Christian Erich Hermann von Meyer
Encyclopedia
Christian Erich Hermann von Meyer (3 September 1801 - 2 April 1869) was a German
palaeontologist.
He was born at Frankfurt am Main.
In 1832 von Meyer issued a work entitled Palaeologica, and in course of time he published a series of memoirs on various fossil organic remains: molluscs, crustacean
s, fish
es and higher vertebrata, including the Triassic predator Teratosaurus
, the earliest bird Archaeopteryx lithographica (1861), the pterosaur
Rhamphorhynchus
, and the prosauropod dinosaur Plateosaurus
.
In Palaeologica, von Meyer proposed a classification of fossil reptiles into four major groups based on their limbs:
His second group he belatedly termed Pachypodes in 1845, later revising to Pachypoda, from the Greek
"pachy-/παχυ-" ("stout") and "pous/πους" ("foot"). It is interesting to note the relation of this group to Dinosauria, coined a few years earlier by Richard Owen
.
His more elaborate researches were those on the Carboniferous
amphibia, the Permian
reptile
s, the Triassic
amphibia and reptiles, and the reptiles of the Lithographic slates; and the results were embodied in his great work Zur Fauna der Vorwelt (1845–1860), profusely illustrated with plates drawn on stone by the author.
He was associated with W Dunker and Karl Alfred von Zittel
in the publication of the Palaeontographica, which began in 1851. He was awarded the Wollaston medal
by the Geological Society of London
in 1858.
Today, von Meyer is probably best known for describing and naming the prosauropod dinosaur Plateosaurus
engelhardti from Central Europe.
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
palaeontologist.
He was born at Frankfurt am Main.
In 1832 von Meyer issued a work entitled Palaeologica, and in course of time he published a series of memoirs on various fossil organic remains: molluscs, crustacean
Crustacean
Crustaceans form a very large group of arthropods, usually treated as a subphylum, which includes such familiar animals as crabs, lobsters, crayfish, shrimp, krill and barnacles. The 50,000 described species range in size from Stygotantulus stocki at , to the Japanese spider crab with a leg span...
s, fish
Fish
Fish are a paraphyletic group of organisms that consist of all gill-bearing aquatic vertebrate animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish, as well as various extinct related groups...
es and higher vertebrata, including the Triassic predator Teratosaurus
Teratosaurus
Teratosaurus was a genus of rauisuchian known from the Triassic Stubensandstein of Germany...
, the earliest bird Archaeopteryx lithographica (1861), the pterosaur
Pterosaur
Pterosaurs were flying reptiles of the clade or order Pterosauria. They existed from the late Triassic to the end of the Cretaceous Period . Pterosaurs are the earliest vertebrates known to have evolved powered flight...
Rhamphorhynchus
Rhamphorhynchus (animal)
Rhamphorhynchus , "beak snout", is a genus of long-tailed pterosaurs in the Jurassic period. Less specialized than contemporary, short-tailed pterodactyloid pterosaurs such as Pterodactylus, it had a long tail, stiffened with ligaments, which ended in a characteristic diamond-shaped vane...
, and the prosauropod dinosaur Plateosaurus
Plateosaurus
Plateosaurus is a genus of plateosaurid dinosaur that lived during the Late Triassic period, around 216 to 199 million years ago, in what is now Central and Northern Europe. Plateosaurus is a basal sauropodomorph dinosaur, a so-called "prosauropod"...
.
In Palaeologica, von Meyer proposed a classification of fossil reptiles into four major groups based on their limbs:
- Saurians with Toes Similar to those of Living Species (e.g.TeleosaurusTeleosaurusTeleosaurus was an extinct genus of teleosaurid crocodyliform that lived during the Middle Jurassic. It was approximately in length. Teleosaurus had highly elongate jaws, similar to those of a modern gharial. It had a long, slender, body, with a sinuous tail that would have helped propel it...
, ProtorosaurusProtorosaurusProtorosaurus , a lizard-like reptile of the order Prolacertiformes, is the earliest known archosauromorph. It lived during the Late Permian period in Germany. In 1914, a new ceratopsian dinosaur found by Lawrence Lambe was again given the name Protorosaurus...
, StreptospondylusStreptospondylusStreptospondylus is a genus of tetanuran theropod dinosaur known from the Middle Jurassic period of France, 161 million years ago. It was a medium-sized predator.-Discovery and naming:...
