Carl Albert Oppel (19 December 1831 – 23 December 1865) was a German

paleontologist Paleontology (), also spelled palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of life that existed prior to, and sometimes including, the start of the Holocene epoch (roughly 11,700 years before present). It includes the study of fossi ...

History

He was born at Hohenheim in

Württemberg Württemberg ( ; ) is a historical German territory roughly corresponding to the cultural and linguistic region of Swabia. The main town of the region is Stuttgart. Together with Baden and Hohenzollern, two other historical territories, Württ ...

, on 19 December 1831. He first went to the

University of Tübingen The University of Tübingen, officially the Eberhard Karl University of Tübingen (german: Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen; la, Universitas Eberhardina Carolina), is a public research university located in the city of Tübingen, Baden-W� ...

, where he graduated with a Ph.D. in 1853. The results of his work was published in ''Die Juraformation Englands, Frankreichs und des südwestlichen Deutschlands'' (1856–1858). He went to the Palaeontological Museum at

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and ...

in 1858 and became an assistant there. It was in 1860 that he became the Professor of Palaeontology at the

University of Munich The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich or LMU; german: Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München) is a public research university in Munich, Germany. It is Germany's sixth-oldest university in continuous operatio ...

. Then, a year later, he became the director of the Palaeontological Collection. Of his later works, it can be said that the most important was ''Paläontologische Mittheilungen aus dem Museum des Königlichen Bayerischen Staates'' (1862–1865). He died on 23 December 1865 at the age of 34. The

wrinkle ridge A wrinkle ridge is a type of feature commonly found on lunar maria, or basalt plains. These features are low, sinuous ridges formed on the mare surface that can extend for up to several hundred kilometers. Wrinkle ridges are tectonic features c ...

Dorsum Oppel on the Moon is named after him, as is the fossil

prawn Prawn is a common name for small aquatic crustaceans with an exoskeleton and ten legs (which is a member of the order decapoda), some of which can be eaten. The term "prawn"Mortenson, Philip B (2010''This is not a weasel: a close look at nature' ...

genus '' Albertoppelia''.

Studies

Oppel devoted his life to the study of fossils and the examination of the strata of the

Jurassic The Jurassic ( ) is a geologic period and stratigraphic system that spanned from the end of the Triassic Period million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period, approximately Mya. The Jurassic constitutes the middle period of ...

period deposits. He is considered to have founded the study of zone

stratigraphy Stratigraphy is a branch of geology concerned with the study of rock layers ( strata) and layering (stratification). It is primarily used in the study of sedimentary and layered volcanic rocks. Stratigraphy has three related subfields: lithost ...

and the use of

index fossil Biostratigraphy is the branch of stratigraphy which focuses on correlating and assigning relative ages of rock strata by using the fossil assemblages contained within them.Hine, Robert. “Biostratigraphy.” ''Oxford Reference: Dictionary of Bio ...

s, a term which he created, to compare the different strata. He also established the

Tithonian In the geological timescale, the Tithonian is the latest age of the Late Jurassic Epoch and the uppermost stage of the Upper Jurassic Series. It spans the time between 152.1 ± 4 Ma and 145.0 ± 4 Ma (million years ago). It is preceded by ...

stage, for strata (mainly equivalent to the English Portland and Purbeck Beds) that occur on the borders of

and

Cretaceous The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 145 to 66 million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era, as well as the longest. At around 79 million years, it is the longest geological period of ...

. He was awarded the Chair of Paleontology at the

References

External links

1831 births 1865 deaths People from the Kingdom of Württemberg German paleontologists Science teachers Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich faculty {{Germany-scientist-stub

History

Studies

See also

References

External links