consistent change with intermittent patterns of sudden fossil disappearance in the geologic record for the area, which is now known as mass extinction. Cuvier explained these sudden changes in the geologic record with catastrophic forces. Lyell responded to this argument, stating that the geologic record was "grossly imperfect" and that observations cannot be trusted if they go against "the plan of Nature".

In recent years, geologists have begun to question the laws of uniformitarianism Lyell