Le règne animal distribué d'après son organisation

Abstract

French zoologist and naturalist Georges Cuvier (1769–1832), one of the most eminent scientific figures of the early nineteenth century, is best known for laying the foundations of comparative anatomy and palaeontology. He spent his lifetime studying the anatomy of animals, and broke new ground by comparing living and fossil specimens - many he uncovered himself. However, Cuvier always opposed evolutionary theories and was during his day the foremost proponent of catastrophism, a doctrine contending that geological changes were caused by sudden cataclysms. He received universal acclaim when he published his monumental Le règne animal, which made significant advances over the Linnaean taxonomic system of classification and arranged animals into four large groups. The sixteen-volume English translation and expansion, The Animal Kingdom (1827–35), is also reissued in the Cambridge Library Collection. First published in 1817, Volume 2 of the original version covers reptiles and fish.

The segmental pattern of otx, gbx, and Hox genes in the annelid Platynereis dumerilii

“…Arthropod and annelid brains are morphologically similar with anterior supra-esophageal ganglia connected to a segmental chain of ventral ganglia via circum-esophageal connectives (Bullock and Horridge 1965). This shared morphology had traditionally been interpreted as obvious homology and was used as strong argument in favor of common descent of annelids and arthropods from segmented common ancestors (Articulata) (Cuvier 1817;Siewing 1985). However, the homology of annelid and arthropod segments has been called into question by the ''New Animal Phylogeny'' that places arthropods and annelids into distinct protostome super-phyla (Ecdysozoa and Lophotrochozoa), together with a majority of nonsegmented groups (Adoutte et al 2000).…”

Experience and Experimentation: Medicine, Psychiatry and Experimental Psychology in Paul Janet

“…While physics and chemistry dealt with inert matter, physiology relied instead on the living being and its changeable nature. The naturalist George Cuvier (1768-1832) had at the beginning of the century already pointed out the peculiar status of the living organism, namely the fact that it exists as a harmonious whole that is almost impossible to discern as individual parts (Cuvier 1817;Pa. Janet 1866, p. 922).…”

Evolution as a Solution: Franco Andrea Bonelli, Lamarck, and the Origin of Man in Early-Nineteenth-Century Italy

“… 39 Cuvier ( 1817 , pp. 94, 95): “Il y a cependant des causes intrinsèques qui paraissent arrêter les progrès de certaines races, même au milieu des circonstances les plus favorables….…”