Frédéric Cuvier

Georges-Frédéric Cuvier was a French zoologist and paleontologist. He was born on June 28, 1773, and passed away on July 24, 1838. Frédéric was the younger brother of the famous naturalist and zoologist Georges Cuvier. Together, the Cuvier brothers helped scientists learn more about animals and fossils from the past. Their work was important for the study of biology and Earth's history.

Career

Frédéric Cuvier was the head keeper of the menagerie at the Muséum d'Histoire Naturelle in Paris from 1804 to 1838. In 1825, he named the red panda (Ailurus fulgens). In 1837, a special chair for comparative physiology was made just for him at the Muséum d'Histoire Naturelle. He was also elected as a foreign member of the Royal Society in 1835.

His work caught the attention of famous writers and scientists. He is mentioned in Charles Darwin’s book On the Origin of Species. He also appears in Herman Melville’s Moby-Dick, where he wrote about whales.

Evolution

Frédéric Cuvier was one of the first scientists to use the words "hereditary" and "heredity" to talk about biology in the early 1800s. He studied how animals behave and thought animals could pass on traits they learned during life.

Like his brother, Cuvier did not think species could change into new species over time. But he believed animals' behaviors could change depending on what they needed to do in their world.

List of selected publications

Frédéric Cuvier wrote many important books and papers about animals and nature. Some of his well-known books include Histoire naturelle des mammifères (4 vols., 1819–1842) with Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire and De l’histoire naturelle des cétacés from 1836.

He also published many research papers, such as his work in 1808 on animal behavior and a short paper in 1812 about animal intelligence.

The standard author abbreviation F.Cuvier is used when talking about plants he helped name in science.