Philadelphia School of Paleontology
Thomas Jefferson, Charles Willson Peale, Rembrandt Peale and Caspar Wistar were the major players at the beginning of Paleontology in the United States. Although remarkably well versed in a wide range of scientific endeavors, Jefferson's more significant contributions were as a collector, promoter and a benefactor. Charles Willson Peale efforts resulted in the collecting, reconstruction and public display of the nearly complete skeletons of the American mastodon. Rembrandt Peale published his Disquisition on the Mammoth, which provided information crucial to the identification of the mastodon by Georges Cuvier of France.
Megalonyx fossils
(after Harlan, 1831)
But Caspar Wistar (1761-1818) was the one with the expertise to effectively analyze the fossils obtained by Jefferson and the two Peales. A physician by training and profession, Wistar provided the anatomical expertise to reconstruct Peale's "Mammoths", identify Jefferson's "Great Claw" and evaluate the Big Bone Lick fossils collected by William Clark on Jefferson's behalf (1). However, his contributions to paleontology were limited.
Despite his abilities and interests (2) , Wistar presented only two paleontology papers: a 1799 paper on Megalonyx , and a 1818 paper on two of the Jefferson fossils collected from Big Bone Lick. In part, this may be attributable to Wistar deferring to Georges Curvier. In addition, once Cuvier correctly identified the mastodon ("Mammoth", "American incognitum" or "animal de l'Ohio"), interests among Americans in fossils apparently waned.
Activity in American paleontology increased substantially in the 1820s with the emergence of five Philadelphia physicians: John D. Godman (1794-1830), Isaac Hays (1796-1879), William Edmons Horner (1793-1853), Samuel George Morton (1795-1851) and Richard Harlan (1796-1843). All five had the anatomical training to effectively analyze new and unusual fossil specimens. Moreover, they had Cuvier's theoretical framework with which to evaluate the fossils. (3)
Ammonite fossils
(after Morton, 1834)
Godman's, Hays' and Horner's involvements in paleontology were limited primarily to mastodon fossils. Morton, who was exposed to French and British geology while studying medicine at the University of Edinburgh, was instrumental in introducing the use of invertebrate fossils in stratigraphy. His work on Cretaceous sediments (Synopsis , 1834) along the coastal plain of the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico laid the groundwork for subsequent studies throughout the United States. Harlan was arguably the most professional and dedicated of the five and the most ardent supporter of Cuvier and his methods (f4). Harlan worked extensively on Cretaceous marine reptiles and Cenozoic mammals, including such well know taxa as Mosasaurus and Basilosaurus . He also published a major work on American mammals (Fauna Americana, 1825) and studied some of Jefferson's fossils from Big Bone Lick.
The frequency and quality of scientific papers increased dramatically through the efforts of Morton and Harlan. They also advanced American paleontology by establishing relationships with scientist in Europe (5). Their activities enhanced the visibility and credibility of American paleontology among Europeans, which in turn facilitated the professionalization and advancement of the science in this country. Their contributions set the stage for the emergence of Joseph Leidy (6) in the late 1840s.
Print Resources
- Cuvier, Georges. 1812. Researches sur les ossemens fossilses de quadrupèdes, où l'on rétablit les caractères de plusieurs espèces d'animaux que les révolutions du globe paroissent avoir détruites. 4 vol. Paris: Deterville.
- Cuvier, Georges. 1818. Essay on the theory of the earth. By M. Cuvier with mineralogical notes and an account of Cuvier's geological discoveries by Professor Jameson. To which are added, observations on the geology of North America; illustrated by the description of various organic remains, found in that part of the world by Samuel L. Mitchill. Kirk and Mercein, New York.
- Gerstner, P.A. 1967. The "Philadelphia School" of Paleontology: 1820-1845. Ph.D. Dissertation. Case Western Reserve University. 308 pp.
- Harlan, Richard. 1825. Fauna Americana: being a description of the mammiferous animals inhabiting North America. Philadelphia: Anthony Finley; J. Harding, printer.
- Harlan, Richard. 1831 "Description of the fossil bones of the megalonyx : discovered in "White Cave," Kentucky." Journal of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. 6(2): 260-288.
- Morton, Samuel George. 1834. Synopsis of the Organic Remains of the Cretaceous Group of the United States. Philadelphia: Key & Biddle.
- Simpson, George Gaylord. 1942. "The beginnings of vertebrate paleontology in North America." In : "The early history of science and learning in America." Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society , 86(1):130-188.
Notes:
- Charles Willson Peale collected mastodon skeletons from the Hudson River Valley of New York State in 1801 and exhibited one of them at his American Museum. His son, Rembrandt Peale, accompanied a second reconstruction to New York and England in 1803. (See Discovering the Mastodon: Peale's "Mammoth".) Wistar correctly identified Jefferson's "Great Claw" as a giant relative of the South American tree sloth. (See History of the Giant Claw). William Clark collected fossils from Big Bone Lick for Thomas Jefferson in 1807. (See Discovering the Mastodon: Fossils in the White House.) [go back]
- In 1942. George Gaylord Simpson wrote of Wistar's 1799 paper: ". . . a model of cautious, accurate scientific description and inference, an achievement almost incredible in view of the paleontological naiveté of his associates and of the lack of comparative materials. The objective part of the paper is so clear, complete, and correct that it has never been significantly bettered for the same or similar objects." [go back]
- Georges Cuvier (1769-1832) essentially invented the science of Paleontology and established the principles of comparative anatomy. He convincingly demonstrated the extinction of numerous animal species. Moreover, he demonstrated a faunal succession in which one group of animals was succeeded in the fossil record by another group with different animals. This pattern would lead Curvier to formulate his theory of "Revolutions of the Globe." (See Cuvier's Revolutions of the Globe.)
Curvier demonstrated the importance of comparative anatomy in identifying and reconstructing fossil animals. He presented the idea that there was a "correlation of parts" relating to the animal's functional anatomy. In other words, only certain forms and functions were possible (e.g., a carnivore must have claws as well as predator's teeth.) Finally, Cuvier emphasized the importance of fossils in correlating geologic strata (i.e., biostratigraphy). [go back] - Richard Harlan was an ardent admirer of Georges Cuvier and did much to expose American naturalists and scientists to his methods and theories. He used Cuvier's "principle of correlation of parts" to reconstruct fossil taxa, and agreed with the French scientist concerning faunal succession, catastrophic revolutions and the immutability of species. Harlan was also following Cuvier's practice, when he wrote Fauna Americana , which was the first American book to systematically name and place species using the Linnean system. Finally, Harlan named his oldest son Georges Cuvier. [go back]
- Both Harlan and Morton had extensive contacts with European scientists, including Henri Ducrotay de Blainville, Charles Lyell, Gideon Mantell and Richard Owen. [go back]
- Joseph Leidy (1823-1891) is known as the "Father of American Vertebrate Paleontology." He identified the first dinosaurs in the Americas and was the first paleontologist to study the Western fossils that led to the ascendancy of American paleontology on the world stage. (See the Academy's Joseph Leidy Online Exhibit .) [go back]