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Early Ideas on Evolution. Evolutionary Timeline. Carolus Linnaeus – first to group similar organisms and assign them Latin names (taxonomic classification system) Two word name (Genus species) Known as binomial nomenclature
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Carolus Linnaeus – first to group similar organisms and assign them Latin names (taxonomic classification system) • Two word name (Genus species) • Known as binomial nomenclature • Originally believed all organisms were fixed and did not change; did not believe that living species could evolve from a common ancestor
James Hutton - Scottish geologist • Described the geological forces that have changed life on Earth over millions of years (erosion, earthquakes, volcanoes, mountain building) • Changes in Earth’s crust due to slow continuous processes • Idea known as Gradualism • These changes caused certain species of life to become extinct.
Thomas Malthus – economist who said that, in nature, plants and animals produce far more offspring than can survive • Poverty, famine, disease result from overpopulation • Darwin would eventually use this idea to help explain natural selection and survival of the fittest
Jean-Baptiste Lamarck – French naturalist that proposed that all organisms evolved toward complexity and perfection • Stated that changes are adaptations to environment acquired in an organism’s lifetime • Said acquired changes were passed to offspring • Example – bird ancestors desired to fly so they tried until wings developed
Lamarck’s Theory of Evolution Inheritance of Acquired Characteristics • Proposed that by selective use or disuse of organs, organisms acquired or lost certain traits during their lifetime. • Those traits could then be passed on to their offspring. • Over time, this leads to new species.
Lamarck’s Theory of Evolution • Use & Disuse - Organisms Could Change The Size Or Shape Of Organs By Using Them Or Not Using Them • Giraffe’s neck got longer from stretching
Lamarck’s Theory of Evolution • Inheritance Of Acquired Traits • Traits Acquired During Ones Lifetime Would Be Passed To Offspring Clipped ears of dogs could be passed to offspring!
Lamarck’s Mistakes • Lamarck Did NOT Know how traits were inherited (Traits are passed through genes) • Genes Are NOT Changed By Activities In Life. • Change Through Mutation Occurs Before An Organism Is Born.
Charles Lyell – geologist; published Principles of Geology which advanced and popularized ideas of Hutton • Proposed theory of Uniformitarianism • Geological processes occuring at a uniform rate were responsible for building & wearing down Earth’s crust • Proposed that the Earth was millions of years instead of a few thousand years old
Georges Buffon – studied fossils to propose that species shared ancestors instead of arising separately • Species were created, but were not perfectly adapted and gradually changed over generations by “degenerating” from the forms given to them by God • Had no suggestion for how these changes occurred
Alfred Russel Wallace -if an animal has some trait that helps it to withstand the elements or to breed more successfully, it may leave more offspring behind than others; the trait will become more common in the following generation, and the generation after that (natural selection) • Considered Darwin’s “co-discoverer” of evolution by natural selection