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Edward Forbes

Manx naturalist (1815-1854) · Scientists · Died at 39

Edward Forbes FRS, FGS was a Manx naturalist. In 1846, he proposed that the distributions of montane plants and animals had been compressed downslope, and some oceanic islands connected to the mainland, during the recent ice age.

Edward Forbes is read about 16 times a day, in 20 languages.

A typical day, 30 days to 7 July 2026

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Awards

Fellow of the Royal Society
Fellow of the Geological Society of London

About this person

This mechanism, which was the first natural explanation to explain the distributions of the same species on now-isolated islands and mountain tops, was discovered independently by Charles Darwin, who credited Forbes with the idea. He also incorrectly deduced the so-called azoic hypothesis, that life under the sea would decline to the point that no life forms could exist below a certain depth.

Category
Scientists
Type
Scientist
Status
Deceased
Dates
Lived 1815 to 1854 · aged 39