George Gaylord Simpson
(16 June 1902 ? 6 October 1984) was an
American
paleontologist
. Simpson was perhaps the most influential paleontologist of the twentieth century, and a major participant in the
modern evolutionary synthesis
.
[1]
[2]
He was an expert on
extinct
mammals
and their migrations, especially the
Great American Interchange
between the
Americas
.
[3]
Simpson opposed
Alfred Wegener
's theory of
continental drift
, so his work on animal migration lacked this idea.
[4]
Simpson dispelled the myth that the
evolution
of the
horse
was a linear process culminating in the modern
Equus caballus
. He coined the word
hypodigm
in 1940,
[5]
and published extensively on the
taxonomy
of fossil and living mammals.
[6]
Born in
Chicago, Illinois
, Simpson was raised mostly in
Denver, Colorado
. He got his degrees from
Yale University
in 1923 and 1926. His dissertation,
American Mesozoic Mammalia
(1929), was the first step in his lifelong interest in the evolution of mammals. After a post-doctoral year at the British
Natural History Museum
, Simpson returned in 1927 to take up a post in the
American Museum of Natural History
.
[7]
In 1942, Simpson enlisted in the
U.S. Army
. He served as a
Captain
, then
Major
, in Army intelligence, Simpson served with American forces in North Africa and western Europe until 1944. Then he resigned, suffering from a severe bout of
hepatitis
. He returned home, with two
Bronze Stars
. He was promoted to
Curator
(head) of the Department of
Geology
and Paleontology at the
American Museum of Natural History
. He also held a post as Professor of
Zoology
at
Columbia University
(1945?1959). He took up his work on early mammals, and worked on the
Palaeocene
and
Eocene
faunas
of the San Juan Basin,
New Mexico
.
[7]
He was Curator of the
Museum of Comparative Zoology
at
Harvard University
from 1959 to 1970, and a Professor of
Geosciences
at the
University of Arizona
until his retirement in 1982.
In the 1940s Simpson produced three major works.
Tempo and mode in evolution
(1944),
Principles of classification and a classification of mammals
(1945) and
The meaning of evolution
(1949). Simpson provided a popular account of modern evolutionary theory with emphasis on evidence from the fossil record.
Simpson was awarded the Linnean Society's
Darwin-Wallace Medal
in 1958. He also received the
Royal Society
's
Darwin Medal
"In recognition of his distinguished contributions to general evolutionary theory, based on a profound study of palaeontology, particularly of vertebrates" in 1962. He was awarded the U.S.
National Medal of Science
in 1965.
These quotations from Simpson give a good idea of the man:
- "Man is the result of a purposeless and natural process that did not have him in mind".
[8]
- "I don't think that evolution is supremely important because it is my specialty; it is my specialty because I think it is supremely important".
[9]
- Attending marvels
(1931)
- Tempo and mode in evolution
(1944)
- The meaning of evolution
(1949)
- Horses
(1951)
- Evolution and geography
(1953)
- The major features of evolution
(1953)
- Life: an introduction to biology
(1957)
- Principles of animal taxonomy
(1961)
- This view of life
(1964)
- The geography of evolution
(1965)
- Penguins
(1976)
- Concession to the improbable
(1978) (an autobiography)
- Splendid isolation
(1980)
- The Dechronization of Sam Magruder
(posthumously published novella, 1996)
- ↑
Simpson G.G. 1944.
Tempo and mode in evolution
. Columbia, N.Y.
- ↑
Simpson G.G. 1953.
The major features of evolution
. Columbia, N.Y.
- ↑
Simpson G.G. 1940. Mammals and land bridges.
Journal of the Washington Academy of Sciences
30
: 137?163. See Charles H. Smith's website for full text.
[1]
- ↑
Simpson G.G. 1953.
Evolution and geography: an essay on historical biogeography with special reference to mammals
. Oregon State System of Higher Education, Eugene, Oregon.
- ↑
A
sample
from which the characters of a population are to be inferred.
- ↑
Simpson G.G. 1940. Types in modern taxonomy.
American Journal of Science
238, p418
- ↑
7.0
7.1
George Gaylord Simpson Papers, American Philosophical Society. Background.
- ↑
Simpson G.G. 1967.
The meaning of evolution
, revised ed. New Haven: Yale University Press. p345
[2]
Archived
2007-10-22 at the
Wayback Machine
- ↑
Larson, Edward J. (2004),
Evolution
, Modern Library,
ISBN 0-679-64288-9
- Laporte L.F. 1994. Simpson on species (1994), "Simpson on species",
Journal of the History of Biology
, vol. 27, no. 1, pp. 141?59,
doi
:
10.1007/BF01058629
,
PMID
11639257
,
S2CID
34975382
{{
citation
}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (
link
)
- Olson E.C. 1991. George Gaylord Simpson: June 16, 1902?October 6, 1984 (1991), "George Gaylord Simpson: June 16, 1902-October 6, 1984",
Biographical Memoirs. National Academy of Sciences (U.S.)
, vol. 60, pp. 331?53,
PMID
11616139
{{
citation
}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (
link
) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (
link
)
- Whittington H.B. 1986. George Gaylord Simpson: 16 June 1902?6 October 1984 (1986), "George Gaylord Simpson: 16 June 1902-6 October 1984",
Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society
, vol. 32, pp. 525?39,
doi
:
10.1098/rsbm.1986.0017
,
PMID
11621258
,
S2CID
31570609
{{
citation
}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (
link
)
- Laporte L.F. 1983. Simpson's
Tempo and mode in evolution
revisited (1983), "Simpson's Tempo and Mode in Evolution revisited",
Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society
, vol. 127, no. 6, pp. 365?417,
PMID
11611330
{{
citation
}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (
link
)