Richard Swann Lull | |
|---|---|
 Portrait byWilliam Sergeant Kendall | |
| Born | (1867-11-06)November 6, 1867 Annapolis, Maryland, U.S. |
| Died | April 22, 1957(1957-04-22) (aged 89) |
| Alma mater | Rutgers College Columbia University |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Paleontology |
| Institutions | Massachusetts Agricultural College Yale University |
| Doctoral advisor | Henry Fairfield Osborn |
| Notable students | George Gaylord Simpson[1] |
Richard Swann Lull (November 6, 1867 – April 22, 1957) was an Americanpaleontologist andSterling Professor atYale University who is largely remembered for championing anon-Darwinian view ofevolution, wherebymutation(s) could unlock presumed "genetic drives" that, over time, would lead populations to increasingly extremephenotypes (and perhaps, ultimately, to extinction).
Lull was born inAnnapolis, Maryland, the son of naval officerEdward Phelps Lull and Elizabeth Burton, daughter of GeneralHenry Burton. He married Clara Coles Boggs, and he has a daughter, Dorothy. He majored inzoology atRutgers College, where he received both his undergraduate and master's degrees (M.S. 1896). He worked for the Division of Entomology of theUnited States Department of Agriculture but in 1894 became an assistant professor of zoology at the State Agricultural College inAmherst, Massachusetts (now theUniversity of Massachusetts Amherst). Lull's interest in fossil footprints began atAmherst College, renowned for its collection offossil footprints, and eventually led him to switch fromentomology topaleontology.
In 1899, Lull worked as a member of theAmerican Museum of Natural History's expedition to Bone Cabin Quarry, Wyoming, helping to collect that museum'sbrontosaur skeleton. In 1902, he again joined an American Museum team in Montana, then studied underColumbia University professorHenry Fairfield Osborn. In 1903, he received his Ph.D. fromColumbia University, and in 1906, after a brief time at Amherst, he was named assistant professor of Vertebrate Paleontology in Yale College and Associate Curator of Vertebrate Paleontology at thePeabody Museum of Natural History. He stayed at Yale for the next 50 years. In 1933, Lull was awarded theDaniel Giraud Elliot Medal from theNational Academy of Sciences.[2]
One famous example he used to support his non-Darwinian evolution theory concerned the enormous antlers of theIrish elk: he argued that these could not possibly be the result ofnatural selection, and instead reflected one of his "unlocked genetic drives" toward ever-increasing antler size. The poor elk, coping in each generation with ever-bigger antlers were eventually driven extinct.[3] His evolutionary theory was a form oforthogenesis.[4]
His bookOrganic Evolution (1917) received positive reviews and was described as an "excellent summary of the theories, facts, and factors of evolution."[5][6]
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| Preceded by | Cover of Time Magazine 1 June 1925 | Succeeded by |
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