Richard Owen

Sir Richard Owen (July 20, 1804 - December 18, 1892) was an English biologist, comparative anatomist and palaeontologist.

Work on fish, reptiles and birds

Owen's technical descriptions of the Vertebrata were still more numerous and extensive than those of the invertebrate animals. His Comparative Anatomy and Physiology of Vertebrates (3 vols., London, 1866-1868) was indeed, the result of more personal research than any similar work since Georges Cuvier's Leçons d'anatomie comparée. He not only studied existing forms, but also devoted great attention to the remains of extinct groups, and immediately followed Cuvier as a pioneer in vertebrate paleontology. Early in his career he made exhaustive studies of teeth, both of existing and extinct animals, and published his profusely illustrated work on Odontography (1840-1845). He discovered and described the remarkably complex structure of the teeth of the extinct animals which he named Labyrinthodonts. Among his writings on fishes, his memoir on the African lungfish, which he named Protopterus, laid the foundations for the recognition of the Dipnoi by Johannes Muller. He also pointed out later the serial connection between the teleostean and ganoid fishes, grouping them in one sub-class, the Teleostomi.

Related Topics:
Vertebrata - Invertebrate - Georges Cuvier - Extinct - Vertebrate paleontology - Teeth - Odontography - 1840 - 1845 - Labyrinthodonts - Fish - Protopterus - Dipnoi - Johannes Muller - Teleostean - Ganoid - Teleostomi

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Most of his work on reptiles related to the skeletons of extinct forms, and his chief memoirs on British specimens were reprinted in a connected series in his History of British Fossil Reptiles (4 vols., London, 1849-1884). He published the first important general account of the great group of Mesozoic land-reptiles, to which he gave the now familiar name of Dinosauria. He also first recognized the curious early Mesozoic land-reptiles, with affinities both to amphibians and mammals, which he termed Anomodontia. Most of these were obtained from South Africa, beginning in 1845 (Dicynodon), and eventually furnished materials for his Catalogue of the Fossil Reptilia of South Africa, issued by the British Museum in 1876. Among his writings on birds, his classical memoir on the Kiwi (1840-1846), a long series of papers on the extinct Dinornithidae of New Zealand, other memoirs on Aptornis, the Takahe, the Dodo, and the Great Auk, may be specially mentioned. His monograph on Archaeopteryx (1863), the long-tailed, toothed bird from the Bavarian lithographic stone, is also an epoch-making work.

Related Topics:
Reptile - Skeleton - Mesozoic - Dinosauria - Amphibians - Mammal - South Africa - 1845 - Dicynodon - British Museum - 1876 - Bird - Kiwi - 1840 - 1846 - Dinornithidae - New Zealand - Aptornis - Takahe - Dodo - Great Auk - Archaeopteryx - 1863 - Bavaria

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With Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins, Owen helped create the first life-size sculptures depicting dinosaurs as they may have appeared. Some models were initially created for the Great Exhibition of 1851, but 33 were eventually produced when the Crystal Palace was relocated to Sydenham in south London. Owen famously hosted a dinner for 21 prominent men of science inside the hollow concrete Iguanodon on New Year's Eve 1853.

Related Topics:
Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins - Great Exhibition of 1851 - The Crystal Palace - Sydenham - Iguanodon - New Year's Eve - 1853

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