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https://exhibits.library.illinois.edu/s/rbml/item/3956
- Title
- Recherches sur les poissons fossiles
- Description
- This diagram from Louis Agassiz’s Fossil Fish (Poissons fossils, 1844-1845) reflects the consensus view (with the notable exception of Charles Lyell) by the mid 19th century that the fossil record showed an Earth through time that was directional and historic as opposed to uniform or steady-state. The “Genealogy of the Class of Fish” was an innovative approach to depicting the changes in abundance of certain species through time, although it owed much to previous similar statistical approaches by Heinrich Bronn and Gerard-Paul Deshayes. Agassiz here created “spindle” charts that pinch and swell to give the impression of increasing and decreasing relative fossil abundance, and branch towards the present to show either the increasing complexity of life, or the sudden appearance of a new genealogy. Although this looks to the modern eye very much like an evolutionary history of fish life, it notably predates Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species (1859).
- Call Number (click link to view in library catalog)
- Q. 567 Ag1r
- Authors
- Agassiz, Louis
- Full Title
- Recherches sur les poissons fossiles
- Date
- 1833
- From the Exhibit
- In Search of Lost Time: Fossils and the Record of Previous Worlds
- Publisher
- Petitpierre
- Location
- Neuchâtel
- Language
- French
- Rights
-
This item is the physical property of the Rare Book & Manuscript Library. Intellectual property rights, including copyright, may reside with the materials' creator(s) or their heirs.
The Rare Book & Manuscript Library's reproduction and publication policies are available here: https://www.library.illinois.edu/rbx/collections/reproduction-services/. The library welcomes requests for reproductions made from works in our collections, though restrictions may apply to certain materials. Please contact the library with any questions at askacurator@illinois.edu. - Type
- Text
- Medium
- Book
- Bibliographic Citation
- Agassiz, Louis. Recherches sur les poissons fossiles (vol. 1). Neuchatel: Petitpierre, 1833-1844.