HISTORY OF ZOOLOGY 



655 



Figure 459. Carolus Linnaeus (1707-1778), the 

 Swedish biologist who made one of the great con- 

 tributions to natural sciences by his studies in 

 taxonomy. 



different localities, he applied the binomial 

 nomenclature, still in use, which gives for 

 each species a concise description in Latin. 

 He succeeded in listing 4378 different spe- 

 cies of animals and plants. His greatest work, 

 entitled Systema Naturae, was published in 

 1735 and passed through 12 editions, of 

 which the tenth (1758) has been accepted 

 as the basis for zoological nomenclature. 

 Linnaeus believed in special creation and 

 hence made very little progress in explain- 

 ing the kinship of the different groups of 

 animals which he named. The work of Lin- 

 naeus stimulated other naturalists to dis- 

 cover and name new species of animals. At 

 first this was the only end in view, but at 

 the present time taxonomists are mainly in- 

 terested in the evolution of animals in gen- 

 eral and especially in that of the groups 

 which they are studying. 



Cuvier and Lamarck were both at work 

 in France at this time. Georges Cuvier 

 (1769-1832) (Fig. 460) is largely responsi- 

 ble for establishing the science of compara- 

 tive anatomy. He emphasized particularly 

 the relation between structure and function 



Figure 460. Georges Cuvier (1769-1832), the 

 French comparative anatomist and "father of 

 paleontology." 



and undertook to determine the characteris- 

 tics of an animal from a very small part. 

 For example, he said, "Give me a tooth 

 and I will construct the whole animal." His 

 studies involved fossils as well as living ani- 

 mals, and he is sometimes called the father 

 of vertebrate paleontology, 



Jean Lamarck (1744-1829) (Fig. 461) 

 was also a paleontologist, devoting himself 

 to the fossil remains of invertebrates, but 

 he is best known as a student of organic 

 evolution. Lamarck believed that environ- 

 mental influences are the principal cause 

 of evolutionary change; this concept became 

 known as the theory of the inheritance of 

 acquired traits. 



Johannes Miiller (1801-1858) of Ger- 

 many, at about this time, was founding the 

 science of comparative physiology by study- 

 ing the functions of invertebrates as well as 

 those of vertebrates, using in his work 

 physics and chemistry, along with the 

 methods of biology. 



