Using comparative anatomy, Cuvier demonstrated that the African elephant was a separate species from the Indian elephant, and that the fossil or “mammoth” elephant was yet another species distinct from the two living varieties. This was the first scientific proof of extinct species. Cuvier first read this paper on January 21, 1796 at an ordinary meeting of the Institut National in Paris in 1796, and then again on April 4 at the first of the Institut’s quarterly public meetings. For the April 4 meeting Cuvier prepared an extract of his paper which was published in the Magasin encyclopédique (2. année 3 [1796]: 440-445). Cuvier’s full report, updated and illustrated with five plates, was first published in 1799. In his autobiography Cuvier stated that this was the paper in which he first expressed his views on extinct animals.

Cuvier played a leading part in the development of paleontology and stimulated the study of comparative anatomy. He ranks with von Baer as one of the founders of modern morphology. Vols. 1-2 ed. by C. Duméril, and vols. 3-5 ed. by G.L. Duvernoy, but Cuvier took full responsibility for the contents of this work. The posthumous second edition, revised and expanded by Georges Cuvier's younger brother, Georges-Frédéric Cuvier  to 8 vols., appeared from 1835-1846.

Second edition in five vols., 1829–1830. After Cuvier's death 12 "disciples" of Cuvier brought out a third edition in 22 vols. from 1836 to 1849. The 12 "disciples" were Jean Victor Audouin (insects), Gerard Paul Deshayes (molluscs), Alcide d'Orbigny (birds), Antoine Louis Dugès (arachnids), Georges Louis Duvernoy (reptiles), Charles Léopold Laurillard (mammals in part), Henri Milne Edwards (crustaceans, annelids, zoophytes, and mammals in part), Francois Desire Roulin (mammals in part),Achille Valenciennes (fishes), Louis Michel Français Doyère (insects), Charles Émile Blanchard (insects, zoophytes) and Jean Louis Armand de Quatrefages de Bréau (annelids, arachnids etc.). The work was illustrated with tables and plates (at the end of Volume IV) covering only some of the species mentioned. A much larger set of illustrations was published by the entomologist Félix Édouard Guérin-Méneville in his Iconographie du Règne Animal de G. Cuvier (9 vols, 1829-1844).  Its 448 quarto plates by Alfred Joseph Annedouche, Canu, Eugène Giraud, Lagesse, Lebrun, Vittore Pedretti, Plée and Smith illustrated 6200 animals. Cowan. "On the Disciples' Edition of Cuvier's Regne Animal", J. Soc. Bibliog. Nat. Hist. 8 (1) (1976) 32–64. Several English translations were published, the first of which was probably that of John Edward Gray (1824). See Coleman, Georges Cuvier zoologist, Cambridge, Harvard University Press, 1964. Digital facsimile of the first edition from Google Books at this link.

Choris was the artist aboard the Rurik, 1815-18, commanded by Otto von Kotzebue. After visiting islands in the South Seas, Kotzebue explored the North American coast and landed twice in the Hawaiian Islands. Choris's work, illustrated with 104 plates, is of particular interest for the outstanding images, and includes scientific information by Cuvier, Chamisso, and Gall. The book was issued in 22 parts. Buyers had the option of ordering the plates in black & white, the plates partially colored and partially uncolored, or with the plates entirely colored.

Digital facsimile from Biodiversity Heritage Library at this link.

Planned by Cuvier as his masterwork on this topic, but unpublished during his lifetime, this posthumous work was published in parts over seven years. The complete work contains 336 plates. Few complete copies exist. Digital facsimile of parts 1-4 from Biodiversity Heritage Library at this link.

Annotated English editions and translation of Cuvier's 5 volume Histoire des sciences naturelles, depuis leur origine jusqu’a nos jours, originally published in French from 1841 to 1845.