Carl Gegenbaur (1826-1903): Integrating comparative anatomy and embryology

✍ Scribed by Laubichler, Manfred D.

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2003
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 411 KB
• Volume: 300B
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0022-104X
• DOI: 10.1002/jez.b.43

✦ Synopsis

During his lifetime, Carl Gegenbaur (Fig. 1) was widely respected as ''the most important morphologist in the world'' and credited to be the one ''who first created a scientific comparative anatomy.'' 1 At the time of his death, on June 14, 1903, Gegenbaur had taught and influenced several generations of German and international anatomists and morphologists through his courses and textbooks; founded the ''Gegenbaur School'' in comparative morphology; established and edited one of the premier journals in the field, the Morphologisches Jahrbuch, for 37 years; proposed influential theories about two of the main problems in vertebrate evolution, the origin of paired appendages and the segmentation of the vertebrate skull; and, last but not least, contributed substantially to his and his friend Ernst Haeckel's (1834Haeckel's ( -1919) ) program in evolutionary morphology.

Given the scope and nature of his contributions it is only fitting that a vignette in the history of evolutionary developmental biology is devoted to Carl Gegenbaur honoring the centennial of his death.

Carl Gegenbaur and his contributions to evolutionary morphology are of more than just historical interest, although no pre-history of evolutionary developmental biology could be written without reference to Gegenbaur either. In the wake of Ernst Haeckel's several formulations of the biogenetic law the importance of embryological data for phylogenetic reconstructions as well as the role of development as an evolutionary mechanism for morphological transformation were widely discussed. 2 Gegenbaur's contributions to these debates, especially his views on the primacy of comparative anatomy over embryology and his interpretations of such central concepts of evolutionary morphology as homology stand out as insightful analyses that have methodological implications for today (Laubichler and Maienschein, 2003).

Gegenbaur's early years and the beginning of his academic career

Carl Gegenbaur was born on August 21, 1826 in Wu ¨rzburg, Bavaria into a family of civil servants and lawyers. 3 Due to his father's rotating assignments, he grew up in the idyllic countryside of Franconia in an environment that fostered his interest in natural history from an early age. His years at the Gymnasium in Wu ¨rzburg (1838-1845) were less happy, largely due to the strict Catholic orientation of the school. However, like many others who experienced the strict discipline of a Catholic institution, these years left him with an independent mind and a solid classical education. After passing his exit exams, the Absolutorium, in 1845 Gegenbaur enrolled at the University of Wu ¨rzburg to study medicine with the intention to concentrate on the natural sciences.

During Gegenbaur's time as a student the University of Wu ¨rzburg made a series of fortunate hires that placed it in the top league of anatomical and medical research for years to come. In 1847 Albert von Ko ¨lliker was offered the chair in physiology and comparative anatomy. Ko ¨lliker's research and teaching focused on comparative anatomy and histology, morphology, and embryology (Entwicklungsgeschichte). 4 He n