Comparative Vertebrate Anatomy

This examines the evolution and relationships of the major organ systems in the vertebrate lineage. As usual, I did not have any time to prepare or even an office, but at least we had plenty of specimens for dissensions, left over from previous years. It helped that it was one of my favourite courses when I took it.

 

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The French guy in the background is Georges Cuvier (1769-1832), who is usually credited as being the father of vertebrate anatomy and vertebrate paleontology.  He was opposed to the idea of evolution, Lamarckian evolution at the time. He believed that catastrophism, as opposed to uniformitarianism, better explained changes in the fossil record. At the time of his death, Darwin was still on board the Beagle and would not publish his theory of Natural Selection until 1859.