<P> Cuvier also worked alongside Alexandre Brongniart in analyzing the Parisian rock cycle . Using stratigraphical methods, they were both able to extrapolate key information regarding Earth history from studying these rocks . These rocks contained remnants of molluscs, bones of mammals, and shells . From these findings, Cuvier and Brongniart concluded that many environmental changes occurred in quick catastrophes, though Earth itself was often placid for extended periods of time in between sudden disturbances . </P> <P> The' Preliminary Discourse' became very well known and, unauthorized translations were made into English, German, and Italian (and in the case of those in English, not entirely accurately). In 1826, Cuvier would publish a revised version under the name, Discours sur les révolutions de la surface du globe (Discourse on the upheavals of the surface of the globe). </P> <P> After Cuvier's death, the catastrophic school of geological thought lost ground to uniformitarianism, as championed by Charles Lyell and others, which claimed that the geological features of the earth were best explained by currently observable forces, such as erosion and volcanism, acting gradually over an extended period of time . The increasing interest in the topic of mass extinction starting in the late twentieth century, however, has led to a resurgence of interest among historians of science and other scholars in this aspect of Cuvier's work . </P> <P> Cuvier collaborated for several years with Alexandre Brongniart, an instructor at the Paris mining school, to produce a monograph on the geology of the region around Paris . They published a preliminary version in 1808 and the final version was published in 1811 . </P>

Who recorded the first primate fossil to be described by a scientist