Evolutionary Modifications
Evolutionary Modifications
This chapter explores how, in the wake of Darwin’s Origin of Species and the fossil remains of so-called “missing links” like the Archaeopteryx that soon after came to light, Cuvierian correlation faced a profound crisis. Rather than simply being eclipsed by evolution, however, it was often modified and adapted to the new scientific priorities of the post-Origin era. Darwin himself appropriated key elements of Cuvier’s law in his own law of correlated variability, denuding the original of its erstwhile anti-evolutionary potential. Owen too publicly disputed Cuvier’s views on the fixity of species, explaining functional adaptations as the result of a preordained law of evolution. Owen nevertheless still endeavoured to impose the Cuvier’s paleontological methods on obdurate colonial naturalists in Australia.
Keywords: evolution, Charles Darwin, Origin of Species, missing link, archaeopteryx, correlated variability, Richard Owen, preordained evolution, Australia, colonial science
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