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Essay on the Theory of the Earth

Chapter 85: TABULAR VIEW
By baron Georges Cuvier
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About This Book

The essay assembles geological observations and fossil evidence to reconstruct Earth's successive changes, arguing that strata and petrified remains record numerous abrupt revolutions of the surface that caused mass extinctions and replacement of faunas. It examines how current agencies—erosion, slips, alluvial deposition, coastal cliffs, stalactites, lithophyte growths, incrustations, and volcanic activity—operate, and distinguishes their slow effects from the sudden events inferred in the rock record. It uses stratigraphic sequences and fossil assemblages to date relative episodes and to argue that many major revolutions preceded the appearance of existing life forms, offering a systematic account of Earth's physical and organic history.

TABULAR VIEW

OF

The Genera of Fossil Mammifera, Cetacea, Aves, Reptilia, and Insecta, exhibiting their Geognostical Number and Distribution.

Genera which are found Number of Species.
Names of Genera. Living only. Living, and in the Fossil State. Fossil only. In the Strata anterior to the Chalk. In the Strata of the Chalk. In the Strata posterior to the Chalk. In the Living State. In the Fossil State.
Mammifera.
Ursus, * * 4
Mustela, * * 2
Canis, * * 4
Hyæna, * * 1
Felis, * * 2
Phoca, * * 2
Didelphis, * * 2
Castor, * * 1
Arvicola, * * 2
Lagomys, * * 2
Lepus, * * 2
Megalonyx, * * 1
Megatherium, * * * 1
Elephas, * *
Mastodon, * * 6
Hippopotamus, * * 4
Sus, * * 1
Anoplotherium, * * 2
Xiphodon, * * 1
Dichobunus, * * 3
Anthracotherium, * * 2
Adapis, * * 1
Chæropotamus, * * 1
Rhinoceros, * * 4
Palæotherium, * * 8
Lophiodon, * * 5

Genera which are found Number of Species.
Names of Genera. Living only. Living, and in the Fossil State. Fossil only. In the Strata anterior to the Chalk. In the Strata of the Chalk. In the Strata posterior to the Chalk. In the Living State. In the Fossil State.
Tapirus, * * 1
Elasmotherium, * * 1
Equus, * * 1
Mus, * * 1
Cervus, * * 5
Bos, * * 4
Myoxus, * * 2
 
Cetacea.
Manatus, * * 1
Delphinus, * * 4
Balæna, * * 3
 
Aves.(a)
Sturnus, * * 1
Pelecanus, * * 1
Charadrius, * 1
 
Reptilia.
Testudo, * * 6
Crocodilus, * * 6
Plesiosaurus, * 1
Ichthyosaurus, * * 4
Pterodactylus, * * * 3
Rana, * * 1
Mosasaurus, * * 1
Salamandra, * * 1

Genera which are found Number of Species.
Names of Genera. Living only. Living, and in the Fossil State. Fossil only. In the Strata anterior to the Chalk. In the Strata of the Chalk. In the Strata posterior to the Chalk. In the Living State. In the Fossil State.
Insecta.
Silpha,(b) * *
Curculio,(c) * *
Scorpio,(c) * *
Musca,(c) * *
Blatta,(c) * *
Tipula,(c) * *
Aranea,(c) * *
Ichneumon,(c) * *
Libellula,(d) * *
Scarabæus,(d) * *
Scolopendra,(d) * *
Papilio,(d) * *
Hemerobia,(d) * *
Carabus,(d) * *

(a) It is extremely difficult to make out the genera of the Birds, whose remains occur in a fossil state, and there are more of them than those mentioned.

(b) In the lignite; the number of species cannot be given in the insects.

(c) In amber.

(d) In the fossil rocks, according to the old authors.