Rudolf Leuckart

This article is about the zoologist. For the chemist, see Rudolf Leuckart (chemist).
Rudolf Leuckart

Rudolf Leuckart
Born 7 October 1822
Helmstedt
Died 6 February 1898(1898-02-06) (aged 75)
Leipzig
Citizenship Germany
Fields zoology
parasitology
Institutions University of Giessen
University of Leipzig
Alma mater University of Göttingen
Doctoral advisor Rudolph Wagner
Notable students Otto Bütschli
Hugo Münsterberg
Known for Taenia saginata
Taenia solium

Karl Georg Friedrich Rudolf Leuckart (7 October 1822 – 22 February 1898) was a German zoologist born in Helmstedt. He was a nephew to naturalist Friedrich Sigismund Leuckart (1794-1843).

Academic career

He earned his degree from the University of Göttingen, where he was a student of Rudolf Wagner (1805-1864). Afterwards he participated on a scientific expedition to the North Sea for the study marine invertebrates. Later he became a professor of zoology at the University of Giessen (1850) and the University of Leipzig (1869).[1]

Parasitological research

Leuckart is remembered for his work in parasitology, particularly research regarding tapeworm and trichinosis. He was the first to prove that Taenia saginata occurs only in cattle (and humans), and Taenia solium occurs only in swine (and humans). His study of Trichina helped support Rudolf Virchow's campaign to create meat inspection laws in Germany.[2] With Virchow and Friedrich Albert von Zenker (1825-1898), he was the first to document the life cycle of the parasite Trichinella spiralis in swine and humans. He also did important studies of the sheep liver fluke.

Today the "Rudolf-Leuckart-Medaille" is an annual award given for research in parasitology by the Deutschen Gesellschaft für Parasitologie (German Society of Parasitology).

Other contributions

Leuckart is credited with splitting George Cuvier's Radiata into two phyla: Coelenterata and Echinodermata.[1] As a scientist, his provided excellent descriptions of morphologic details giving credence to the idea that zoological evolution can be learned through its anatomical changes. Between 1877 and 1892, he developed a series of zoological wall charts that have been used worldwide as teaching aids.

In the field of entomology, he conducted investigations into the micropyle and fertilization of insect eggs, the reproduction and development involving members of Pupipara, parthenogenesis among insects, and studies on the anatomy and life history of the honeybee.[3]

A quote attributed to Rudolf Leuckart:

It is not possible for man, as a thinking being, to close his mind to the knowledge that he is ruled by the same power as is the animal world. Like the despised worm he lives in dependence upon external commands, and like the worm he perishes, even when he has shaken the world through the power of his ideas
— Rudolf Leuckart

A species of Australian lizard, Anomalopus leuckarti, is named in his honor.[4]

Written works

References

  1. 1 2 ADB: Leuckart, Rudolf @ Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie.
  2. ↑ Lukács, D (February 1978). "Karl Georg Friedrich Rudolf Leuckart, founder of parasitology". Orvosi hetilap. 119 (6): 341–3. PMID 343042.
  3. ↑ Google Books Psyche, Volume 8.
  4. ↑ Beolens B, Watkins M, Grayson M. 2011. The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5. ("Leuckart", p. 156).
  5. ↑ IPNI.  Leuck.
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