Today’s Topic History of Evolutionary Thought Learning Goal:
SWBAT identify the contributions of the evolutionary innovators prior to Charles Darwin.
Please submit your Solar Eclipse article now, if you haven’t done so already.
I will also be distributing a packet/take- home lab assignment today. Homework
Complete the “Solar Eclipse” article (Due Friday, 3/27)
Complete the “History of Evolutionary Thought Worksheet” (Due Thursday 4/2)
Today’s Assignment Unfortunately, I would have liked to have brought us down to a computer lab to complete today’s assignment.
However, because all of the labs are full, I have done the research for you.
Follow along as we learn about the people that paved the way for Charles Darwin.
Anaximander Born: 610 BC Died: 546 BC
A Greek philosopher who wrote a text called “On Nature”.
He believed that all life, including man, began as slime in the oceans, and eventually moved to drier places.
Anaximander He thought that humans were born inside of fishes, and once they hit the proper age, they shed their fish-like skin and began to walk upright.
He’s important because he was the first documented person to believe in an idea like evolution.
Xenophanes Born: 570 BC Died: 478 BC
Examined fossils and put forth the theory that the world was once entirely covered in water.
He was the first documented person as performing the “Scientific Method” – making a claim with evidence.
Plato Born: 428 BC Died: 348 BC
Incredibly famous philosopher.
Taught about philosophy, logic, ethics, rhetoric, religion, and mathematics.
Plato In terms of science, he believed that any variations in plants or animals just showed that they were imperfect representations of ideal forms.
He attempted to reconcile variations in creatures with some sort of reasoning.
Aristotle Born: 384 BC Died: 322 BC
Was a member of Plato’s Academy.
He wrote about physics, biology, zoology, logic, ethics, government, theater, among topics.
Aristotle In terms of science, he created a structured ordering system to classify organisms.
His scale ordered creatures in terms of increasing complexity.
However, he believed that creatures did not evolve.
Aristotle He said that organic creatures arise from inorganic materials by direct metamorphosis.
Meaning, the flies that buzz around rotting meat are spontaneously created from the rotting meat.
All matter complex creatures are made from less complex creatures below them.
Carolus Linnaeus Born: 5/23/1707 Died: 1/10/1778
“The Father of Modern Taxonomy”
Was a Swedish botanist, physician, and zoologist.
He created the two-word classification system for plants and animals.
Georges Cuvier Born: 8/23/1769 Died: 5/13/1832
Full Name: Jean Leopold Nicolas Frederic Cuvier
Was a French naturalist and zoologist.
He expanded upon Linnaeus’ work by incorporating fossils into the classification system.
Georges Cuvier He was also able to establish the fact that species do go extinct.
Also found that species can change over time.
He was able to prove this by looking at fossils of the Giant Sloth and Mastodon, and noticed that they do not accurately represent their modern equivalents.
Skeleton of a Giant Sloth
Skeleton of a normal Sloth
Skeleton of a Mastodon
James Hutton Born: 6/3/1726 Died: 3/26/1797
“Father of Modern Geology”
Established geology as a science.
Was a believer of uniformitarianism – the idea that the Earth’s crust is continually being formed.
James Hutton He said the same processes that are currently shaping the Earth must have shaped the Earth millions of years ago.
The processes that shape Earth, however, are VERY slow, which helped to provide evidence for the age of the planet.
Charles Lyell Born: 11/14/1797 Died: 2/22/1875
Popularized Hutton’s ideas of uniformitarianism.
He was one of the first people to believe that Earth is older than 300 million years old.
Said that stratigraphy and geology backs up these claims.
Charles Lyell Lyell also was a good friend of Charles Darwin, and contributed heavily to Darwin’s thinking on the process involved in evolution.
He helped arrange the publication of Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace’s papers on natural selection.
Jean Baptiste de Lamarck Born: 8/1/1744 Died: 12/18/1829
Was an early proponent of the idea that evolution occurred and proceeded in accordance with natural laws.
He also worked heavily with the classification of invertebrates – and coined the term! Jean Baptiste de Lamarck He believed that evolution was a goal-oriented process.
Also believed in the theory of inherited acquired characteristics.
He believed that if creatures do not use traits or characteristics, they will be lost.
Species do not go extinct – they evolve into a different species. Erasmus Darwin Born: 12/12/1731 Died: 4/18/1802
Grandfather to Charles Darwin!
Believed that all life had evolved from one common ancestor, which over time branched off into all the species we see today. Charles Darwin Born: 2/12/1809 Died: 4/19/1882
Rejected the ideas of evolution from transmutation
Believed in natural selection, and wrote with Alfred Russel Wallace about the branching pattern of evolution. Charles Darwin Born: 2/12/1809 Died: 4/19/1882
Rejected the ideas of evolution from transmutation
Believed in natural selection, and wrote with Alfred Russel Wallace about the branching pattern of evolution. Alfred Russel Wallace Born: 1/8/1823 Died: 11/7/1913
Independently came up with the theory of evolution from Charles Darwin.
Sent his paper to Charles Darwin regarding natural selection for peer review, which prompted Darwin to publish On the Origin of Species.
Worksheet Please complete the remainder of this worksheet.
Answer the questions based on your knowledge of these people.
Feel free to complete your own research I am ok with Wikipedia!