selection.

Darwin

I was among the first people to discover fossils. I recognized that fossils appeared in areas that did not match the organism’s current

environment and concluded that Earth had changed.

Nicolas Steno

Much of my work involved microscopic observations. I supported natural theology and viewed an organism’s complexity as evidence for

design by a Creator.

Robert Hooke

I favored inheritance of acquired characteristics, the idea that physical changes acquired during an organism’s lifetime could be passed

on to its offspring.

Jean-Baptiste Lamarck

I proposed an “old Earth” of >70,000 years. I also believed life came from organic particles in Earth’s early oceans and that could

transform as habitats changed.

Georges Buffon

I used fossils such as the mastodon to prove that an entire species can go extinct. I am also known for catastrophism: the idea that mass

extinctions are caused by sudden, catastrophic events.

Georges Cuvier

I explored Southeast Asia and independently formulated the theory of evolution by natural selection. . I don’t get as much recognition

because someone published a more ‘fleshed out’ version of the theory without me.

Alfred Russel Wallace

I discovered fossils of extinct marine reptiles like Plesiosaurus, helping establish extinction as fact.

Mary Anning

I noticed that the same types of fossils tend to occur in older rocks, whereas other types of fossils occur in younger rocks, integrating

geography, extinction & species ranges.

William Smith

I am known for my views on gradualism, the idea that the geological features of modern Earth are the result of gradual and perpetual

upheaval and erosion over vast timescales.

James Hutton

I popularized uniformitarianism, which emphasizes that geological changes that shaped the Earth (erosion, sedimentation, volcanism)

are small, constant, and ongoing.

Charles Lyell