With What Other Idea of His Time was Cuvier's Theory

Question

With what other idea of his time was Cuvier's theory of catastrophism most in conflict?
A) gradualism
B) the fixity of species
C) island biogeography
D) uniformitarianism
E) the scala naturae

Accepted Answer

Cuvier's theory of catastrophism stated that the Earth had experienced major catastrophic events in the past that caused mass extinctions, followed by the repopulation of new species. This theory was in conflict with the idea of uniformitarianism, which suggested that the Earth's geological processes occurred gradually over long periods of time, without catastrophic events.