Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire

✶April 15, 1772

†June 19, 1844

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About their life

Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire was a French naturalist who established the principle of "unity of composition". He was a colleague of Jean-Baptiste Lamarck and expanded and defended Lamarck's evolutionary theories. Geoffroy's scientific views had a transcendental flavor and were similar to those of German morphologists like Lorenz Oken. He believed in the underlying unity of organismal design, and the possibility of the transmutation of species in time, amassing evidence for his claims through research in comparative anatomy, paleontology, and embryology. He is considered as a predecessor of the evo-devo evolutionary concept.

French naturalist who established the principle of "unity of composition" (1772-1844)

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Biography from the article Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire on the English Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.