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where species appear and their movement to other areas. Nelson and Plat-
nick (1981) analyzed these assumptions, finding that this generalized cen-
ter of origin and dispersal explanation was impossible to falsify, either with
reference to empirical observations of species, their distributions, and their
relationships orwith reference to causalprocessesof speciesorigin anddis-
persal. To be proper, a theory should suggest additional observations that
would confirm or refute it. Whatever Linnaeus might have intended as the
implications of his theory, his contemporaries and followers deduced that if
hewerecorrect,differentareasoftheworldshouldbeinhabitedbythesame
species (Nelson and Platnick 1981).
George-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon (1707-1788), was the first au-
thor to falsify Linnaeus's explanation. Distributional problems occupy so
central a position in Buffon's writings that he may be viewed as the founder
of evolutionary biogeography (Larson 1986; Mayr 1982; Nelson 1978a). In
his monumental
Histoire Naturelle, Générale et Particulière
(1749-1788),
Buffon observed that different tropical areas of the world, even when having
some similar climatic and environmental conditions, were inhabited by com-
pletely different mammal species. This discovery was subsequently named
Buffon's law (Briggs 1987; Nelson 1978a). Nelson (1978a) held that the his-
tory of biogeography may be subdivided in two parts: one dealing with the
development of Buffon's law and the other with the development of causal
explanationsofthelaw.Inadditiontobeinganearlyevolutionist,Buffonsug-
gested a vicariance model when he accounted for the origin of disjunct dis-
tributions by reference to the times when continents were not yet separated
(Briggs and Humphries 2004), although his statements on vicariance and
evolution may be considered topics for speculation, not finished doctrines.
However, Buffon's advocacy of a historical approach to natural history and
his emphasis on factual evidence marked an important change in the his-
tory of biogeography (Larson 1986). Pierre Latreille (1762-1833) studied in-
sects, and Georges Cuvier (1769-1832) studied reptiles of Africa and South
America, both corroborating Buffon's law.
Johann Reinhold Forster (1729-1798) was a German naturalist who
emigrated to England. Together with his son Georg, Forster accompanied
Captain Cook on his second expedition to the southern seas. On their re-
turn, Forster (1778) published his
Observations Made During a Voyage
Round the World,
where he described various natural regions, showing how
floras replaced one another as the physical characteristics of the environ-
ment changed, and noted the relationships of the vegetation and the anim-
