Frédéric Cuvier | |
|---|---|
 Portrait byAmbroise Tardieu | |
| Born | (1773-06-28)28 June 1773 Montbéliard, France |
| Died | 24 July 1838(1838-07-24) (aged 65) Strasbourg, France |
| Awards | Member of theRoyal Society |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Zoology |
| Institutions | Muséum d'Histoire Naturelle |
| Author abbrev. (botany) | F.Cuvier |
| Author abbrev. (zoology) | F. Cuvier |
Georges-Frédéric Cuvier (French pronunciation:[ʒɔʁʒfʁedeʁikkyvje]; 28 June 1773 – 24 July 1838) was a Frenchzoologist andpaleontologist. He was the younger brother of notednaturalist and zoologistGeorges Cuvier.[1]
Frederic was the head keeper of themenagerie at theMuséum d'Histoire Naturelle inParis from 1804 to 1838. He named thered panda (Ailurus fulgens) in 1825. The chair of comparative physiology was created for him at the Muséum d'Histoire Naturelle in 1837. He was elected as a foreign member of theRoyal Society in 1835.
He is mentioned inCharles Darwin'sOn the Origin of Species (Chapter VII) as having worked on animal behaviour and instinct, especially the distinction between habit and instinct. He is also mentioned in Herman Melville'sMoby-Dick (Chapter 32) as having written on the topic ofwhales.
Cuvier has been described as the first scientist to use terms"héréditaire" (hereditary) in 1807 and "heredity" in 1812 in their now biological context. He used both words in promoting theinheritance of acquired characteristics based on his studies of animal behaviour.[2][1]
Although an advocate of the inheritance of acquired characteristics, similar to his brother he denied thetransmutation of species.[3] He believed that behavioral patterns in animals change over time in relation to environmentally induced needs. HistorianRobert J. Richards has written that Cuvier "did not believe that the anatomical patterns of species were modified over time (though he did admit they changed in nonessential ways through the inheritance of acquired characteristics... He was a behavioral evolutionist, if a modest one."[3]
