What did Georges Cuvier contribute to evolution?

Answer 1

Georges Cuvier was a pioneering French naturalist and paleontologist who significantly contributed to the field of evolutionary Biology through his work on the fossil record. He is best known for establishing the concept of catastrophism, which posited that the Earth’s geology and life forms have been shaped by a series of sudden, short-lived events, such as natural disasters, rather than gradual processes. Cuvier's comparative anatomy studies demonstrated that species could go extinct, laying the groundwork for later evolutionary theories, although he himself did not accept the idea of evolution as proposed by later scientists like Charles Darwin. His emphasis on the importance of fossils in understanding life's history was crucial for the development of Paleontology and evolutionary thought.