Alexander Moritzi (1806-1850) was a Swiss naturalist and early proponent of

evolution Evolution is change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. These characteristics are the expressions of genes, which are passed on from parent to offspring during reproduction. Variation ...

. Moritzi born in

Chur , neighboring_municipalities= Arosa, Churwalden, Tschiertschen-Praden, Domat/Ems, Felsberg, Malix, Trimmis, Untervaz, Pfäfers , twintowns = Bad Homburg (Germany), Cabourg (France), Mayrhofen (Austria), Mondorf-les-Bains (Luxe ...

, Graubünden. His ''Réflexions sur l'espèce en histoire naturelle'', which means "Reflections on Species in Natural History," was published in 1842 and republished in 1934. This book, which contains many observations on animals and plants, advocated

transmutation of species Transmutation of species and transformism are unproven 18th and 19th-century evolutionary ideas about the change of one species into another that preceded Charles Darwin's theory of natural selection. The French ''Transformisme'' was a term used ...

and is considered a forerunner of the theory of

developed by

Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all species of life have descended ...

. However, the book was ignored and did not make an impact like Darwin's. Snow dock was first discovered by Moritzi in 1836 in the Swiss Alps. In 1840, DC. ex

Meisn. Carl Daniel Friedrich Meissner (1 November 1800 – 2 May 1874) was a Swiss botanist. Biography Born in Bern, Switzerland on 1 November 1800, he was christened Meisner but later changed the spelling of his name to Meissner. For most of his 40 ...

published ''

Moritzia ''Moritzia'' is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Boraginaceae. Its native range is Costa Rica to Southern Tropical America. It is found in Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Panamá, Peru and Venezuela. The genus name of ...

'' a genus of

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...

s from South America, belonging to the family

Boraginaceae Boraginaceae, the borage or forget-me-not family, includes about 2,000 species of shrubs, trees and herbs in 146, to 156 genera with a worldwide distribution. The APG IV system from 2016 classifies the Boraginaceae as single family of the or ...

in Moritzi's honour.

Selected publications

*''Réflexions sur l'espèce en histoire naturelle'' (1842)

Selected publications

References

Further reading