) - Saurians with Limbs Similar to Heavy Land Mammals (IguanodonIguanodonIguanodon is a genus of ornithopod dinosaur that lived roughly halfway between the first of the swift bipedal hypsilophodontids and the ornithopods' culmination in the duck-billed dinosaurs...
, MegalosaurusMegalosaurusMegalosaurus is a genus of large meat-eating theropod dinosaurs of the Middle Jurassic period of Europe...
) - Saurians with Limbs for Swimming (e.g. PlesiosaurusPlesiosaurusPlesiosaurus was a genus of large marine sauropterygian reptile that lived during the early part of the Jurassic Period, and is known by nearly complete skeletons from the Lias of England...
, MosasaurusMosasaurusMosasaurus is a genus of mosasaur, carnivorous, aquatic lizards, somewhat resembling flippered crocodiles, with elongated heavy jaws. The genus existed during the Maastrichtian age of the Cretaceous period , around 70-65 millions years ago in the area of modern Western Europe and North America...
) - Saurians with Flying Limbs (PterodactylusPterodactylusPterodactylus is a genus of pterosaurs, whose members are popularly known as pterodactyls. It was the first to be named and identified as a flying reptile...
)
His second group he belatedly termed Pachypodes in 1845, later revising to Pachypoda, from the Greek
Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek is the stage of the Greek language in the periods spanning the times c. 9th–6th centuries BC, , c. 5th–4th centuries BC , and the c. 3rd century BC – 6th century AD of ancient Greece and the ancient world; being predated in the 2nd millennium BC by Mycenaean Greek...
"pachy-/παχυ-" ("stout") and "pous/πους" ("foot"). It is interesting to note the relation of this group to Dinosauria, coined a few years earlier by Richard Owen
Richard Owen
Sir Richard Owen, FRS KCB was an English biologist, comparative anatomist and palaeontologist.Owen is probably best remembered today for coining the word Dinosauria and for his outspoken opposition to Charles Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection...
.
His more elaborate researches were those on the Carboniferous
Carboniferous
The Carboniferous is a geologic period and system that extends from the end of the Devonian Period, about 359.2 ± 2.5 Mya , to the beginning of the Permian Period, about 299.0 ± 0.8 Mya . The name is derived from the Latin word for coal, carbo. Carboniferous means "coal-bearing"...
amphibia, the Permian
Permian
The PermianThe term "Permian" was introduced into geology in 1841 by Sir Sir R. I. Murchison, president of the Geological Society of London, who identified typical strata in extensive Russian explorations undertaken with Edouard de Verneuil; Murchison asserted in 1841 that he named his "Permian...
reptile
Reptile
Reptiles are members of a class of air-breathing, ectothermic vertebrates which are characterized by laying shelled eggs , and having skin covered in scales and/or scutes. They are tetrapods, either having four limbs or being descended from four-limbed ancestors...
s, the Triassic
Triassic
The Triassic is a geologic period and system that extends from about 250 to 200 Mya . As the first period of the Mesozoic Era, the Triassic follows the Permian and is followed by the Jurassic. Both the start and end of the Triassic are marked by major extinction events...
amphibia and reptiles, and the reptiles of the Lithographic slates; and the results were embodied in his great work Zur Fauna der Vorwelt (1845–1860), profusely illustrated with plates drawn on stone by the author.
He was associated with W Dunker and Karl Alfred von Zittel
Karl Alfred von Zittel
Karl Alfred Ritter von Zittel was a German palaeontologist.-Biography:He was born at Bahlingen in Baden, and educated at Heidelberg, Paris and Vienna. For a short period he served on the Geological Survey of Austria, and as assistant in the mineralogical museum at Vienna...
in the publication of the Palaeontographica, which began in 1851. He was awarded the Wollaston medal
Wollaston Medal
The Wollaston Medal is a scientific award for geology, the highest award granted by the Geological Society of London.The medal is named after William Hyde Wollaston, and was first awarded in 1831...
by the Geological Society of London
Geological Society of London
The Geological Society of London is a learned society based in the United Kingdom with the aim of "investigating the mineral structure of the Earth"...
in 1858.
Today, von Meyer is probably best known for describing and naming the prosauropod dinosaur Plateosaurus
Plateosaurus
Plateosaurus is a genus of plateosaurid dinosaur that lived during the Late Triassic period, around 216 to 199 million years ago, in what is now Central and Northern Europe. Plateosaurus is a basal sauropodomorph dinosaur, a so-called "prosauropod"...
engelhardti from Central Europe.