George Gaylord Simpson was an American paleontologist known for his work on evolutionary theory and the fossil record. His research contributed significantly to the understanding of the history of life on Earth and the process of evolution. Simpson's influential publications, including "Tempo and Mode in Evolution," have left a lasting impact on the field of paleontology and the study of evolutionary biology.

"Certainly paleontologists have found samples of an extremely small fraction, only, of the earth's extinct species, and even for groups that are most readily preserved and found as fossils they can never expect to find more than a fraction."



"Splitting and gradual divergence of genera is exemplified very well and in a large variety of organisms."



"Almost all paleontologists recognize that the discovery of a complete transition is in any case unlikely."



"I have a debt, a loyalty to the museum; the best place for me to do what I wanted to do."



"Every paleontologist knows that most new species, genera, and families, and that nearly all categories above the level of family appear in the record suddenly and are not led up to by known, gradual, completely continuous transitional sequences."



"I don't know where to put whales. I'm sticking them here, but I don't have any reason for it."

