Final answer:
Comte de Buffon is best known for his work on natural history and his theories on the evolution of animals that influenced the development of evolutionary thought, challenging the static view of creation and contributing to the understanding of geological processes.
Step-by-step explanation:
Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon, is best known for his contributions to natural history and the theories he reintroduced regarding the evolution of animals. Living in the eighteenth century, Buffon's work included ideas that paved the way for modern evolutionary thought. His extensive work helped lay the groundwork for the acceptance of extinct species and influenced succeeding naturalists and scientists, like Charles Darwin and James Hutton.
Buffon's concepts were particularly significant because they challenged the prevailing view of a static creation and proposed that animals could change over time. Although not all of Buffon's ideas were correct or accepted in his time, his work brought forward a progressive way of thinking about biology and the natural world, contributing to the development of what would become the theory of evolution.
In addition to his evolutionary ideas, Buffon is also recognized for his contribution to the understanding of geological processes, indirectly influencing the work of geologist Charles Lyell and through him, Darwin. Buffon’s emphasis on long-term change in the natural world allowed for greater acceptance of geological and biological evolution.